Welcome back to Tidings by Seabird. If you're not on our link-sharing app, you're missing out! Sign up on web or mobile to share your favorite reads and see daily recommendations from other Seabird users. And if you find value in reading Tidings, help us keep it going by spreading the word. On to this week's sampling of links shared by the Seabird community...

​Loving Dolly was easy. Understanding her was hard.​

"To understand Dolly, you have to read her as a writer. Writing her own story was the most radical, precise way to define herself in a world that kept trying to fit her into a box." [Gift link.]

The New York Times | Tressie McMillan Cottom

​Ballad of Big Nothing​

A new biography of musician Elliott Smith looks back at the time he wound up nominated for an Academy Award.

Slate | Jamie Fisher

​Earth's organisms developed via evolution​

Do entire universes evolve through a similar process of heritable selection? Some physicists—and one Irish poet and musician—are making the case.

Smithsonian | Eli Stark-Elster

​Volcanoes that made history​

How volcanic eruptions have altered human history, including possibly giving us Frankenstein.

Knowable | Alexandra Witze

​How the deadly Nepal and Tibet flash flood unfolded ​

A visual exploration of Wednesday's catastrophic floods.

The Guardian | Mark Saunokonoko, Nick Evershed, Mike Hohnen, Paul Scruton, Harvey Symons, Glenn Swann, and Lucy Swan

​Can A.I. find cures for untreatable diseases?​

One case for artificial intelligence: suggesting off-label treatments for rare diseases using drugs that are already on the market.

The New Yorker | Dhruv Khullar

​Simon Weckert creates Digital Camouflage shirt ​

And one way to hide from AI: wear a hideously loud polo shirt.

Dezeen | Tom Ravenscroft

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​The Americans are coming​

In their own words, five Americans explain why they left the United States under Trump for a better life in Canada.

Maclean's | Ryne Horn, Kelli Portnoy, Shae Barber, Dawna Wade, and Stephen Komp

​A reverse Ellis Island​

A journalist visits Tapachula, Mexico, where the US government is shipping non-Mexican immigrants who have made homes in the US for decades. [Gift link.]

The Atlantic | Kevin Sieff

​Meta just paid nearly $17 billion to make sure it gets to write the kid safety rules​

A skeptical take on the massive Meta settlement and what it might mean for smaller platforms.

TechDirt | Mike Masnick

​Tribes, coalitions, and parties​

From Seabird Janet Bufton, on knowing when it's time for a political coalition to end.

Liberalism.org | Janet Bufton

​Mail voting in turmoil​

A useful Q&A on the Trump administration's attempts to restrict voting by mail.

Bolts | Alex Burness and Pascal Sabino

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​Draw me like one of your French girls​

A woman in her 50s, a regular in a community art class, takes a brave turn as nude model.

Oldster | Alysia Abbott

​Ode to cloudberry​

An introduction to a fantastic fruit, the northern European cloudberry.

The European Correspondent | Liene Lūsīte

​Two years after American single malt's ratification, the category is still finding its way​

It's the newest officially recognized category of American whiskey, but it's not exactly flying off American liquor shelves.

VinePair | Susannah Skiver Barton

​Owner risks losing Wayne Manor without bat surveys​

The mansion used for filming Wayne Manor in Batman Begins may be forfeited if the owner doesn't survey the bats.

BBC | Nathaniel Lawson and Danny Fullbrook

​Polyamorous bird of prey ‘single-handedly’ reviving species​

Finally, in bird news... a shoutout to AU, "the most handsome of the harriers," "with battleship-grey plumage, black wingtips and piercing yellow eyes," and clearly a way with the ladies.

The Times | Rhys Blakely

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.