PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
Alleged ‘Dead’ Georgia Voters Found Alive and Well After 2020 Election (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Trump’s allegations of vast voter fraud debunked. False claims that there were thousands of ballots cast in the names of dead Georgia voters can now rest in peace. Election investigators found just four absentee ballots in the 2020 presidential election from voters who had died, all of them returned by relatives. The State Election Board referred the cases to the attorney general’s office this month after investigators reviewed dozens of allegations. Almost all voters were found to be alive.”
A Computational Biologist Weighs in on Omicron, the Future of Vaccines, and the CDC’s Variant Forecast (Sean)
From Stat: “What do the data so far tell us about Omicron and whether it causes milder disease than previous Covid-19 variants? What can we expect to see as Omicron infections crash up against the country’s health care system? Why do Omicron waves seem to decline so quickly after scaling such heights? We don’t know. So we asked Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, for his thoughts.”
Stop Letting Newspapers Fall Prey to Vulture Capitalists (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “The announcement would have been comical if it didn’t hint at the demise of an essential institution. Alden Global Capital announced late last month that it offered to buy Lee Enterprises, the nation’s third largest newspaper chain and publisher of The Daily News in Southwest Washington. Alden officials called its effort ‘a reaffirmation of our substantial commitment to the newspaper industry and our desire to support local newspapers over the long term.’ This is like the Big Bad Wolf telling the first little pig that it wanted to strengthen his straw house.”
Alex Haley Taught America About Race — and a Young Man How to Write (Dan)
From The New York Times: “In 1968, the celebrated author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X arrived at Hamilton College to teach and work on his magnum opus, Roots. Now, on the centenary of his birth, a former student recalls Haley’s class.”
FROM 2018: The Lifespan of a Lie (Sean)
The author writes, “The [Stanford Prison Experiment] is often used to teach the lesson that our behavior is profoundly affected by the social roles and situations in which we find ourselves. But its deeper, more disturbing implication is that we all have a wellspring of potential sadism lurking within us, waiting to be tapped by circumstance. It has been invoked to explain the massacre at My Lai during the Vietnam War, the Armenian genocide, and the horrors of the Holocaust. And the ultimate symbol of the agony that man helplessly inflicts on his brother is [Douglas] Korpi’s famous breakdown, set off after only 36 hours by the cruelty of his peers. There’s just one problem: Korpi’s breakdown was a sham.”
Social Vomit and Hairy Eyeballs: 10 Times Animals Grossed Us Out in 2021 (Dana)
The author writes, “Nature is beautiful — except when it’s not. In fact, sometimes it’s a little stomach-turning, or even downright horrific. In 2021, we saw plenty of examples that demonstrated just how gruesome nature could be. From sex-crazed zombies to tongue-gobbling parasites, here are some of the biggest gross-outs in science news this year.”
