Welcome back to Tidings and a happy 2026 to you! Starting today we're sending out the newsletter on Fridays, setting up a weekend of catching up on good reads. As always, the links below were first shared by our community on Seabird. Join us on the app or web for more links or to share your own favorite stories with signup code "WaitIsOver".
On the road with Willie Nelson, now ninety-two and still touring, playing the same Martin guitar since 1969 and representing the best of Texas.
The New Yorker | Alex Abramovich
Researchers make an unexpected case for wolves, finding evidence that they make roadways safer by instilling fear into deer.
The Washington Post | Dino Grandoni, Alice Li, and Joshua Lott
Modern humans, thankfully, rarely experience being prey for other predators—but it shaped the psychology and habits of our genetic ancestors.
Nautilus | David P. Barash
"Invasivorism," the intentional consumption of invasive species to control their population, takes shape in Maine as warming waters attract new kinds of crabs that threaten the state's famous lobsters and oysters.
Noema | Kirsten Lie-Nielsen
How the humble hamburger ascended from struggle food to haute cuisine, claiming a place at every style of restaurant.
Pax Culinaria | Peter Giuliano
Souvenirs, fish wrappers, perhaps formative habits of reading: things lost as the physical printed newspaper disappears from everyday life.
Associated Press | Michael Weissenstein
Masked police, inhumane detention conditions, torture, racial profiling, National Guard troops deployed to US cities, shredding due process, lethal drone strikes: a comprehensive look at authoritarian abuses in the first year of the second Trump administration.
The New Republic | Radley Balko
From 2018, prescient and more relevant today: "If Bannon were to be called as he is, a fascist, the marketplace of ideas would have to confront the fact that the American government is being rapidly radicalized, that things unimaginable might be around the corner, and that there are many tempting paths to full collaboration."
Literary Hub | Aleksandar Hemon
Reporting from Houston, where open racial animus and immigration chaos are leading immigrants and students from India to question whether the United States is still a promising place to build their lives.
The New York Times | Lydia Polgreen
A journalist exiled from Cuba to Barcelona reflects on a visit to Miami, where he finds that "Trumpism is just as overwhelming, and as fundamentalist, as Castroism is in Cuba."
The Dial | Abraham Jiménez Enoa (tr. Lily Meyer)
Recently admired for its welcoming stance toward refugees, the liberal Scandinavian nation has made a sharp pivot toward hostility to immigration and Islam.
New Lines | Nora Adin Fares
A seasonal read for the cold months: two engineers explain the physics and material innovations that make your jacket work.
The Conversation | Longji Cui and Wan Xiong
How adherence to Ayn Rand's philosophy shaped the career of comic book artist Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange.
Reason | Brian Doherty
Remembering Mike Fossey, master of the short-form comedy post.
Flaming Hydra | Luke O'Neil
A photographer documents seals, walruses, and other aquatic mammals along the coasts of the North Sea.
The Guardian | Jeroen Hoekendijk and Philip Hoare
Lastly, in bird news: the story of the man who convinced airports to relocate snowy owls rather than shooting them, personally rescuing more than 900 birds at Boston's Logan Airport.
The Times | Andrea Blanco
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.
