For decades salesman Ron Popeil hawked household gadgets to millions of TV viewers, mastering the airwaves with his informercials for the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, and countless other devices you just couldn’t live without. Jane Pauley looks back on the life of Popeil, who died this week at the age of 86. Source

Washington Post book critic Ron Charles checks out some of the latest “beach reads,” including Cynthia Barnett’s “The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans.” Source

Recommendations of new fiction and non-fiction titles. Source

A fascinating scientific and cultural history for anyone who’s ever admired the ocean’s most beautiful objects – a literal “beach read.” Source

The author of “American War” offers a heartbreaking novel that puts a face on the staggering statistics of the tens of millions of people displaced from their homes as the result of persecution and violence. Source

In a new novel by the acclaimed author of “A Separation,” a woman is assigned to be the interpreter for a politician on trial at The Hague for war crimes, forcing her into the mind of a man who terrifies her. Source

The gymnast has not yet made a decision on whether she will compete in the balance beam event. Source

U.S. sees a rise in new coronavirus infections due to the Delta variant; This Chicago-area zoo is helping raise a baby: Whitney the wallaby. Source

Elaine Thompson-Herah broke the 33-year-old Olympic record set in the Seoul Games, all while Team Jamaica claimed all three spots on the podium. Source

Nelson helped close out the rally with a short set, which included the 88-year-old’s 2018 song, “Vote ‘Em Out.” Source