Some exciting Seabird news: This week we made Seabird profiles visible on the web, meaning we can link to them directly and you can view their content without logging in or creating an account. But we hope that you will join the platform. There you'll find links from contributors like Janet and Mort, both of whose latest writing you'll find in this week's newsletter. Or check out the links from prolific poster Michael (aka Snazzyman), who shared this week's lead story, among others. There's also the official Seabird account and the account for me, your editor of Tidings. Seabird is available on web, Android and iOS, and we invite you to join us there! Now, on to this week's links...
Take a seat and enjoy this deep dive into public benches. "In the West, the public bench draws us away from both the humble ground and the vaunted throne. Through the bench, we enter the polity. When benches are removed, we lose more than just a place to rest."
Places | Gabrielle Bruney
Inside the data recovery firm DriveSavers, doing some of the most deeply human work in tech to recover customers' often precious hard drives.
The New Yorker | Julian Lucas
"I had long since accepted the fact that I would have to take a substantial portion of my compensation in the form of moonlight and birdsong, but that was a bargain I was willing to make." A symposium of professional writers on how they actually make a living.
The Baffler | Wes Enzinna et al.
A look at ultrafinitists, a heretical group of mathematicians who reject the existence of infinity and with it foundations of modern math.
Quanta | Gregory Barber
To try your hand at Senegal's newly popular coffee drink, you'll need to obtain some grains of Selim.
New Lines | Ryan Biller
Pulling together various threads to explain the "Tragic Twenties," a crash in Americans' self-reported happiness amid relatively solid economics stats.
Derek Thompson
Profile of wine importer Victor O. Schwartz, who risked retaliation to challenge Trump's tariffs in court and won.
New York | Matt Stieb
Seabird contributor Janet Bufton revisits Adam Smith's "man of the system" to consider how to be a committed liberal in a polity that sometimes demands compromise, at other times sweeping reform.
Liberalism.org | Janet Bufton
An argument against the U.K.'s new policy enacting tobacco prohibition for anyone born in 2009 or later.
The Atlantic | Conor Friedersdorf
Why the government is spraying glyphosate on California forests, and why the science on Roundup's potential health effects is so hotly contested.
Mother Jones | Nate Halverson
What do you do when your large language model won't stop talking about goblins and gremlins?
OpenAI
Photos of the Sears Modern Homes that were once available by mail (some assembly required).
Rare Historical Photos
How an unsavory scammer disrupted the "gentlemanly" practice of submitting manuscripts to only one publisher at a time, transforming the role of the literary agent.
Literary Hub | Laura B. McGrath
What consumers can expect from an excess supply of whiskey, including more bourbon aged for longer times.
VinePair | Susannah Skiver Barton
In Oregon news: Seabirder Mort makes the case for voting yes on higher gas taxes and registration fees.
Mortlandia | Brendan Mortimer
In sea life: Meet Chonkers, San Francisco's new celebrity sea lion.
Wall Street Journal | Robert McMillan
Finally, in bird news, an excerpt from The Book of Birds: "Thus the bittersweet joy of finding two parts of a shell at the foot of a hedge or the base of a tree: the death of a moon and the dawn of a sun—an artwork broken and a life begun."
The Walrus | Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane
Tidings is edited by Jacob Grier. The links in our newsletter were all shared first on Seabird, our minimalist platform simply designed for recommending worthwhile links. Learn more about us here and join to discover and share articles like these every day. Your recommendations may appear in a future edition of Tidings.
