D-Day tricks and modern spycraft (The Washington Post)
by Danielle Lupton
Tricks and secrecy were crucial elements of the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Seventy-five years later, reconnaissance satellites, drones, and social media make a strategy like that impossible to replicate.

Gourds were stages for private cricket concerts (Atlas Obscura)
by Claire Voon
Since the Tang Dynasty, some Chinese people have prized domesticated crickets for their songs. Artisans designed specially grown and intricately decorated gourds with the perfect acoustics to showcase the tiny musicians.

What does it mean to be a “modern lesbian”? (Longreads)
by Jeanna Kadlec
Anne Lister, the inspiration for the show Gentleman Jack, is sometimes called the first modern lesbian. What does that mean for our understanding of Lister and other women who loved, married, and had sex with women before the twentieth century?

Dancing toward understanding (Aeon)
by Kimerer LaMothe
Every human culture has a dance tradition. But why? Imitating and creating movements together may be a key to human survival and continuing adaptation.

Elephants have an astonishing sense of smell (The New York Times)
by Veronique Greenwood
When researchers want to see how well animals can estimate quantities, they typically give them two sets of objects to look at. But elephants can figure it out even with closed containers, just by sniffing with their trunks.

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