Defining America in 25 objects, including the Red Solo Cup and the Ring Doorbell Camera. My favorite is the Costco roast chicken, where somewhere in America that isn’t Alaska it only costs $4.99. (NYT gift link)

This week’s time sink, and you’re welcome. What the heck, I went ahead and requested Though Not Dead, the 18th Kate Shugak novel, when Old Sam sends Kate on a scavenger hunt through the past 100 years of Alaskan history. I’ll let you know if they take me up on it.

Quote: “While grid battery storage is already growing in the U.S. at a furious pace, new sodium-based batteries are potentially cheaper, longer-lasting, safer and more reliable than conventional, lithium-based ones. They could accelerate the rollout of renewables, and be part of less-polluting alternatives to natural-gas turbines and diesel generators.” (WSJ gift link)

Trump, with the able assistance of the Republican Party (take a bow, Dan and Lisa and The Latest Begich!), is intellectually bankrupting the USA. Makes sense, as bankruptcy has always been Trump’s superpower. The good news is the work will go on. The bad news is it just won’t go on here. (IFLA)

The teenage girls behind a $25 minimum wage fight in rural Alaska
“The idea took hold earlier this year when the six young women were invited to a conference in California as part of a Native youth leadership group they’d joined at their high school. There, they listened to Saru Jayaraman, who heads a national effort to raise the minimum wage, speak about the work being done city by city to secure higher pay. They kept looking at each other as she spoke. We should do this in Nome, they thought.” You go, girls! (Alaska Beacon)

Quote for the times

Sam Altman shared a parenting idea on social media the other day. “cool use case of chatgpt work i heard last night: connect your family calendars and explain your kids’ interests. every morning for the drive to school, have it make a podcast that talks about one kid’s soccer game that afternoon, one kid’s upcoming birthday, some news, etc.” Most of the responses were like the one from TV creator Alex Hirsch, who asked: “What if you just talked to your children?” —Dave Pell

Outro…in memoriam.

Chatter Lagniappe Sunday America in 25 Objects minimum wage in Nome O Canada Project Brain Drain North Reading Maps sodium batteries