“These Words Have Been Tested By Science To Get You To Vote,” BuzzFeed
Researchers are trying all kinds of things to figure out what kind of pressure to apply to voters to get them to vote. They find that door-knocking works. Threatening a follow-up call to ask how voting went works. Virtual “I Voted” buttons on social media work. Mailing you a voting report card that assigns a grade for civic participation to you and your neighbors (voting records are public) might be too creepy to work. Mailers? Meh. This story gives some insight as to why campaigns use some of the electioneering tactics we’ll all be bombarded with for the next four months. — Greta Kaul, data reporter
“New York’s sidewalks are so packed, pedestrians are taking to the streets,” New York Times
I envy those who walk to work. I’m tired of driving. But for pedestrians living in certain U.S. cities, as The New York Times writes, the experience can be frustrating. Indeed, major cities — including New York City, Seattle and San Francisco — struggle to manage crowded sidewalks, a gridlock that continues to force pedestrians to take to the streets. But city officials are responding to the growing problems by adding more plazas and expanding streets to alleviate the congestion. — Ibrahim Hirsi, workforce and immigration reporter.
“Beavis Was the Wokest Bae,” Mel Magazine
Brooklyn writer Alana Massey takes us back to 1990’s MTV to contrast the attitudes toward women exhibited by Mike Judge’s animated duo in “Beavis and Butt-head.” While the giggling, couch-squatting teenagers had similar tastes in music and junk food, Massey offers numerous anecdotes to argue for the feminist bona fides of Beavis, in contrast to Butt-head’s “toxic masculinity.” — Corey Anderson, web editor
“F*ck you, I’m not a millennial,” Medium
Although, personally, I don’t have a problem with being called a “millennial,” the distinction writer Patrick Hipp draws in this piece — between people who grew up alongside the Internet versus those who grew up taking it for granted (see also: ubiquitous cellphones) — feels right to me. If it means I don’t have to be associated with the most annoying cohort since the baby boomers, well, that’s just icing on the cake. — Tom Nehil, news editor
