Still working on the prospect rankings – I started the actual writing this week, after several weeks of prep – which will run starting January 31^st at the Athletic. I appreciate your patience. My podcast and my Paste reviews will return this week.

And now, the links…

• Longreads first: This New York Times story by Maggie Jones on the realities of sex after age 70 is one of the best pieces of longform journalism I’ve ever read. It is quite long, but it’s thorough, clear, and highly empathetic, all while discussing a topic that remains largely taboo even as other areas of human sexuality have become more acceptable in mainstream media.
• Guitar World interviewed Mastodon’s guitarists about their writing and playing styles, including the writing of their massive new album Hushed and Grim.
• Have we forgotten how to read critically? I’d counter: Did we ever know?
• From last March: Smithsonian goes long on the history of Neapolitan pizza, the world’s “first” fast food. (Maybe.)
• Philadelphia magazine has updated its list of the metro area’s top 50 restaurants for the first time since the start of the pandemic, but without ranking them this time. The new list has two of our favorites right here in Wilmington, Bardea and Le Cavalier, and some wonderful places in Philly, including High Street (in its new location!), Stina, Suraya, and Friday Saturday Sunday.
• A study widely shared by anti-vaxxers has been revised to reflect new data showing vaccine boosters are more effective against the Omicron variant than previously believed. I’m sure the anti-vaxxers will correct themselves as soon as possible, without anyone else pointing this out to them.
• That said, Omicron is still putting incredible pressure on our overtaxed hospital system, in large part due to the number of people who have refused to get vaccinated.
• Here’s a study showing that COVID-19 vaccines nearly eliminated hospitalization and life support requirements for teenagers who were infected with the virus. No vaccinated teens in the study group died of COVID-19, compared to seven deaths in unvaccinated teens. Here’s the Washington Post article on the study.
• CORBEVAX, the open-source COVID-19 vaccine that represents our best chance so far to vaccinate the developing world, has received more funding from the company that makes Tito’s Vodka than from the U.S. government. Wealthy countries are busy buying Pfizer and Moderna vaccines while failing to fund a vaccine that would reduce the odds of new variants emerging in less wealthy nations.
• A Canadian hero judge ruled that an unvaccinated father may not see his kids until he gets vaccinated. Imagine being so caught up in anti-vax conspiracy theories that you would rather refuse to see your own kids than get a safe, effective shot.
• Maine’s medical licensing board has temporarily suspended the license of a doctor who spread anti-vaccine and other COVID-19 misinformation. She has also prescribed hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, two drugs that are ineffective against COVID-19, by falsely claiming her patients had other illnesses.
• There was a huge brouhaha over on the forums for Tabletop Simulator after it came out that a moderator was banning users just for saying the words “gay” and “trans.” Kotaku has the whole breakdown, including the culture wars in TS’s Steam reviews now.
• The L.A. Times has more on the battle between G/O Media and the Writers Guild, with the union arguing that the AV Club’s private equity owners have treated the site’s Chicago-based employees unfairly.
• Baltimore’s top prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby (D), has been indicted on charges of perjury related to a series of financial transactions where she claimed hardship so she could buy multiple properties in Florida.
• Michigan’s Attorney General has referred her investigation of GOP electors who signed a document that falsely claimed Trump had won the state’s electoral votes to federal prosecutors. The electors may have committed forgery of a public record and election law forgery, each of which would lead to jail times.
• Also in Michigan, a woman filed a criminal complaint accusing former state House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R) of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. Chatfield is the woman’s brother-in-law, and he claims they had an “affair” that began after she turned 18. It’s very Clemens-esque.
• A Chicago alderman and community organizers are urging the feds to investigate how Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) may have misused federal COVID-19 relief funds.
• Two LA cops ignored a robbery in progress to try to ‘catch’ a Pokemon Go creature. They were fired, sued to get their jobs back, and lost their appeal.
• Amazon employees in Bessemer, Alabama, will get a second chance to vote on unionizing after the company was found to have engaged in unfair anti-labor practices during the first election.
• Also in Alabama, an especially loony anti-vaxxer who was recently arrested for refusing to wear a mask in a Whole Foods is now saying drinking your own urine cures COVID-19 (it doesn’t).
• This story on bokit, a fried-dough sandwich native to Guadeloupe, will make you want to visit the Caribbean island and French overseas department.
• Invasive species from around the world are threatening Antarctica’s ecosystems by hitching rides on the increasing number of ships that visit the continent.
• Board game news: There’s a video trailer for a new board game based on the hit series The Queen’s Gambit, a show about an existing board game called … chess.
• All we have so far is this tweet, but the publisher of the great two-player game Riftforce has announced their second title, a deck management game for up to 8 players called Underdogs, as well as an upcoming expansion to Riftforce.