From mom-and-pop shops, the Halloween costume business has entered the same frightening stage as numerous industries: Familiar brand names are just masks, concealing a holding company or private equity firm underneath [@mdent05 @TheHustle]

The motel might seem like an ageless fixture of the American landscape, but in fact, this roadside mainstay didn’t exist before Dec. 12, 1925 [Megan McCrea @nytimes]

Heartbreaking. Exceptionally crafted look at the effort to pull minors from LA’s Figueroa Street - ‘the Blade’ - one of the most notorious underage sex-trafficking corridors in the United States [Emily Baumgaertner Nunn @nytimes]

Promising instant gratification to an economically eager audience, ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ has built a delirious new culture of consumption — and trapped users in a vortex of debt [@amyxwang @nytimes]

Everything you're being sold is framed as lower-friction and higher efficiency. Everything is about taking the hard and making it easy. But it's time for a harsh truth: The things that matter in life are hard to build [@SahilBloom]

I feel terrible for fans of the Jets, the poor downtrodden souls who didn’t ask for this, and can do nothing whatsoever to change the downhill direction of this misbegotten franchise ~ @jaybusbee [@YahooSports]

it’s easy to wonder how athletes with massive paychecks could jeopardize their entire careers by gambling. The truth that the same traits that make someone become a world-class athlete can make them vulnerable to a gambling addiction [@jaybusbee]

Misadventures in home cooking: There are lots of potential errors a home cook can make, whether mistaking a bulb of garlic for a clove or experimenting with a banana sauce for pork. Here are some culinary experiments to avoid [@guardian]

A group of Florida friends thought it would be fun to open a restaurant in the 1980s that “they couldn’t get kicked out of.” Now in their 70s, they’re buying back Hooters franchises with a plan to restore the brand [@chloesorvino @Forbes]

Morris Rosen, a survivor on a mission, left this world on December 12, 2020, in his adopted hometown of Baltimore, MD. His mission: To be a voice for those who died in the Holocaust [@iamscottenglish] https://t.co/VNLBRBEzfZ

From dodging bullets in the Black Sea to hiding from police in Tibet, Aina Cederblom lived life on her terms. Her daring, norm-breaking personality is why the museums have chosen to highlight her adventures [Malin Annie Jansson @atlasobscura]

People tend to hate meetings. Here are steps to take to make sure ones you plan are lousy - along with guidance on running good meetings. [@Leadershipfreak]

Kilian Jornet, a mountain-running legend, has just completed States of Elevation — scaling the 72 fourteeners in the contiguous US in a single month, running up each one and cycling between them [Andy Cochrane @guardian @kilianj]

Some inmates at Cedar Creek Corrections Center - a minimum-security prison outside Olympia WA - are part of a radical social experiment: that golf can serve as rehabilitation for those whom society would rather forget [@nickpia @YahooSports]

Pizza Hut's BOOK IT! initiative is a school-age children's reading program that’s been rewarding bookworms with free pizza since 1984. Kim Kelly looks back fondly at her family’s cleverness in gaming the promotion [@GrimKim @foodandwine]

Spam phishing texts seeking payment for unpaid tolls prompt victims to hand over credit-card information, which Chinese gangs use to buy gift cards and luxury goods [@bobmcmillan @WSJ]

When every cocktail is an experiment in novelty, ordering feels like a gamble. But if history teaches us anything, it’s that this era won’t last forever [@DavidWondrich @punch_drink]

The Michelin Guide’s lauding of lackluster restaurants has become so prevalent that experienced diners - bewildered to see stellar performers lose stars or get excluded altogether - have begun to turn elsewhere  [Christopher Cameron @RobbReport]

An intro to principles, practices & resources supporting Native American pedagogies from the @UofDenver Office of Teaching & Learning #IndigenousPeoplesDay https://t.co/tr0Lf4bseE

Names are gifts. Expressions of individuality & creativity by people who considered them deeply. Names are how history remembers you, which is why @tylrparkr ranked the best @NBA player names of the past 25 years [@ringer]