Daily Bafflements

• Elmo Keep writes for Matter about how 200,000 people have applied to join a much-hyped, one-way mission to Mars in 2025…which may or may not turn out to be one big scam. (Via Longform.)

• Today in Billionaires, and Billions: Oxfam, the organization that recently brought us the news that there are now twice as many billionaires in the world as there were at the start of the global financial crisis, has also calculated that the richest 85 people on the planet have as much money combined as the poorest 3.5 billion people.

• The Columbia Journalism Review links to some good local follow-ups to a report in the New York Times about the state attorneys general corrupted by cash, trips, and gifts from lawyers and lobbyists.

• Our new issue, “Sickness and Pelf,” is up online in full this morning: salvos, stories, poems, and art. Do enjoy. And if you’re curious what “pelf” means, don’t be shy; there’s a tiny explainer here.