The week of January 6, 2024 (TWENTY TWENTY FOUR) was leaving our ear alone; feeling grateful we only have one uterus per body today; and retiring from Tetris.

The Mash-Up Americans:

How’d you welcome in the new year? We celebrated with tamales, tteok guk, and this week we’re adding Nishta’s black-eyed peas to our menus — plus, for good measure, these tried and true cold remedies.

MASH-UP RECIPES

Mash-Ups In The News:

Kali Uchis Had A Vision
VULTURE

We love a bilingual queen. With a second Spanish-language album, Orquídeas, coming out next week, Kali Uchis is breaking industry norms — and she’s breaking records while doing it.

The Most Mysterious Cells In Our Bodies Don’t Belong To Us
THE ATLANTIC

You might want to sit down for this. “You carry literal pieces of your mom—and maybe your grandma, and your siblings, and your aunts and uncles.” (Keanu voice) Whoa. 

Why The Noise Of L.A. Helicopters Never Stops
THE NEW YORKER

It’s in no small part due to the LAPD, of course. It has the largest local airborne law-enforcement unit in the world, but is it effective in deterring crime?

Damages
ATAVIST

“An ob-gyn in Virginia performed unnecessary surgeries on patients for decades. When his victims learned the truth, they fought back.” Buckle up, it’s a good one.

A New Cuisine Is Born In Peru
SAVEUR

The rise of Venezuelan-Peruvian food is soothing some tensions between Venezuelan immigrants and Peruvian nationals. Will it go the way of Chifa cuisine, integrated into the fabric of the culture?

Has Gratuity Culture Reached A Tipping Point?
THE NEW YORKER

Or, as one IG commenter rephrased it, “Has Tipping Culture Become Gratuitous?” However you pose the question, the answer seems to be the same: It depends.

School Program Reduces Trauma In Latina And Black Girls But Faces Implementation Hurdles
THE 19TH

“Working on Womanhood is an evidence-based mental health support for often-overlooked student groups. But challenges to scaling it and programs like it are numerous.”

Mixtapes, T-Shirts And Even A Typeface Measure The Rise Of Hip-Hop
THE NEW YORK TIMES

Jon Caramanica reviews three new books that aim to catalog hip-hop’s relics — the cassettes! the merch! the lettering! — before they’re gone and forgotten.

Our Favorite Ghost Stories Of 2023
ATLAST OBSCURA

What do a Jewish demon, a Tennessean ghost, and a haunted Norwegian grocery store have in common? The respective stories about them are all on this short list of last year’s best.