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Dec. 14, 2025, 9:54 a.m.

Perfect Sentences, 155

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Perhaps all they are preventing is the possibility of their own credibility.

"On Becoming a Cop-Hater", Joan Didion

As quoted in an essay by Scott Saul for Dispatches.


Some people open mouth cough, and that’s just how it is.

"Everyone is Gambling and No One is Happy", Kyla Scanlon for her newsletter

Submitted by Kyla (Kyla K., not Kyla Scanlon).


Unlike dolphins, soil has never featured in movies or TV shows and is not broadly understood as ecologically valuable.

"Unsettled Ground", Lynette Widder for Urban Omnibus

I don't know if I fully agree with this (I thought the ecological value of soil was pretty known?) but the "unlike dolphins" is very good here, as though visibility in popular culture is the main distinguishing factor between dolphins and soil.


From a political perspective, it is probably easier to control people who are interested in furniture and wallpaper than people who are interested in clothes.

The Art of Social Relations: Essays on Culture, Social Action, and Everyday Life in Modern Norway, Marianne Gullestad

Submitted by Evan.


Golf isn’t making headlines about how it’s upending entire industries, or causing mass psychosis, or keeping coal plants open—or how we could all be facing an economic catastrophe if the market for golf bottoms out.

"You're Thinking About AI and Water All Wrong", Molly Taft for Wired

The title and use of a photo of Karen Hao as header art for this piece makes it seem like you're about to read a hit piece fueling pro-AI takes, but it's actually a pretty nuanced assessment of the fact that so much data center resource use remains very opaque to the public.


He was older and cooler than me — charismatic in an annoying, effortless way — and so I believed him.

"‘Going to the World Cup’ used to be something ordinary people did. Not with these ticket prices", Sebastian Stafford-Bloor for The Athletic

Submitted by craig.


Sisterhood is built of many things, but sometimes it's also about the man who splits your head open.

"Betrothed: Sister Wifing the Self-Reflexive", Venus Stevens for The Whitney Review of New Writing 005


Despite its name, the Jerusalem artichoke has no relationship to Jerusalem, and it is not a type of artichoke, though the two are distantly related as members of the daisy family.

Wikipedia entry for Jerusalem artichoke

Submitted by Natalie.

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