Roanoke Colony’s disappearance was never a mystery (Vice)
by Matthew Gault
People have long speculated about the “mysterious” disappearance of Roanoke Colony. A new book provides evidence for an answer that was obvious to many all along, but obscured by anti-Native prejudice.

What is it like to be bored? (The New Yorker)
by Margaret Talbot
For some of us, 2020 may be the year of boredom. But what is that state of being, really? Neuroscientists, novelists, and philosophers give us many ways to look at this “clogged, gray lint screen of a feeling.”

How Black doctors save Black babies (CNN)
by Rob Picheta
The mortality rate for Black American babies is horrifyingly high. A new study suggests something that dramatically changes things: Black doctors.

Another 2020 breathing hazard (The Conversation)
by Luke Montrose
As if we needed another reason to worry about what we’re breathing in, California wildfires are filling the air with pollution. How does this kind of respiratory danger compare with, and interact with, the threat of COVID-19?

The stories public radio doesn’t play (The American Prospect)
by Laura Garbes
What don’t we hear when we tune in to our local NPR station? One sociologist finds that the answer has a lot to do with editors’ views of what a very specific audience demographic is receptive to.

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