The wild history of “Silent Night” (America Magazine)
by Edward W. Schmidt
“Silent Night” is a 200-year-old carol written by an Austrian priest in gratitude for a respite from violence. Since then, it has been translated into 300 languages and used by everyone from beer merchants to Nazis.

Just how risky is raw cookie dough? (The Cut)
by Amanda Arnold
We all know eating raw cookie dough is a bad idea. But just how bad, exactly? And how does it compare to, say, romaine lettuce? Maybe the ubiquitous warnings have less to do with salmonella than the fact that cookies—pre- or post-oven—are a guilty treat to begin with.

The rise of alpha-gal allergies (Mosaic)
by Maryn McKenna
When people in particular places started getting sick after smelling sizzling bacon, or putting on wool sweaters, or taking a cancer medicine made with mouse cells, the fault turned out to lie in a weird allergy. As ticks spread to new territories, the situation is getting worse.

To stop poverty, first find it (The Washington Post)
by Leif Brottem
In Africa’s Sahel region, rural villages desperately need schools, wells, and birthing clinics. But these villages aren’t really villages at all. They’re settlements made up of mobile groups with complex political relations. That makes it hard for technocrats to direct resources where they’re needed.

Do we need the state to fight climate change? (Public Books)
by Geoff Mann and Joel Wainwright
To fight off devastating climate change, it seems obvious that the governments of the most-polluting nations must take action. But there’s little reason to believe they’ll do it. Is there a way to stave off disaster in the absence of a responsible state?

Got a hot tip about a well-researched story that belongs on this list? Email us here.