Swizzling into Sunday
It’s been a while, but I’m back. Apologies for leaving your inbox bereft of articles to read and cocktails to mix. When not enjoying the tail end of summer with bike rides and visits to restaurant patios, I’ve had my head down with writing. Most of this has yet to be published, but I do have a new piece for you, and it’s a big one.
Visiting Philip Morris International’s research and development headquarters isn’t what most people would plan their summer vacations around, but when I was invited to meet with the company’s scientists in Neuchatel, Switzerland, last year, I decided it was a good opportunity to research some stories while enjoying travel in northern Europe. (All on my own dime, to be clear.) That experience informed the first part of my new feature at Arc Digital on “The Future of Tobacco.” It’s about the innovative products that will eventually replace the cigarette, how big tobacco companies use the power of government to suppress competition, and the broken culture of American tobacco control. It’s also about how to prevent the millions of annual deaths caused by smoking without resorting to stigma, alarmism, and coercion, and what America can learn from the Swedish experience. The story covers a lot of ground and I think it’s an important corrective to the way these subjects are typically reported. Read it here.
(My earlier story on The Last Tobacco Farm in Denmark, also at Arc Digital, came out of the same trip. Read that one, too, if you missed it. The two are thematically related, and they’re my favorite things I’ve written this year.)
Recommended reading
There’s a ton to catch up on, so here’s a quick grab bag of articles that have stood out for me recently…
You’ve probably read potentially worrying reports about people being re-infected with COVID. Heidi Ledford at Nature looks into what that might mean for the course of the virus and the development of vaccines.
You’ve probably also read about the new rapid test from Abbott. Two articles at The Atlantic explain how rapid widespread testing could help us get back to normal living while we wait for a vaccine, and why this test doesn’t get us there quite yet.
On politics, Ezra Klein wonders how to respond to the “eerie stability” of Trump’s (admittedly low) approval ratings in the face of 200,000 dead Americans and economic disaster. And this interview with David Shor on the next decade of American elections is interesting throughout.
The fusionism that once uneasily allied libertarians with the GOP was on the ropes before Trump, but he’s finished the job of killing it off. Reason editor Stephanie Slade covers how Republicans have turned their backs on free markets; Bonnie Kristian at The Week rebuts Trump’s claim to being “somewhat libertarian” and the perception that libertarians belong to the right.
Portland is now past 100 consecutive days of protest. Sarah Jeong has a worthwhile piece detailing why they’ve gone on for so long and with such intensity.
Also on protests, I recommend this piece by Cathy Young on “Guillotine Chic,” the bloodstained history of the French Revolution, and why the left should not adopt the guillotine as a symbol.
Social distancing
To read: I couldn’t put down This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. If you’re up for a creative love story told through letters, wrapped in a time-traveling sci-fi adventure, I suspect you’ll enjoy it. I’m also looking forward to picking up Children of Ash and Elm, a new history of the Vikings. Rebecca Onion has a review at Slate.
To listen: Ooh, a new album from Bill Callahan.
To drink: Finally, the part 90% of you have been scrolling down for! Brett and I have been hard at work on our book, which is how the following drink came about. We’re mindful of including options for vodka, even though it’s not an ingredient we often reach for ourselves. Yet the spirit mixes well when used to lighten and lengthen particularly potent ingredients. We put it to work in this Coast City Swizzle with the very green ingredients Chartreuse, lime, and fresh mint. It’s an ideal drink for the end of summer, especially if you happen to have some mint left over from Kentucky Derby juleps.
1 oz vodka
1/2 oz green Chartreuse
1/2 oz lime juice
1/4 oz rich simple syrup (2:1 sugar to water)
6-8 mint leaves
soda
mint sprigs, for garnish
Combine everything in a tall glass and fill with crushed ice. Swizzle it with a swizzle stick or barspoon, mixing everything together and expressing the mint leaves against the side of the glass. Add more mint on top for an aromatic garnish, sip it through a straw, and enjoy the last of our hot summer days.
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