All the things
America’s covid swab supply depends on two cousins who hate each other. You have to read it to believe it. (Olivia Carville, Bloomberg, ~19 min.)
Ravelry, the Facebook of knitting and crocheting, was a rare online haven. Then came the Pussyhat, Deplorable Knitter, and more. I care not a lick about knitting, and loved every minute of this one. (Carrie Battan, New Yorker, ~28 min.)
What it cost to survive: How covid changed five people’s lives. Stunning first-person experiences I haven’t seen anywhere else. (Wudan Yan, Intelligencer, ~11 min.)
Anya Taylor-Joy: The Queen’s Gambit star on life before and after a smash. Bubbly and fun and I’ll take it. (Hermione Hoby, Vanity Fair, ~20 min.)
What is the dining table really for? This week in fascinating and necessary deep dives. (Melinda Fakuade, The Goods, ~16 min.)
One’s antifa. One’s in a militia. How an ancestry match led to an unlikely bond. This story’s been everywhere this past week, and rightly so. (Hannah Allam, NPR, ~14 min.)
Oregon once legally banned Black people. Has the state reconciled its racist past? Spoiler alert: Not even close. (Nina Strochlic, National Geographic, ~14 min.)
How Sara Gruen lost her life: The Water for Elephants author’s six-year fight to free an incarcerated man left her absolutely broke and critically ill. Holy schnikes. (Abbot Kahler, Vulture, ~35 min.)
We’re hurtling toward global suicide: Why we must do everything differently to ensure the planet’s survival. If only we could all just talk about this instead of pretending it’s not happening. (Ben Ehrenreich, New Republic, ~19 min.)
The Larry McMurtry I knew. A terrific tribute. (Skip Hollandsworth, Texas Monthly, ~8 min.)
If you read one thing this week
The missing students of the pandemic: A California school official searches his district for the hundreds left behind by covid-19. My god. (Eli Saslow, Washington Post, ~13 min.)