Covid-19 cases are already rising in Europe, a trend that has preceded waves of infection in the US in the past.

The key question: Just how deadly will Covid-19 be this winter? vox.com/science-and-he… What’s changed in the past two years is that far more people have been vaccinated and exposed to Covid-19 by now, which means most people now have some degree of protection, which lowers the likelihood of dying from it. But that’s not enough to absorb another wave of misery.

1/ Today, our Vox Conversations podcast officially relaunches as The Gray Area, a philosophical take on culture, politics, and everything in between with host @seanilling. link.chtbl.com/thegrayarea 2/ First up on The Gray Area: @neiltyson joins @seanilling to explain why Tyson thinks scientific illiteracy is a political crisis and what he thinks it'll take to achieve a more informed democracy. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nei…

Hurricane Ian is expected to have a "catastrophic" storm surge.

Storm surge occurs when a hurricane’s winds raise ocean water levels and sweep them inland, leading to flooding. This is often the deadliest part of a hurricane. Ian is also projected to drench parts of Florida, even further inland, with as much as 25 inches of rainfall. Floodwaters could linger for days.

In some parts of Florida, like Tampa, Ian pulled water away from the ocean shores, an effect called a reverse storm surge.

The Supreme Court’s Republican-appointed supermajority seems poised to deal a blow to the Clean Water Act, in a case that could do harm to America’s efforts to prevent floods and to ensure that everyone in the country has access to safe drinking water. vox.com/policy-and-pol… The Clean Water Act prohibits “discharge of pollutants” into “navigable waters.” But it also defines the term “navigable waters” vaguely and counterintuitively, to include all “waters of the US, including the territorial seas.” vox.com/policy-and-pol…

Public schools are fully reopened and most pandemic-era restrictions are now relaxed. But working conditions for families with kids who need child care are not back to normal. vox.com/policy-and-pol… For workers and parents, already-grim trends in child care have only gotten worse since the pandemic began. Program costs have increased, while waiting lists in several states number in the tens of thousands. vox.com/policy-and-pol…

This term, a potentially even more consequential issue than abortion rights is on the Supreme Court’s docket: democracy itself. @imillhiser explains: vox.com/policy-and-pol… A single case, Moore v. Harper, threatens to fundamentally rewrite the rules governing federal elections, potentially giving state legislatures (some of which are highly gerrymandered themselves) nearly limitless power to skew those elections. vox.com/policy-and-pol…

A medida que se acercan las elecciones intermedias, los investigadores y académicos avisan que la desinformación en las comunidades latinas se está generalizando y que cada vez es más difícil de separar la información errónea del discurso político. vox.com/policy-and-pol… Impulsados por los chats grupales de Facebook, WhatsApp y Telegram, las transmisiones de radio y YouTube, los latinos enfrentan una avalancha de información exagerada y falsa que solo ha empeorado desde 2020. vox.com/policy-and-pol…

As the 2022 midterm elections approach, researchers and academics warn misinformation in Latino communities is becoming more widespread — and that it’s getting harder to separate misinformation from standard political speech. vox.com/the-highlight/… Fueled by Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram group chats, radio and YouTube broadcasts, Latinos are facing a deluge of misleading, exaggerated, and false information that's only gotten worse since 2020. vox.com/the-highlight/…

Every election year, plenty of Americans, especially political pundits, rediscover the “sleeping giant” that is the Latino electorate.

How do you begin to explore the complexities, contradictions, and future of 32 million Latino voters? vox.com/features/23353… Latino and Hispanic Americans represent about 1 of every 5 people living in the US right now. As the largest minority voting group, they stand to make up about 1 in 10 eligible voters in this year’s midterm elections. vox.com/the-highlight/…

After more than 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, died last week on September 8.

Her death marks the end of the second Elizabethan era and the beginning of a period of public mourning for the UK. vox.com/culture/2022/9… The queen’s funeral was the first state funeral since Winston Churchill’s in 1965. Global leaders gathered in London to pay their respects. vox.com/culture/233538…

Prince Charles is now officially king.

His reign begins at a very uncertain time for Great Britain — and the world. Here’s how he might rule: vox.com/world/2022/9/8… Charles has a public record going back 70 years. He’s had scandals, of course, including his separation from Princess Diana. He also has publicly embraced causes, from the defense of fox hunting to alternative medicine to organic farming. vox.com/world/2022/9/8…

Nancy Pelosi and a delegation of five House Democrats landed in Taiwan on Tuesday and on Wednesday met with President Tsai Ing-wen, and other leaders and lawmakers. vox.com/2022/7/26/2327… In a show of force on Thursday, China conducted military activities, firing missiles and other live-fire trainings, in waters close to Taiwan. vox.com/2022/7/26/2327…

There’s one policy the US can pass today that can also save lives: stopping utility shutoffs in the summertime because a customer has missed one or more payments. vox.com/science-and-he… Right now, only 18 states have any protections that prevent utilities from shutting off a customer’s power in a heat wave because of missed payments, while 41 states have these protections for the cold. vox.com/science-and-he…

It’s an ironic Catch-22: Your job is sapping your energy to the point where you can’t muster the strength to look for a new one. So what are you supposed to do?

We spoke with several experts for tips on how to preserve your energy and look for your next role. Before jumping onto job boards, first determine what’s causing your burnout, says @JenLeighMoss, author of The Burnout Epidemic.

Today in Kansas, abortion rights is facing the first test at the polls since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. vox.com/23273455/kansa… In 2019, Kansas’s Supreme Court ruled that the state’s constitution protects the right to an abortion.

Now voters are asked to weigh in on a proposed amendment that would explicitly remove that right. vox.com/23273455/kansa…

Nancy Pelosi and a delegation of five House Democrats landed in Taiwan.

The visit, the first from a sitting speaker of the House in 25 years, brings new attention to the balancing act of how the US handles the status of Taiwan. vox.com/2022/7/26/2327… It’s a complex policy filled with diplomatic nuance, in an attempt to smooth relations with China while also supporting Taiwan against Chinese aggression. vox.com/2022/7/26/2327…

1/ They are easy to miss at first, unless you’re looking for them. But then you start to see them everywhere: the roadside memorials for people killed along US-19.

Located in Pasco County, Florida, US-19 is the deadliest road in America. vox.com/23178764/flori… 2/ Amid a rise in pedestrian deaths across the country, Robert Schneider, a professor of urban planning at the @UWM, and 3 of his colleagues decided to look at the data on pedestrian deaths to try to find out where they were happening most frequently.

vox.com/23178764/flori…

Matt Pottinger served four years on President Donald Trump’s National Security Council, including 15 months as deputy adviser, and then resigned mid-insurrection. vox.com/22868518/rehab… “The events of that day, January 6, were for me a red line. Decided that it was time to go, and I resigned that afternoon,” he said six months later. But he hasn’t said much about it since then. vox.com/22868518/rehab…

BA.5 is driving up new cases, reinfections, and hospitalizations in the US.

The CDC estimates that the omicron subvariant now accounts for more than 60% of all new Covid infections across the country. vox.com/23200811/covid… The subvariant may be the most contagious version of the virus to date.

A new study suggests it may be 4x more vaccine-resistant than previous omicron subvariant BA.2, though there’s no evidence it causes more severe disease. vox.com/23200811/covid…

1/ Land of the Giants from @recode and @verge is back!

This season, @shiringhaffary and @alexeheath tell the story of Meta at a pivotal moment — both for the tech giant and for the billions of people who use its products.

vox.com/2022/7/6/23196… 2/ The new season of Land of the Giants will bring you original reporting on Meta’s current challenges and the future it’s building; the show will also explore critical moments from its origin as a scrappy startup to its current status as a tech behemoth. link.chtbl.com/LOTGFacebook?s…

Seeing stars? The “deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far,” captured by @NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, is taking everyone’s breath away.

vox.com/science-and-he… But what makes the #JWST so special? In December, Vox’s @JossFong sat down with @astraughnomer to build a model of the telescope and explore its extraordinary design: