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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Light Take: Watch These ‘Walking’ Corals Strut Their Stuff (Maria)
The author writes, “Corals may seem like homebodies, rooting themselves to the sea floor and swaying gently in the current to catch passing zooplankton. Yet some species are wanderers and drifters. … Exactly how these animals move, however, has remained obscure. Do they ‘hitchhike’ on the bodies of other organisms? Do they let water currents inflate their tissues like wind filling a sail? Now, research published today in PLOS One has revealed the answer for one species: The disc coral (Cycloseris cyclolites) rolls, slides and pulses its dome-shaped body to ‘walk’ in the direction of a light source.”
Federal Employees Are Told to Name Colleagues Who Work in DEI Roles or Risk ‘Adverse Consequences’ (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “Federal employees received emails Wednesday warning that they could face repercussions if they do not report on co-workers who work in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility positions that might have gone unnoticed by government supervisors. … ‘There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information,’ the email said. ‘However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences.’”
Greenland Is Not for Sale (Dana)
From Jacobin: “Donald Trump says Greenland should be part of the US, while Denmark insists it won’t happen. But Greenlanders have dreams of their own: economic independence and freedom from foreign control.”
Why Did the US Block a Canadian Professor From His Own Book Event? (Reader Steve)
From The Nation: “Friday evening was supposed to offer a political respite. I was set to interview two authors … about a topic dear to readers of this column: the moral emptiness of the NCAA. Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva, both professors in Canada, have written a provocative book called The End of College Football. What a temporary relief it would be to talk about the courage of the people speaking out against the rank exploitation of young athletes. There was one problem: The US denied Kalman-Lamb entry. Kalman-Lamb had woken up at 2:30 am in Fredericton, the capital city of New Brunswick, to catch his flight to Montreal, where he planned to transfer to DC. But in Montreal, he had no idea what was about to happen as he approached customs: ‘I experienced something I have never had happen nor witnessed before: An airport employee strode forward to intercept me before I could enter the line.’”
We Have Enough Stuff. No-Buy 2025 Offers Other Ways To Fill the Void (Laura)
The author writes, “The no-buy conversation feels like a kind of counterprogramming against the overwhelming force of overt and covert advertising. On social media, it is a conversation dominated by women. Creators document their no-buy and low-buy years, sharing their tips and their savings. They subvert the aesthetic demands of social media by making content about ‘underconsumption core’ (buying less stuff).”
Study Finds Physical Activity Reduces Chronic Disease Risk (Mili)
The author writes, “University of Iowa researchers are recommending all patients be surveyed about their physical activity levels, after a new study underscores the link between physical activity and chronic disease. … From patients’ answers to the questionnaire, the researchers found that those who reported the highest level of physical activity — meaning they exercised moderately to vigorously at least 150 minutes per week — were at statistically significant lower risk of having 19 chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease, and diabetes.”
The French Modernists Loathed and Loved the Mass Media of Their Day (Sean)
From Aeon: “In the 1860s, Charles Baudelaire bemoaned what we might now call doomscrolling. The poet’s revulsion was widely shared in 19th-century France. Amid rapid increases in circulation, newspapers were depicted as a virus or narcotic responsible for collective neurosis, overexcitement and lowered productivity. Criminality was blamed on the suggestive effects of lurid crime reports. And many writers concluded that the newspaper would soon kill off the book and imaginative literature altogether. … But French writers’ loathing of journalism was underlain by a fundamental tension: those who criticised the press most vehemently were themselves journalists.”
