The Weekly Wrap: July 20, 2025

Not even going to pretend. It was my birthday week and I decided to make it a week of minimal effort. That includes this intro. Let's get straight to the Wrap!

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• Learning the tastes in a glass of wine. [Wine Folly]
• It's about more than measles. [Your Local Epidemiologist]
• What the data actually says about childhood mortality. [ParentData]
• Phone etiquette is changing. [Business Insider]
• A linguist looks at internet speak. [Embedded]
  

• Garment making in the US probably doesn't look like what you think. [Planet Money]
• The many kitchens of Texas. [The Kitchen Sisters Present]
• Your music could sound better. [99% Invisible]
• This woman was amazing. [Atlas Obscura]
• The economics of cosplay. [The Indicator]

• The only thing on our screen this week was the Tour de France. I never thought I would be this interested in cycling. It's fascinating the watch the the strategy. Plus, Peacock does a great job of highlighting the sites and fans along the route. I think the hype about the competition between Pogacar and Vingegaard is a bit played out. It has been fun seeing other names like Ben Healy wear the yellow jersey. And, this year, I am all in on rooting for the American Quinn Simmons. I really hope he takes a stage win. [Peacock]

• I've really wanted to try a new fish recipe. This week, since I was inspired by the Tour, I decided to try Provençal baked fish with roasted potatoes and mushrooms. It was good but I feel like it could have been better. This fish (we used cod) was a bit lacking in flavor. I probably should have added some salt. It's also possible that our jar of herbes de Provenance was just stale. [Eating Well]
• Orzo with shrimp and olives turned out to be quite tasty. The pasta itself was good, but tossing the tzatziki in the bowl really pushes the flavor on this one over the top. If you don't have tzatziki, I think adding feta would work in a pinch. In terms of cooking, DC is in the midst of another heat and I did not want to turn on the broiler. I cooked the shrimp mixture in a pan on the stove. Worked out just fine. [Real Simple]