Camp ToB hits Week 7, and the water's fine!

English > Italian > English = Perché no? Week Seven of Camp ToB jumps into the new Jhumpa Lahiri!

The Morning News

Camp ToB 2021

Week Seven: Whereabouts

Moving as briskly along as the summer heat allows, this week we’re in Italy to discuss the first half of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Whereabouts.

by The Tournament of Books Staff
Lovely, minimal collages by La Paranoia.
↩︎ This Isn't Happiness 2d
"Drank beer," "Pizza King," and other slang that might mean your loved one is an anti-vaxxer.
↩︎ NBC News 2d
"It sucks because the hiking spots [are] in these back wooded areas." What it's like to drive through a sundown town while Black.
↩︎ BuzzFeed News 2d
A year ago, Ted Cruz "guaranteed" that Covid would disappear if Biden became president.
↩︎ Boing Boing 2d

It’s an acknowledgment of my worst tic, the one where I lie in bed until 3 or 4 a.m. and pull-to-refresh, pull-to-refresh, pull-to-refresh, until Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or my email—or, in my lowest moments, Nextdoor—brings me something, anything new.

A eulogy for Google Reader and the good internet.
↩︎ The Ringer
2d
"If I had not had access to drive-through voting last year, I would not have voted." This is how hard it is to vote in Texas.
↩︎ Vox 2d
The masks are off, and everyone's getting colds again.
↩︎ The Verge 2d
How to future-proof a home for climate change: triple-glazed windows, underground heat pumps, and a wood-burning stove.
↩︎ BBC 2d
Researchers say keeping your phone 10 inches away from your body results in a 10,000-fold reduction in radiation exposure.
↩︎ KTVU 3d
Solar panels are degraded by sunlight over time. "Doping" the silicon could make solar cells more stable and efficient.
↩︎ The Conversation 3d
Artist Geoff McFetridge describes his love for the outdoors. "I think I get pretty deep into things. Deep and fringe-y."
↩︎ Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3d
Semi-pastoral illustrations by Amber Leia Jones.
↩︎ It's Nice That 3d
"Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than air." A naturalist captures the flight of almost 50 birds in a 1778 letter.
↩︎ Futility Closet 3d
This is a cheesecake with capybara on top soaking in an onsen.
↩︎ Spoon & Tamago 3d

Recent footage of the exceptionally rare glass octopus, spotted in the remote Phoenix Islands Archipelago, north of Samoa.

During the expedition, scientists made two rare sightings of a glass octopus, a nearly transparent species whose only visible features are its optic nerve, eyeballs and digestive tract. Before this expedition, there has been limited live footage of the glass octopus, forcing scientists to learn about the animal by studying specimens found in the gut contents of predators.

Via Colossal

3d
Researchers find that only 1.5 to 7% of the modern human genome is uniquely human.
↩︎ VICE 3d

Why should I be called “Professor Cowen,” but few people would address the person fixing their toilet as “Plumber Jones”? Aren’t we giving some professionals too much status automatically? 

Tyler Cowen: Titles are complex, and we cannot abolish them outright, “but perhaps professional titles are due for a rethink?”
↩︎ Bloomberg
3d
Your weekly white paper: Studies find that tipping and requirements for positive gestures drive sexual harassment in restaurants.
↩︎ NPR 3d
Up for auction: The Airstream trailer used by Tom Hanks on movie sets since 1993, complete with several espresso makers.
↩︎ Bonhams 4d