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The Saturday Selection, Vol. 93

2026-02-21 · 16:01 UTC ·Why is this interesting? ·3 min read

Brief

The Saturday Selection, Vol. 93 (published Feb 21, 2026) is a curated, paid-weekend roundup from Why is this interesting? (WITI; Noah Brier & Colin Nagy; editor Louis Cheslaw) linking 11 notable reads. Standouts include an atmospheric-optics explainer that traces blue skies and red sunsets to Rayleigh/Mie scattering and contrasts Earth with Mars; a Scientific American story where AI reconstructed the rules of a mysterious ancient Roman board game long unreadable since its discovery over a century ago; and data-driven work from Pudding.Cool showing how women’s clothing sizes are chaotic. Practical reporting ranges from Gothamist’s account of New York’s York Avenue sewer replacement — a 2–3 year project that uncovered a spaghetti-like tangle of utilities and spurred a top-secret subsurface map — to a NYTimes piece on The Simpsons’ 800th episode (airing Sunday) with Matt Groening saying the series continues.

Cleaned source text

On women's sizing, blue skies, The Simpsons, and songwriting.

͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­͏ ­

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The Saturday Selection, Vol. 93

Louis Cheslaw

Feb 21| | | ∙| | Preview

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Every day, WITI ’s group chats buzz with fresh links. As part of our Saturday send for paid readers, we round up 11 of the best.

It ’s WITI, on the weekend.

Carpet repair man Abdul in his Premier in Mumbai, India. (Martin Roemers/Panos Pictures via The Guardian)

Why are these interesting?

Why is the sky blue? (_Explainers_)

And the sunset red? But the Martian sky red and sunset blue? Etc.

Rules of mysterious ancient Roman board game decoded by AI (_Scientific American_)

The board game has been unplayable since its discovery more than a century ago.

Women’s Sizing (_Pudding.Cool_)

… is chaotic, as shown here.

Dressed to influence: How World Governments Summit attendees tailor their image (_Monocle_)

Perfecting the art of diplomacy takes more than words and handshakes. Here are some of the delegates who understood that style speaks volumes, too.

New York City is Making a Top-Secret Map of Everything Under the Street (_Gothamist_)

The York Avenue Sewer Replacement project was only supposed to take two or three years. That is, until crews opened the street and found a spaghetti-like jumble of pipes and utilities underground.

‘The Simpsons’ Hits Another Milestone (_NYTimes_)

On Sunday the series, the longest running American sitcom, will air its 800th episode on Fox. In an interview, the creator Matt Groening says there’s no end in sight...

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