Your 6/17 Experiment

Welcome to your always free, reader-supported, mid-week edition of The Experiment where we share great things to read, cook, listen to, and watch. As always, this bugga free.

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Let’s get right to it:

The White House UFC fights showed us the America we needed to see. This, from Monica Hesse, is all you need to read about Trump’s birthday UFC bouncy house to glean what’s important. (gift link)

The marriage incentive no one talks about. Did not see this one coming. (gift link)

How Problematic Is Patriotism? h/t to Walker Lukens for recommending this piece on the origins of American patriotism. (free link)

R.I.P. Comedy Roasts (1950-2026). W. Kamau Bell nails why comedy roasts need to go bye-bye: lazy, unfunny writing. (free link)

Love a good magical-realism rom-com.

You can read a lot into The Wild Robot, or you can just enjoy a good movie. Your call.

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We set up a merch table in the back where you can get T-shirts, coffee mugs, and even tote bags now. Show the world that you’re part of The Experiment.

Buy the book Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick banned from the Bullock Texas History Museum: Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of the American Myth by Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson, and myself.