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Recommended Independence Day reading: "It was in the hands of abolitionists, Black and white, carried over from Black Americans free, freed and enslaved, that the Declaration worked as both an indictment and a promise — the spiritual foundation of the nation and the standard that its institutions must meet."
The New York Times | Jamelle Bouie
On the brief period of solidarity among the American colonies, France, and Mysore against the British Empire.
The New Yorker | Ishaan Tharoor
Can drone displays replace fireworks? A writer gets a near-religious experience watching a record-breaking fleet of drones tell the story of Jesus in the Texas night sky.
Wired | Sheon Han
A visit the last days of Mark Zuckerberg's $80 billion metaverse, ending as a ghost town.
Prospect | James Ball
And a visit to a different sort of ghost town, this one on the National Mall.
Washingtonian | Kate Corliss
Reflections from the life of a Montreal garbageman, excerpted from his new book, Trash!.
Harper's | Simon Paré-Poupart, trans. Pablo Strauss
Tagging along with Florida's "nuisance alligator trappers," the guys who answer the call to wrangle gators that are often peacefully minding their own reptilian business.
Slate | Luke Winkie
Meanwhile, in Tasmania, Neil the 1-ton seal is a genuine, if charismatic, nuisance.
Associated Press | Charlotte Graham-McLay
From Seabirder Janet Bufton, on the need for clear principles to rally and coordinate liberal coalitions against the rising threat of autocracy.
Liberalism.org | Janet Bufton
A skeptic comes around to endorsing expanding the Supreme Court, albeit temporarily to force a constitutional amendment to secure legitimacy and set the number of nine justices.
The UnPopulist | Andy Craig
Reporting from Louisiana, where Trump's immigration crackdown is overwhelming courts and leaving people locked in cages for years, with no relief in sight.
Bolts | Delaney Nolan
A new possibility for prediction markets: starting fires to profit from their spread, a particularly pernicious form of insider trading.
High Country News | Kylie Mohr
The proliferation of smart phones enables systems to detect and warn users of earthquakes seconds or even minutes before the shaking starts.
The New York Times | Amy Graff and Martín González Gómez
Scientists consider the possibilities of synthetic mirror life, from big nothing to pandemic danger to life on earth.
Gizmodo | Ed Cara
Because the best reading often happens offline: recommendations for 258(!) new books coming out in the second half of the year.
Literary Hub
After a brief moment in the sun of craft brewing, kveik yeast is once again most at home among the farmhouse brewers of Norway.
VinePair | Evan Rail
Very fun profile of Norway's star striker. "He bought an edition of the 'Heimskringla,' a thirteenth-century Old Norse saga, for a hundred and thirty thousand dollars—then donated it to his local library because, he explained, 'I’ve never been much of a reader.'"
The New Yorker | Zach Helfand
And a dispatch from Woodburn, Oregon, where soccer brings joy to a Mexican community threatened by immigration enforcement.
ESPN | Roberto Jose Andrade Franco
An Italian architect considers the very cute, very tiny electric car that's right at home on compact European city streets.
Wallpaper* | Carlo Ratti
Finally, in bird news... an experiment suggests that listening to bird song is a lovely way to reduce stress.
The Guardian | Kate Ravilious
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.
