Fentanyl Desperandum: “Presidents from both parties failed to take effective action in the face of one of the most urgent threats to the nation’s security, one that claims more lives each year than car accidents, suicides or gun violence. Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49, according to a Post analysis.” WaPo (Free article): Cause of death: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America.

+ Iran’s Public Hanging: “A court convicted him of “enmity against God” after finding he had stabbed to death two members of the paramilitary Basij Resistance Force. Rahnavard was hanged just 23 days after his arrest. Human rights groups have warned that protesters are being sentenced to death after sham trials with no due process.” Iran carries out second execution over protests. Vox: Iran’s months-long protest movement, explained.

+ Freeze Brain: “Once it is connected, the entire unit is placed inside a cylindrical freezer and cooled for more than a day. The processor relies on superconductivity, meaning that, at ultracold temperatures, its resistance to electricity all but disappears. When the temperature surrounding the processor is colder than the deepest void of outer space, the computations can begin.” The New Yorker: The World-Changing Race to Develop the Quantum Computer.

+ Family Trip: “How had six members of the same family—Tom and his wife, Dawn, along with four of their eight children—become so swept up in Donald Trump’s baseless claims about the 2020 election that they drove 1,600 miles from a small Texas town to help disrupt the peaceful transfer of power? It was, as the federal judge who presided over their case would later say with stoic understatement, ‘a puzzle.'” Texas Monthly: The Untold Story of the Insular Texas Family That Invaded the U.S. Capitol.

+ Van Life: “The gang of stranded passengers went downstairs to the car rental area. Carlos spotted Hertz had no lines, so he headed over. He was offered a 15-person van. ‘So we rented it. And the rest is kind of history.'” 13 stranded strangers went on a road trip. Here’s what happened.

+ Getting into a Pickle: “As pickleball continues to surge in popularity, Major League Pickleball — the buzzy pro circuit that counts LeBron James, Tom Brady and Kevin Durant among its team owners — is gearing up to make a splash.”