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.
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How Young Salmon Navigate Gauntlet of Danger En Route to Sea (Maria)
The author writes, “For young salmon, the journey along the San Joaquin River in Central California is no small feat. Every spring and fall, thousands of these fish — each as long as a pinky finger — embark on a 350-mile race, swimming day and night and dodging predators along the way to reach the Pacific Ocean. But less than 5% survive the journey, and in some years, hardly any make it. … In a new Colorado University Boulder-led study, researchers reveal how these salmon learn to swim in different parts of the river at different times of day to avoid predators and conserve energy.”
Mass Deportations Could Disrupt US Food Supply Chain, Experts Say (Dana)
The author writes, “As the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigrants across the U.S., the nation’s food supply chain could face the same challenges the United Kingdom encountered when it left the European Union in January 2020. Brexit, the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU, disrupted the country’s labor pool and created instability across the agriculture and food supply chains, according to Barbara Guignard, a principal at Efficio. ‘Trump’s plans to crack down on illegal immigration in the U.S. strongly remind me of what happened with Brexit. When the UK chose to restrict access to immigrant labor, it created a major crisis in the agricultural sector.’”
A Mystery Illness in Congo Has Killed More Than 50 People Hours After They Felt Sick (Sean)
From the AP: “An unknown illness first discovered in three children who ate a bat has rapidly killed more than 50 people in northwestern Congo over the past five weeks, health experts say. The interval between the onset of symptoms – which include fever, vomiting, and internal bleeding – and death has been 48 hours in most cases. … These ‘hemorrhagic fever’ symptoms are commonly linked to known deadly viruses, such as Ebola, dengue, Marbur,g and yellow fever, but researchers have ruled these out based on tests of more than a dozen samples collected so far.”
How a Mid-Level Staffer Rose To Oversee the Social Security Administration Within Days (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “Last week, Leland Dudek, a mid-level career employee at the Social Security Administration, posted on LinkedIn that he was placed on administrative leave for cooperating with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and asked for help finding another job. Days later, courtesy of President Donald Trump, he had one: Social Security’s acting commissioner. He replaced Michelle King, an agency staffer with decades of experience who resigned last weekend after tussling with DOGE representatives over access to Social Security’s sensitive records. She is one of several high-ranking career officials across the federal government who have departed over concerns about DOGE staffers’ potential access to federal databases with Americans’ private information, which has also sparked lawsuits.”
Clint Hill May Have Been the Most Tormented Man in America. Here’s Why (Reader Steve)
From the San Francisco Chronicle: “On Nov. 22, 1963, 31-year-old US Secret Service agent Clint Hill was riding on the left front running board of a Secret Service follow-up Cadillac called the ‘Queen Mary’ through the streets of Dallas. As the Queen Mary turned left onto Elm Street from Houston Street, Hill was watching President John F. Kennedy and his protectee, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, in the limo immediately ahead. … Hill was staring directly at the first couple as the next shot hit the president in the back and passed through his throat. The motorcade was going about 11 mph and Hill jumped off the running board to dash to the Lincoln, which had a rear platform for agents to stand on and two large handles mounted on the trunk. By the time Hill got to the car, about five seconds after that shot, it was already too late.”
America Needs a Working-Class Media (Laura)
From the Columbia Journalism Review: “What would that media look like? It would be one where economic reporters are embedded in blue-collar communities and neighborhoods rather than financial districts, and source networks built around people with direct experience instead of outside analysts. Centering inflation coverage around wage stagnation rather than the stock market and written for people who live paycheck to paycheck. Healthcare reporting would be conducted by those who have experienced medical debt. Labor reporting that represents workers not as mute sufferers but as true experts. Housing that is considered from the perspective of the renter, not the landlord or developer.”
North Korea Steals $1.5B as It Pulls off World’s Biggest Ever Heist (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “State-backed North Korean hackers have stolen $1.5bn (£1.2bn) of cryptocurrency in the largest heist in history. Agents from Pyongyang were able to breach the systems of Dubai-based exchange Bybit to steal the digital coin Ether, according to security analysts. The hackers stole more cryptocurrency in one attack than all the funds stolen by North Korean cyber criminals in 2024, when the rogue state’s cyber attackers made off with around $1.3bn in digital coins, according to cryptocurrency analysts Chainalysis. The $1.5bn total eclipses the largest known bank theft of all time, when Saddam Hussein stole $1bn from the Iraqi central bank ahead of the Iraq War in 2003.”
