Many apologies for the lateness of last week’s Weekend Reader. Everything has calmed down a bit, and I should be able to return to our normal schedule.

But maybe it’s too much to say that everything has calmed down a bit. Here, for example, are just some of the political headlines on The Atlantic’s website as of Saturday morning:

• “American Kakistocracy,” which compares Donald Trump to the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi; there are numerous similarities, but some important differences. (Kakistocracy, by the way, apparently is an actual word: It means government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state, so it’s like the opposite of “aristocracy,” which supposedly means government by the best.)
• “The Perverse Logic of Trump’s Nomination Circus,” in which David Graham argues that Trump is making so many horrible nominations for his Cabinet in part because it makes it harder for the Senate to reject any single one of them. (And that might be the case, although I have to say that when my therapist, at the end of our monthly session, told me that Matt Gaetz was the choice for attorney general, my first reaction was along the lines of “Where did you read that? The Onion?” We’ll have more on The Onion later in this edition.)
• “Making Government Efficient Again,” in which the author argues that, while some reform is necessary for the federal civil service, the sort of large-scale demolition Trump (aided by his pals Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy) have in mind would be disastrous.
• “The RFK Jr. Effect,” which argues that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment to be head of the Department of Health and Human Services is likely to lower Americans’ trust in public health, regardless of whether he wins confirmation.
• “Republican Leaders Are More Afraid of Trump Than Ever.” The headline tells the tale.
• “Why the Gaetz Nomination is Already Destroying the Government.” Again, the headline says it all.
• “Brace for the Storm,” again, fairly self-explanatory. (But a tad more optimistic that you might think. If you read just one of these, this might be the one — even though it contains opinions with which you’re likely to disagree.)

You get the point: The Atlantic is not where you want to go if you want to calm down a little bit after the election. In fact, I could not blame you if you wanted to take a break entirely from the news — but that might be a mistake, especially these days. My advice: Pick and choose carefully — and keep your eyes open. And interrupt your doom-scrolling from time to time to treat yourself to a bright little nugget of news or two. I’ll have suggestions later in this edition.

Speaking of The Onion, as I was earlier this week in my therapist’s office, it made big news when it was the apparent winner of an auction for Alex Jones’ noxious InfoWars website. I say “apparent,” because the court overseeing the bankruptcy has placed a hold on the sale pending a hearing next week. The Onion plans to turn the site into a parody of websites like, well, Alex Jones’ InfoWars, which feels deliciously suitable.

But is Jones really going away? Of course not, The Atlantic reports: He’s just taking his conspiratorial world view to another platform, where he will almost certainly thrive, because this is America.

The teachers strike at the Greater Albany Public Schools district, which seems likely to head into a second week, has statewide implications, as The Oregonian/OregonLive reports.

At this point, you’re probably really in need of those bright little nuggets of news. So, as promised, here are some links to stories you might find diverting or even uplifting, unless you’re a cow:

• Oregon is back in the news, not just as a hotspot for resistance to the Trump administration, but also because of its weird cattle mutilation cases: The Netflix series “Investigation Alien” features a segment in which the show examines these baffling incidents.
• The U.S. Postal Service plans to release a stamp honoring the beloved actor Betty White; appropriately, it will be one of those “Forever” stamps.
• Hugh Grant’s “Heretic” is just the latest horror movie to draw on religious underpinnings: Here’s an interesting AP story exploring why religion and horror sometimes are two great tastes that taste great together, if you’ll excuse me.
• Conan O’Brien will be the host of next year’s Oscar ceremony, which greatly increases my interest in the telecast. But it still might be the toughest gig in all of show business.

Finally, if none of this is helping you calm down, remember just to breathe.

That’s it for this week. Take a few more breaths — or maybe more like 200,000 — and we’ll gather back here next week.