Vox Sentences - Pinky and the (lab-grown) Brain

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Is it just me, or does it feel like it should  be Thanksgiving already? Close followers of the Gregorian calendar know that because November started on a Friday this year, the fourth Thursday, when Thanksgiving falls, won’t come until November 28 — the latest the holiday can occur. Personally, I could have used an earlier break, both to recover from an election that happened two and a half weeks ago, and to give thanks for the fact that we’re all more or less still standing. But time, of course, runs by its own clock. 

Over at Vox’s Future Perfect section, which I edit, we’re giving thanks for finishing our third annual Future Perfect 50, our yearly roundup of the most important scientists, activists, authors, and thinkers who are changing our world. Check it out! All humility aside, I think this is one of the most beautiful, well-designed pieces of content I’ve seen on the internet for years. 

I’m a particular fan of Future Perfect senior correspondent and editor Dylan Scott’s interview with the bestselling author John Green, who we discovered has a side gig in raising awareness about tuberculosis — a disease that, even as it has been essentially eradicated in the rich world, still kills some 1.25 million people in mostly poor countries every year. Focusing attention on important but undercovered problems like TB is why Future Perfect exists, and I’m so grateful for the support of Vox readers who make that possible.

If you liked that, check out a couple of our other profiles, including deputy editor Izzie Ramirez on vegan superstar Billie Eilish, and senior reporter Sigal Samuel on the AI scientist Shannon Vallor.

Here are some Vox articles, videos, and podcasts that I particularly loved this week, and think you will too.

—Bryan Walsh, editorial director, Future Perfect, world, tech, and climate

The myth that could cost Democrats the next election

Ever since the presidential election was called in the early morning hours of November 6, the Democratic Party has had its guns trained on itself in the country’s biggest circular firing squad. But just because the process is ugly doesn’t mean figuring out what went wrong and what to do next isn’t important. In this smart piece, Vox senior correspondent Eric Levitz trawls through the voting data and  concludes that the main issue wasn’t that disgruntled progressives stayed home, throwing the election to Donald Trump. It was that millions of voters really did switch their allegiance. If Democrats have a hope of competing in 2028 and beyond, they need to get those swing voters back on their side — and going harder left isn’t the answer.

Why is it still so hard to breathe in India and Pakistan?

How bad has the air quality been in the Indian capital of New Delhi these past few days? In several areas of the city, pollution levels have been more than 50 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended limit. While climate change gets most of the attention when it comes to environmental news, old-fashioned air pollution still exacts a tremendous cost on health, especially in poor and crowded cities. In this piece, correspondent Umair Irfan explains just why the air has gotten so bad in India and Pakistan, and why those countries still struggle to curb pollution.

Say Nothing’s Gerry Adams disclaimer, explained

My wife and I tore through the nine-part FX/Hulu show Say Nothing, based on the book by the same name about Northern Ireland’s bloody “Troubles.” As the Irish would say, it’s grand. But at the end of every episode, the show would put up a disclaimer stating that “Gerry Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA [Irish Republican Army] or participating in any IRA-related violence” — which puzzled us, precisely because every episode portrayed the veteran Northern Ireland politician as absolutely being a member of the IRA and participating in IRA-related violence. Senior editor Meredith Haggerty explains the strange legal issues around Adams that Say Nothing has to navigate, and how the wall between what can be said and what really was explains so much of Northern Ireland’s tortured history.

🎧 The kids aren’t reading all right

As someone who is both a parent and an editor who makes their living crafting words, I have to say it concerns me that America’s college kids apparently can’t read so good. Vox’s excellent Today, Explained podcast has the story on why even students at the country’s best colleges can’t be bothered to crack open a book, and what the decline of meaningful literacy means for America’s future.

🎧 Pinky and the (lab-grown) Brain

I’m a simple person. Give me a reference to the delightful 1990s cartoon Animaniacs, and I am a happy man. In this episode of Vox’s science podcast Unexplainable, the team brings in science journalist Rachel Nuwer and neuroscientist Lisa Genzel to explore alternatives to research on lab rats — and why replacing them with clumps of lab-grown brain organoids may not be the solution we think it is. 

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