This botanic garden is determined to bring back the American chestnut tree and heirloom apples that taste like those grown 500 years ago. It won't be easy. Margaret Roach for the NYT. "When you operate a botanic garden, you hope that it's here in perpetuity," he said, and you work with that horizon in mind, not just the current year's displays. "You expect that this property, that this garden is going to survive long past anyone who's actively managing it."

Close Looking: Lieven van Lathem's Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies Join the Getty's ongoing video series on close-looking, where intriguing personalities explore the details of art works they cherish. Do you want to hear how a Flemish illuminator, Lieven van Lathem dazzled readers in 1464 with the manuscript, Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies? Senior Curator of Manuscripts, Beth Morrison selects her favorite pages from the romance story that showcases a love triangle, exotic adventures, and extraordinary worlds in tiny manuscript spaces. SLYT 6:43

The breads, puddings, and tarts of your grandparents' generation were made with a completely different banana. Brandon Summers-Miller at epicurious. (archive.org link)

Shani Lechan's wigs have been worn by cancer patients, neighborhood moms and supermodels. Her golden rule? They can't look "wiggy." "I looked at my best friend, who was married at the time, and I'm like, 'I'm going to make you a wig, your wig is not good,'" Ms. Lechan said. "Then my mom wanted a wig, and then her friend wanted a wig, and this whole thing started." Sandra E. Garcia for the NYT

NYT review of a new exhibit at the Clark Art Museum in the Berkshires: "Born into slavery, Guillaume Lethière became one of France's most decorated painters. For the first time, a major exhibition gives us the full view of his scenes of love and war." And WaPo: he rose to the top of France's art world. Guillaume Lethière's epic life is the subject of a stunning new exhibition

A New Map Of Medieval London Matt Brown for Londonist writes about work by the Historic Towns Trust. "Today, I'd like to share with you a newly created map of medieval London that is, quite frankly, astonishing in its detail."

Morgan Freeman, DJ (SLYT)

The City's Crawling With Feral Cats Volunteers are the only thing standing between the city and a stream of sick cats. They're barely making a dent. They're barely making a dent. By Molly Osberg For New York. Please support your local TNR: As she introduced me to each cat, she ran down her daily routine: Clean half a dozen litter boxes, feed the cats, dole out medication in "nine to 15 little bowls," send a round of emails to vets in the hopes of getting discounted checkups and scans. "And then, of course, I'll try to get some content," she says. "Because if there's no content, we're not getting people's freaking coffee money to donate towards our, like, exploded eyeball surgery."

"I could no longer enjoy the game," he said. "So I retired." Lee Saedol was one of the world's top Go players, and his shocking loss to an A.I. opponent was a harbinger of a new, unsettling era. "It may not be a happy ending," he says.

Watch the process of re-binding an old book by Wainwright Bookbinding, interviewed here about her process by the Victoria and Albert Museum. (Instagram links)

With no national support or attention, Arkansas women (and a few good men) did what everyone said couldn't be done. On July 5, organizers turned in enough signatures to qualify an amendment to restore access to abortion in Arkansas (Daily Kos) despite fake sabotage emails purportedly from organizers and a recent legal change making amendments more difficult to place on the ballot. The amendment campaign has moved forward without the support of national advocacy groups (Slate) because it protects abortion rights up to 18 weeks instead of the limit under Roe, 24 weeks. Supporter and Arkansas ObGyn Dr. Dina Epstein points out, "The proposed amendment covers 98% of cases that occurred previously. ... There are situations still, just because of the resources that we have available in the state of Arkansas, that we would not be able to do because we aren't equipped to do that, and those patients would still need to travel out of state, which was the case previously. So again, not necessarily ideal for those patients, but it does improve access dramatically for the majority of patients who would be affected by this."

A webcomic about learning and playing Go, the board game. Currently inactive but with several years of archives. Includes commentary from the author about the concept, development, or art below each one.

The Empty Triangle is the name of 3 stones placed in a 'bad shape' that is not advantageous in play. Go previously on metafilter