- 281. That's how many concussions the NFL is reporting in the pre-season and regular season games for last year.
- If the gravity of that number doesn't grab your attention, perhaps this short film from data artist Josh Begley and produced by Laura Poitras ("CitizenFour") — with its borderline-religious imagery depicting slow-motion concussion impacts occurring in reverse — can get you thinking about how you feel about the current state of football, given what we know now about traumatic head injury.
- That said, feeling ambivalent about the big game itself doesn't mean you need to deprive yourself of horribly delicious game day foods. Anne will be making Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas for the Super Bowl, thanks to this Chowhound column.
- This excerpt from Chloe Benjamin’s new novel, "The Immortalists." Reading it is what made Anne want to interview her for our next new show, which is all about magic.
- This New York Times reporting on the legacy of the Los Angeles Times as a social unifier is especially important in a sprawling city like LA. It's a great read on how media can provide a sense of place in a sprawling metropolis, and what happens when that goes away.
- “We talk about the history of slavery in this country and it feels so abstract. But genetic ancestry testing can make it very personal.” Social scientist Alondra Nelson on the complicated but invaluable context that DNA testing offers African-Americans seeking to learn more about their family tree.