"Considered by many the most romantic river in the world, the Seine is also smelly, murky and — after big Saturday nights — fringed with the filthy residue of partygoers. During huge rainstorms, 40 portholes dotting the river’s paved banks gush with sewage."
OK, so who's up for a swim?
Apparently a lot of people are and that may soon include Olympic swimmers. But before anyone commits to that one singular Seinesation, Parisians must complete a series monumental tasks. NYT (Gift Article): Olympic Swimming in the Seine? How Paris Is Remaking a River. "Organizers of the 2024 Summer Games promised a waterway clean enough for Olympic swimmers and then Parisians to swim in. The job was bigger than anyone knew." Ceci n’est pas une cuvette des toilettes.
"High school students are having less sexual intercourse. That’s what the studies say. But that doesn’t mean they’re having less sex. The language of young love and lust, and the actions behind it, are evolving. And the shift is not being adequately captured in national studies, experts say." Sex? Sexual intercourse? Neither? Teens weigh in on evolving definitions — and habits. This article describes a lot of definitions of sex that I didn't get in high school.
"Glendale, Arizona, the tour's first stop, temporarily renamed itself 'Swift City,' and hotel rates skyrocketed as fans poured in from around the country and world ... In Houston, Swift boosted hotel occupancy rates more than the NCAA men's Final Four." And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to era of the Eras money printing tour. Inside the booming Taylor Swift economy.
+ My daughter accounts for a significant part of the Taylor Swift economy and a few billion of her streaming minutes. So I've become an expert and it's a common topic of discussion between us.
What to Book: Dave Eggers' amazing new book, The Eyes and the Impossible, in which he inhabits the mind of a dog is a joy to read. It's also a joy just to hold if you get the truly remarkable deluxe wood-bound hardcover version, which gives lie to the notion that you can't judge a book by it's cover.
+ What to Watch: A minor parking lot incident escalated into a less minor road rage exchange setting the stage for a dark comedy about dark impulses. Check out Beef on Netflix.
+ What to Play: Do you have what it takes to be a good content moderator? I don't. I got fired almost immediately when I played the new online game: Moderator Mayhem.
+ What to Wear: There are some brand new, really cool trucker hats available in the NextDraft store (which also features many shirts, including the timely, I Am The Algorithm.)
Subway Fair? "The Marine veteran who was seen in a video putting Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on a New York City subway was arraigned Friday on a second-degree manslaughter charge that Neely’s family suggested was too lenient." (I shared some thoughts on the broader issues around this case last week: Fear and Loathing on the F Train.)
+ 42: "Many migrants expelled to Mexican cities along the U.S. border face daily horrors at the hands of criminal organizations and, in some cases, the same government agencies that Washington is leaning on to help stanch the flow of migrants at the border, according to human rights groups." NYT (Gift Article): Asylum-Seekers Are Prey for Gangs and Officials. And from Vox: The seismic consequences of ending Title 42.
+ Coop Attempt: Anderson Cooper gave an impassioned (and pathetic) speech about why CNN's hour-long televised Trump rally was actually really important. And it was. Unless you've ever heard of Donald Trump or watched any news over the past few years. From Tom Nichols in The Atlantic CNN Went Full Jerry Springer.
+ Teen Titans: "A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that a law banning licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 violates the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional."
+ Elongated: Nothing explains the journalism bubble better than the wild over-coverage of Twitter news. So you've probably already heard that Twitter has a new CEO (even though Elon's not going anywhere).
+ Just Plane Crazy "A YouTuber whose single-engine airplane crashed in a California national forest admitted that he downed the aircraft to boost views for a sponsorship deal."
"I’d thought the story of my name was special; little did I know it was the story of a generation." Very cool essay in the NYT (Gift Article): Generation Connie.
+ Dramatic video shows good Samaritan stopping runaway strollerfrom rolling into traffic. (Pro tip: Don't roll strollers towards traffic.)
+ Meet the father-son journalists from Alabama who won a Pulitzer and changed laws.
+ Amazon Deforestation Down 40 Percent So Far This Year.
+ How the San Francisco Giants saved the dive bar Tempest.
+ Experience: I helped rescue 100 dogs from a burning building.
