We're rolling out a new Seabird feature this week. Profiles now provide a birds-eye view (sorry) of users' posting tendencies, including frequency of posts, diversity of sources, and favorite publications. Check out a couple examples from the Seabird team here and here. You'll see this live on web now and coming very soon to mobile apps. On to this week's recommended links...

​The trial of the penis grandma​

A writer returns to Fairhope, Alabama, to see if the trial of a 62-year-old grandma tackled and arrested for protesting in an inflatable penis costume heralds the loss of the town's reputation for southern gentility.

Slate | Molly Olmstead

​The tweet as literary form​

"Like every artform, the tweet does things no other form can do, and comes with its own set of expectations and animating questions." On what makes a great short-form post, with memorable examples from some of the masters.

Typebar | Danny Cohen

​Wish you were her​

There's a different cruise ship story in the news, but it's much more fun to read about this at-sea convention of celebrity impersonators.

n+1 | Mina Tavakoli

​Seeing an eclipse from Earth is awe‑inspiring​

But it's even more incredible in space, as attested by astronauts on the Artemis II mission.

The Conversation | Deana L. Weibel

​Norway's northern lights nightmare​

While in Tromso, authorities struggle to enforce restrictions on unlicensed guides helping tourists chase auroras.

The New York Times | Lynsey Chutel and Louise Krüger

​The last incorruptible thing​

"Morel hunters guard their secrets in the analog world: in the depths of the forests and the recesses of their minds. Morels are escape artists, and you escape with them."

Sarah Kendzior's Newsletter

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​Southeast Asia sees the potential value of tolling the Strait of Malacca​

Freedom of navigation may be one casualty of the war with Iran, which has demonstrated the leverage of maritime chokepoints to disrupt global trade.

Council on Foreign Relations | Joshua Kurlantzick

​Lessons from the redistricting wars​

Ideas for escaping the gerrymandering trap, from marginal improvements to ending single-member districts in favor of proportional representation.

Liberal Currents | Steven L. Taylor

​Babies are bleeding to death as parents reject a vitamin shot​

Parents' rejection of pharmaceutical shots is extending to routine use of vitamin K for newborns, with tragically fatal results.

ProPublica | Duaa Eldeib

​He remade the Southern Baptist Convention in his image​

A deeply reported investigation into how an alleged serial sexual abuser tied Southern Baptists to Republican politics.

Texas Monthly | Robert Downen

​Are blue zones real?​

How blue zones went from dodgy science to big business.

STAT | Shelley Wood and Eric J. Topol

​Data center land use issues are fake​

A case for not worrying about data centers displacing farmland, which we arguably have too much of anyway.

Andy Masley

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​Bitter aftertaste​

China's censorship of references to independent Taiwan reaches the World Coffee Championship, where Taiwanese baristas are now required to compete as "Chinese Taipei."

The Guardian | Alastair McCready and Yu-chen Lin

​We bought an orchestra​

One path to conducting an orchestra is to spend years of your life working hard to develop your talent. Another is to be extremely rich.

The Baffler | Jeffrey Arlo Brown

​How does our shoegaze grow?​

In search of "midwest shoegaze" as a writer contemplates the musical genre's regional richness.

Chicago Reader | Leor Galil

​Scientists just discovered 5.6 million bees under a New York State cemetery​

A new discovery shows that cemeteries are a good place to bee.

Scientific American | Jackie Flynn Mogensen

​14 toucans found inside a car dashboard ​

Finally, in bird news... you never know what you might find in someone's dashboard.

Popular Science | Margherita Bassi

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.