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It’s October. It’s chilly. And the times are solely getting shorter. Take a break from the information with me as I dive into my ever-growing cat obsession.
However first, listed below are three new tales from The Atlantic.
In Reward of Felines
Earlier than my partner and I married 4 years in the past, we made an essential pledge: From that time on, there would at all times be a minimum of two cats in our family.
As our marble tabbies, Calvin and Hobbes, can soundly attest, that promise has to date survived, and our relationship with it. We’re Cat Individuals and unafraid to share it. My partner wears a big pin to work that implores his (human) sufferers to “ask me about my cats.” Since becoming a member of The Atlantic simply over a 12 months and a half in the past, I’ve taken each alternative to put in writing about felines; no different animal, other than us awful people, has commanded extra of my consideration since. Our condo is cluttered with cat toys, our garments coated with a patina of grey and black fur. We cuddle our cats nightly, plan our holidays round them, and typically—okay, typically—abscond from social occasions early to spend extra time with them at residence. My partner and I sing to Calvin and Hobbes, and our record of absurd nicknames for them stretches dozens and dozens lengthy. And … yeah. We brush our boys’ enamel 3 times per week.
Life wasn’t at all times this manner. My partner and I each grew up as die-hard canine folks, however now, within the clear gentle of maturity, we’re a pair of cat converts. For me, a minimum of, it’s powerful to say precisely why. It’s potential that I’ve ingested a parasite that’s invaded my mind and fueled my feline obsession. However then once more, I see many causes to favor the feline. A part of it must be their luxurious fur; their super-silent, bean-padded paws; their fluid-like flexibility. Their vertically contracting pupils, their scritchy-scratchy tongues, their pleasantly pointy ears. Their love for laser pointers, their concern of cucumbers, their affinity for containers. I’m additionally most likely lured in by cats’ mysterious, melodic purrs—a type of communication that the majority different animals can’t mimic and that people battle to parse. And I’m undoubtedly gobsmacked by their skill to proper themselves inside a second or two of falling and so typically survive, even when the plunge is many tales excessive.
If I’m being fully trustworthy, possibly it’s the feline character that’s my private catnip. My cats are simply as cuddly as any canine I’ve ever had—most likely extra. They’re affectionate and personable; they arrive operating once we name; they greet us on the door. And each cat I’ve met has been such a definite particular person, such a character: bursting with sturdy opinions, clear-cut preferences, weird and memorable quirks. And people traits are steadfast. Whether or not they’re scared, joyful, suspicious, or confused, Calvin and Hobbes are at all times Calvin and Hobbes. I get that cats can typically be contrarian. I get that their outer shell can typically be powerful to crack. However for me, that makes all of them the extra fascinating. Their belief and affection is hard-won. So when it’s earned, it feels that rather more significant.
Associated:
Immediately’s Information
Dispatches
Night Learn
No One Desires a Pizzaburger
By Anand Giridharadas
In June 2014, Aleksandra Krylova and Anna Bogacheva arrived in the US on a clandestine mission. Krylova was a high-ranking official on the Web Analysis Company in St. Petersburg, Russia, an ostensibly non-public firm that was linked with Russian intelligence. Bogacheva, her highway buddy, a researcher and information cruncher, was extra junior. Their journey had been nicely plotted: a transcontinental itinerary, SIM playing cards, burner telephones, cameras, visas obtained underneath the pretense of non-public journey, and, simply in case, evacuation plans.
The ladies made stops in California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Texas, in response to a federal indictment issued years later. Past that, their actions will not be well-known. Their mission, nonetheless, is now public data: to assemble proof of situations in the US for a undertaking to destabilize its political system and society, utilizing the quite inconceivable weapon of tens of millions of social-media posts.
Extra From The Atlantic
Tradition Break
Learn. All Down Darkness Vast, a brand new memoir by the poet Seán Hewitt. It’s “a few of the most lovely prose I’ve learn in years,” Alexander Chee writes in his evaluate.
Watch. Comfortable spooky season! Strive a choose from our record of 25 horror films for each form of viewer.
P.S.
For one more break from the information, dive into the science behind the candy, beguiling pawpaw—a really American fruit that’s conspicuously absent from most grocery shops in the US.
— Katie
Isabel Fattal contributed to this text.
