MICROBIOME UPDATE: Phage news: “Phages are often described mainly in terms of the bacteria they kill. The new findings highlight another side of that relationship. When a virus destroys one microbe, the contents of that cell do not disappear. They become resources that other organisms can potentially use. In that sense, phages may act as microscopic nutrient recyclers, transferring valuable molecules from organisms that manufacture them to organisms that depend on scavenging.”

The gut microbiome team’s decision to be photographed on a toilet is . . . bold.

I FAVOR DEEP SQUATS: Feeling stiff and achy after sitting? Try the 3 best foam roller exercises for tight hips.

OUCH: 2026 Volkswagen Golf R Yearlong Update: Pothole Leads to a $2,400 Repair.

REVIEW: The New Benelli M2-G1 Tactical Shotgun.

LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: AI Will ‘Likely’ Beat Doctors At Key Medical Tasks By 2030.

VERNOR VINGE PREDICTED THIS: Amazon Caught Destroying Rare Books to Train AI.

IF I HAVE A LOCAL SURF BREAK IN TENNESSEE, SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG: Your Local Surf Break Is Part of Something Much Bigger.

I MAKE A POINT OF NAVIGATING WITHOUT GPS FOR THIS REASON: Being Less Dependent On GPS And Learning Your Surroundings Is Good For Your Brain.

RACE GRIFTERS GOTTA STICK TOGETHER: Ibram Kendi: Cambridge scholar Jason Arday was ‘lynched’ for being black.

Suicide after being exposed as a lying fraud is only “lynching” to, well, other members of the crowd.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: UAlbany’s ‘Inclusive Excellence’ staffers received more than $461K in 2025.

ICYMI: I REVIEW THE NEW, “IMPROVED” BURGER KING WHOPPER: It takes two hands (unless you’re me.)

TRUE:

Once again, it’s the people who purport to be hard-headedly realistic about the limits of political possibility who are so often proven wrong by events. Political reality is far less predictable than we like to believe. https://t.co/UtJzBvNEGR

— Adrian Vermeule (@Vermeullarmine) August 18, 2026

#JOURNALISM: Forbes Editor Who Threatened Firms Hiring Trump ‘Fabulists’ Fired After Secret $6M Payment. “Reading his virtue-signaling now about ‘truth reckoning’ in light of his own duplicitous violation of journalistic ethics is poetic justice.”

It’s corrupt hacks all the way down. Excuse me, did I say corrupt hacks? I meant corrupt sanctimonious hacks.

ADHERING TO OUR ENEMIES: James Talarico Voted Against Bills Targeting CCP Influence in Texas, Including Popular Measure Barring Chinese Nationals From Buying Farmland.

LEARNING WAS NEVER THE POINT: Matt Yglesias: Woke 1 is dead. We’ve learned nothing.

If it had been about learning there’d be no talk about Woke 2.0.

THEY’RE TRYING TO CLAIM THAT EVEN ASKING THE QUESTION IS TANTAMOUNT TO MURDER: How Endemic Is Fraud in Prestige Academia?

But the answer is “very.” And, as with the Bellesiles scandal in the early days of InstaPundit, the fellow guild members cover for the perp until doing so becomes utterly untenable.

SUNLIGHT IS THE BEST DISINFECTANT: A Liberal Journalist Just Exposed Fauci’s Toxic Relationship With the Media.

Toxic, corrupt, whatever.

I REVIEW THE NEW, “IMPROVED” BURGER KING WHOPPER: It takes two hands (unless you’re me.)

OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.

WELL, IT IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: NASA funds spherical ‘Aerobots’ that could explore the caves of Saturn’s moon Titan.

SENDING PRAYERS AND GOOD WISHES:

.@BradOnMessage is my dearest friend. Has been for 20 yrs. Wrote a bestseller together in & are in the process of writing our second when the rare cancer that stuck him 6 yrs ago did the unthinkable & came back–he's in surgery & could use all the prayers https://t.co/19leotcgHF

— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) August 18, 2026

This, by the way, is the Brad Todd who wrote that terrific 109 Minutes essay right after 9/11.

WELL, IT’S A GOOD THING: Ancient Humans May Have Evolved a Remarkable Trick to Survive The Last Ice Age.

SCIENCE, UNSETTLED: Rewriting History: Researchers Uncover a Forgotten Amazon Civilization That May Have Housed 3 Million People.

ANSWERING A QUESTION THAT NEVER OCCURRED TO ME: Is layering deodorants worth it? We asked dermatologists.

SPY WORLD: Your Car May Be Tracked Without You Ever Knowing: An Iowa policy tells deputies to avoid mentioning Flock license plate readers to drivers or in reports.