This Benji Jones article will give you butterflies
Vox’s environmental correspondent takes us deep into one of the world’s most important sanctuaries of the equal parts regal and bumbling monarch butterfly: New York City. This is a deep travelogue filled with big, pretty pictures of beautiful butterflies that ends with Mr. Jones hatching and nurturing a Monarch butterfly in his own apartment.
This Benji Jones article will give you creepy crawlies
Vox’s environmental correspondent clears all those good, warm feelings away with this article about all the ugly, tiny little bugs out there that we have no idea exist. Turns out there’s a gazillion (fact-check needed) different kinds of midges, and flies, and mosquitos, and gnats, and science has no idea how many there are. Unknown species everywhere, though sadly none are named Jorgeliidae Justgidae — yet.
All you need to join the swat team 🦟
Let’s keep talking about flying bugs. Umair Irfan is one of Vox’s smartest people and someone who can somehow tell you that the world is in flames and still make you feel hopeful. In this article, he does the ultimate public service: teaches you how to identify the seven most dangerous kinds of mosquitoes in the US so you can avoid them. Or, teach them why they should avoid you.
Russia just inched closer to open war with NATO
In an editorial meeting this week, I played my customary role of resident goofball by raising my hand and saying that I didn’t understand why the incursion of Russian drones into Poland wasn’t, like, a very big deal, and there must be other people like me. The silence generated by Vox’s cadre of experts on global politics made me think, “Wow, I really impressed them!" And lo and behold, Josh Keating came to the rescue.
How to mourn in our polarized age
I purposefully did not link to anything about Charlie Kirk in this email — except for this, because you’re not going to see anything like it anywhere else. It’s a lovely meditation on a human reaction to a horrible thing. It walks through the process of sitting shiva to give us a guide for how to think about the big conflicted feelings we’re all having right now. I read this essay twice. The first time, it kind of didn’t register. But the second time opened me up in a way I had not expected but needed to experience. Thank you for writing it, Rachel Cohen Booth.
Finally:
My whole job is podcasts. And when I read Vox Recommends newsletters that don’t include links to them, I get madder than a hangry Hulk. So, please check out this episode of The Gray Area. It’ll make you understand, at a deeper level, why all this AI stuff feels so weird. And please check out this episode of Unexplainable about the scientist who found the cause of the incredibly common illness that almost killed her: morning sickness.
Have a good weekend!
