Plus: Bats sport backpacks for science; why meekness is not a weakness ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
The Conversation

Welcome to the Saturday edition of The Conversation U.S.’s Daily newsletter.

Cuba’s government is, we are told, on the brink. And some Cuban exiles appear keen to give Havana’s communist leaders a helping shove.

On Wednesday, a boatload of armed men entered Cuban waters, allegedly with the intent of infiltrating the island nation and committing acts of sabotage. They were met by a Cuban Border Guard patrol and either killed or taken into custody.

It isn’t the first such attempt by Cubans in exile to force regime change. William LeoGrande, an expert on U.S.-Cuba relations at American University, lays out the history – from the disastrous CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961 to the “weekend warriors” who hold military training exercises in the Everglades in Florida today.

LeoGrande suggests that comments from the U.S. administration and elsewhere predicting the Cuban government’s imminent collapse may be giving exiled paramilitary groups false hopes. “But Cuba is not a failed state,” he writes. “The Cuban government is still fully capable of maintaining public order and defending its coastline, as the 10 people that allegedly tried to infiltrate the island found out.”

This week we also liked stories about Christianity’s “hidden” texts known as the apocrypha, what Bad Bunny gets wrong about reggaeton music, and how supercomputers model the planet to understand climate change.

Matt Williams

Senior International Editor
Cuban coast guard ships docked at the port of Havana on Feb. 25, 2026. Adalberto Roque/ AFP via Getty Images

Cuba’s speedboat shootout recalls long history of exile groups engaged in covert ops aimed at regime change

William M. LeoGrande, American University School of Public Affairs

From the 1960s onward, dissident Cubans in exile have sought to undermine the government in Havana − often with US assistance.
A fringe-lipped bat carries a sound-and-movement biologging tag. Leonie Baier

Tiny recording backpacks reveal bats’ surprising hunting strategy

Leonie Baier, Naturalis Biodiversity Center

By listening in on their nightly hunts, scientists discovered that small, fringe-lipped bats are unexpectedly able to efficiently take down prey nearly their own size.
Meekness used to be considered a positive trait – not being powerless, or a doormat. Halfpoint images/Moment via Getty Images

Meekness isn’t weakness – once considered positive, it’s one of the ‘undersung virtues’ that deserve defense today

Timothy J. Pawl, University of St. Thomas

The word ‘meekness’ might seem old-fashioned – and not a positive trait. But understanding its original meaning can identify an important virtue.

The apocrypha, Christianity’s ‘hidden’ texts, may not be in the Bible – but they have shaped tradition for centuries

Christy Cobb, University of Denver

‘Apocrypha’ means ‘hidden’ in Greek, but it is often used to describe texts that are outside the official biblical canon.

Bad Bunny says reggaeton is Puerto Rican, but it was born in Panama

Brendan Frizzell, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Emerging from a swirl of sonic influences, reggaeton began as Panamanian protest music long before Puerto Rican artists turned the genre into a global phenomenon.

How the Seattle Seahawks’ sale will score a touchdown for charity 8 years after Paul Allen’s death

Reid Kress Weisbord, Rutgers University - Newark; Naomi Cahn, University of Virginia

Selling a sports team is much more complicated than selling assets found in a typical estate, such as houses and cars.

Michelangelo hated painting the Sistine Chapel – and never aspired to be a painter to begin with

Anna Swartwood House, University of South Carolina

A red chalk sketch for the Sistine ceiling fetched an eye-popping sum at auction, reflecting the artist’s lifelong belief that drawing and design – not painting – were the wellspring of all great art.

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