What WILL they think of next?

Friends, I made a grave mistake in Friday’s newsletter: I misidentified a capybara, that most majestic of rodents, as a groundhog. A groundhog! They don’t even look alike. Anyway, as many of you kindly alerted me, the capybara is a South American rodent, also the world’s largest rodent, also occasionally poetic, also adorable. (H/T @jeffgrubski, @kdawson and @emmaroller, respectively.)
My dad, who still improbably subscribes to this newsletter, also wrote to remind me that he and my mother once took me to see a capybara at the zoo. I didn’t know the Buffalo Zoo got such high-profile animals, so that was cool. I am not a zoologist. Now, the news!
1. Is irony ruining our culture … or is culture ruining our irony? I would gladly read a defense of the latter thesis, but this (very sincere!) essay on art, integrity and the tyranny of snark is also p. good.
2. Google spends more on lobbying than every company but GE. That’s a dramatic change from 10 years ago -- seriously, look at the graph! -- and it could have big implications for politics and policy that impact our Internet use on the daily.
3. Nine questions about Tinder you were too embarrassed to ask is simultaneously (a) the perfect article about Tinder and (b) the only legitimate use of this headline cliche, because I am quite literally too embarrassed to ask any questions about Tinder.

GIFs of people watching the, ahem, big twist in last night's Game of Thrones. Where's my Pulitzer?!
Postscripts: Pot vending machines. AirBnB hookers. Every single thing in Game of Thrones, ever -- in one very mind-boggling interactive chart. This is the world’s first emoticon and this is the Internet’s prettiest pig. Why we need caffeine. Why phishing scams happen on Wednesdays. Today in selfies: popes, dogs, drivers. What WILL they think of next?
Until tomorrow, @caitlindewey
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