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May 30, 2026 
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Welcome back to The Weekender, where you’ll find a batch of the week’s top stories about culture and the way we live today.
Here are two unrelated things I learned from my colleagues this week:
1. There is such a thing as too much protein. It is an essential nutrient, but Sophie Egan, a nutrition reporter, points out that most Americans are going overboard. My takeaway: I do not need to add protein to my coffee.
2. What “mogging” means. Nicole Stock, who writes about culture and trends, went deep on how the term evolved from incel chat rooms to become a broadly popular way of describing people or things outshining themselves or others. Of course, one commenter pointed out that “if you’re reading about new lingo in the newspaper, you can be sure the term has already jumped the shark.” So maybe I should find a new word that … mogs mogging?
Those stories are below, where you will also find an interview with Jean Smart and Hannah Einbeinder for “Hacks” fans mourning the end of the show and an article about skateboarding at Costco that is really about loss, love and growing older. Enjoy those and I’ll see you next weekend(er).
— Farah
Behind the story
Conor Dougherty shared in the comments why he wrote this piece and heard from readers, which includes many skaters, about how much it resonated with them.
 | Conor Dougherty Housing reporter | A few mornings a week, I wake up early to skateboard in a Los Angeles Costco parking lot that’s become a hotspot for skaters over 40. Its long, low curb lets us keep doing tricks on safer, lower-risk terrain. I’d always wanted to write a story about how curbs represent the twilight of skateboarding, the end being closer than the beginning.
But as I started writing, I realized the piece was actually about a childhood friend who passed away tragically. I ended up braiding the two threads together, because they ultimately felt like the same thing. | | Miki Vuckovich San Diego, CA | @Conor Dougherty - That was gnarly. It reminds me of Tommy Norton, who ran the surf/skate shop my friends and I hung out at in the early 1980s. Tommy let us linger, told us stories about the old ‘70s skateparks, and introduced us to downhill and slalom skateboarding—things we’d never try on our own, but that opened our eyes to the breadth and depth of skateboarding. Like Victor, he was a mentor who introduced us to a brave new world, one I’ve been a citizen of now for almost a half century. I’ve tried to find Tommy over the years, without success. After reading this, I’m resolved to find him and say thanks. I think your story veered the way it did because skateboarding is never really about skateboarding. It’s about connecting. Well, connecting and rotisserie chicken—all that slappying makes you hungry. |
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This edition of The Weekender was edited by Farah Miller and Kellina Moore. You can reach us at weekender@nytimes.com.
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