Back in the old days, we used to talk about the weather. In the spirit of getting back to some semblance of normality, let’s start with that today. Sadly, even the weather’s not normal. “After a certain point, once it’s been hot enough for long enough, it becomes even easier to get even hotter. And so that’s why these things can often be really persistent, because once they’ve been around for a little while, they start to feed off of themselves.” To the virus and the financial pressures, we’re about to add a Heat Dome that will cover much of the US for the next few weeks. Wired: How a ‘Heat Dome’ Forms—and Why This One Is So Perilous. “This coming in a summer when the Covid-19 lockdown has trapped people indoors, many without air-conditioning—and mass unemployment may mean that residents with AC units can’t afford to run them. Deeper still, the heat and the pandemic are exacerbating long-standing and deadly inequities that will only get deadlier this summer.” (But it’s a dry heat…)

+ REM, Pop Song 89: Should we talk about the weather? Should we talk about the government? 2020: Either is fine by me…