Up to date with new questions at 3:45 p.m. ET on February 11, 2026.
You gained’t discover this in Cortina d’Ampezzo over the following few weeks, however for a number of a long time of the Olympics’ historical past, the competition awarded medals not only for sport however for artwork too.
Within the Summer time Video games from 1912 to 1948, musicians, painters, and loads of different aesthetes went brain-to-brain in occasions comparable to lyric poetry and chamber music. “City planning” was even contested one yr underneath the umbrella of the structure competitors.
Lest you assume the humanities’ inclusion odd—one wonders what muscle groups want stretching earlier than going for gold in watercolor—the submissions needed to be a minimum of about sports activities.
The Olympic committee must deliver these occasions again. Nicely, possibly not city planning—however add trivia to the combination as a substitute. Organizers can throw in a couple of sports activities questions for good measure, however with trivia, if you happen to’re not working up a sweat considering, you’re not doing it proper.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2026
- Years earlier than founding a humanitarian group, what battlefield nurse helped set up a cemetery for troopers who died on the Accomplice jail camp in Andersonville, Georgia?
— From Drew Gilpin Faust’s evaluation of a brand new e book on the Civil Struggle’s atrocious prisons - America’ 924 richest folks would really feel proper at house residing within the luxe three-block size of San Francisco identified by what nickname shared with an analogous stretch of New York’s 57th Road?
— From Matteo Wong’s dispatch from a topsy-turvy protest defending the ultrawealthy - The inverted-pyramid form of Dallas Metropolis Corridor was designed by what Chinese language American architect extra well-known for a right-side-up pyramid in Paris?
— From Henry Grabar’s article on the atrophying of Dallas’s metropolis middle
And by the best way, do you know that the Andersonville jail popularized the phrase deadline? Earlier than it got here to imply “due date,” the phrase had a gory, literal that means: Prisoners at Andersonville and camps prefer it who crossed a sure boundary marked on the bottom—the deadline—could be shot with out warning. As dispatches emerged from Andersonville towards the top of the Civil Struggle, understanding of (and horror at) the time period rapidly unfold.
By the Nineteen Twenties, newspapers had taken up the “don’t cross” that means to explain the time by which they needed to finalize their subsequent version, and the remainder of the world took the papers’ lead.
Till tomorrow.
Solutions:
- Clara Barton. From the e book, Faust pulls out the element that 3 times as many Union troopers died at Andersonville as on the Battle of Gettysburg; practically 13,000 males, Faust writes, are buried within the cemetery arrange by Barton, who went on to discovered the American Crimson Cross. Faust traces how the jail camps’ cruelty led to the creation of worldwide humanitarian regulation. Learn extra.
- Billionaires’ Row. This was the start line of a latest protest demanding higher therapy for billionaires, writes Matteo, who spent appreciable effort ensuring the entire thing wasn’t a hoax. Honest demonstrators confirmed up, he writes, however by the top of their march, their chanting had virtually converged with the slogans shouted by these mocking them. Learn extra.
- I. M. Pei. Whereas the Louvre’s glass pyramid is in no hazard of disappearing, Dallas leaders have mentioned that Pei’s pioneering Metropolis Corridor “is in such unhealthy form that the town could be higher off tearing it down,” Henry studies. He writes that it’s a textbook instance of a downtown being destroyed by individuals who don’t perceive downtowns. Learn extra.
How did you do? Come again tomorrow for extra questions, and if you happen to assume up a fantastic query after studying an Atlantic story—or just need to share a reality—ship it my approach at [email protected].
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
- The inaugural Golden Globe for Finest Podcast was awarded final month to Good Hold, hosted by what comic (and four-time Golden Globes emcee)?
— From David Sims’s evaluate of the primary episodes of Pete Davidson’s new podcast - On the opening ceremony of this yr’s Winter Olympics, the musician Giovanni Andrea Zanon performed a 300-year-old violin constructed by what grasp famed for his long-lasting string devices?
— From Ellen Cushing’s article on the retro really feel of the Olympic kickoff - Within the capital metropolis Ashgabat, a 40-foot-tall golden statue honors Saparmurat Niyazov, former president of what nation?
— From Gal Beckerman’s essay on President Trump’s monuments to himself
And by the best way, do you know that—properly, the place to start with Ashgabat? The large statue of Niyazov is, like, the ninth factor you discover in regards to the metropolis.
All of the marble hits guests first. The capital has practically 550 buildings clad in white marble, the very best focus anyplace on the earth. Mix that with the desert setting and the extensive avenues that worldwide guests report as spotless and eerily empty, and also you get an otherworldly impact.
Hoping to get across the ghostly metropolis? Get pleasure from your journey in a white automotive; darkly coloured vehicles are outlawed. You may head to the airport modeled on a flying white falcon, or to the world’s largest enclosed Ferris wheel, fabricated from white metal. There’s additionally the huge (white) Palace of Happiness, which may accommodate seven weddings directly. And in case you have been questioning, brides within the nation usually put on—received you right here!—purple.
Solutions:
- Amy Poehler. To start with, David isn’t actually positive that Davidson’s new mission is a “podcast”: You may watch it solely on video and, then, solely on Netflix. But when we’re judging it as a podcast, then we must always decide it a failure, David says—too slack, too slouch. Celebrities hanging out doesn’t all the time successful podcast make. Learn extra.
- Antonio Stradivari. His devices—every of which is named a Stradivarius—are a core a part of Italy’s heritage, which skews very, very outdated; Ellen writes that Italy is “a rustic whose best-known cultural influences lived in the course of the Renaissance.” However she imagines that’s not the only purpose this Video games’ opening present was so targeted on the previous. Learn extra.
- Turkmenistan. If the dimensions of the statue that Niyazov constructed doesn’t telegraph his opinion of himself, take into account that it used to rotate 360 levels day by day in order that it all the time confronted the solar. Likewise, Gal writes, Trump’s intuition to monumentalize himself is clarifying—and alienating—for anyone watching. Learn extra.
Monday, February 9, 2026
- What’s the identify—all too acquainted to athletes—of the knee ligament between the femur and tibia that acts as a stabilizer for pivoting motions?
— From Sally Jenkins’s essay on Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic spill on the ski slopes - The custom of crotch-related controversies on the Tremendous Bowl halftime present might be traced to the 2007 efficiency by what artist (or “the artist previously referred to as” what)?
— From Spencer Kornhaber’s article on Dangerous Bunny’s buoyant efficiency - Regardless of its identify, what beverage really incorporates solely 3.25 p.c fats, slightly than the complete 4 p.c or extra that naturally happens?
— From Sarah Zhang’s article on what occurs to all that further fats
And by the best way, do you know that people have a bone that doesn’t hook up with another? We consider the skeleton as fairly contiguous, however in the midst of the neck, the hyoid bone, which helps the bottom of the tongue, is articulated solely distantly to the remainder of the skeleton by muscle groups and ligaments. It’s, as scientists name it, a “floating bone.”
As a result of it’s not readily attachable, the hyoid is commonly left off of mannequin skeletons. Excessive-end ones grasp it with string or wire.
You know the way to pick a great avocado (squeeze) or watermelon (slap); now, subsequent time you’re skeleton buying, you’ll have the ability to choose a winner.
Solutions:
- ACL. Vonn, the American favourite on this Olympics’ downhill-skiing competitors, tore her left ACL simply greater than per week earlier than competing. However, as Sally writes, the 41-year-old who had spent a long time pushing her physique to the restrict was by no means going to bow out slightly than threat additional harm. Learn extra.
- Prince. Spencer writes that the sight of (and scattered pearl clutching over) Dangerous Bunny’s crotch grabs is definitely refreshing—that amid the suffocating “fascism discourse” elsewhere, some attractive gyrating feels “subtly throwback-y and weirdly healthful.” Learn extra.
- Entire milk. As Sarah studies, the milk that cows produce hovered for many years round 3.65 p.c fats by weight, however selective breeding in recent times has pushed it as excessive as 4.24 p.c. This has led to a fantastic butterfat glut; cheese makers discover the milk too wealthy to work with, and dairy farmers promoting complete milk at 3.25 p.c fats have to determine the place to place all the surplus. Learn extra.
