Reading List
The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.
Trump’s war on democracy is failing
If you want to understand how the US government works today, you should study President Donald Trump’s attempt to pardon a woman named Tina Peters last week. Peters is a former Colorado election clerk and a die-hard believer in the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen. In 2021, Peters committed a series of […]
Is an Oscars frontrunner great art or grief porn?
Chloé Zhao’s lyrical, elegiac new film Hamnet, based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, is an early awards favorite. It racked up six Golden Globe nominations, including Best Drama and Best Director, and it has been an Oscars frontrunner since its festival release earlier this year. But as it made its way to mainstream theaters […]
The unexpected link between your diet and your anxiety
By May 2024, Ebony Dupas knew she had a problem. She had started to feel a mild anxiety about her sense of direction and purpose in life earlier that year, but within a couple months, that had spiraled into a paranoia that she could neither shake nor explain. Referred by her doctor, Dupas began consulting […]
The biggest mosquito-borne disease in the world has a cure. There’s just one problem.
There’s a reason dengue infections are also called “breakbone fever.” Along with a mild fever, symptoms of the mosquito-borne illness include bone-deep, aching pain in the joints and behind the eyes. In severe cases, blood vessels begin to leak. And in the worst cases, that can lead to organ failure. More than 14 million people […]
The only number that really matters
In 1972, the King of Bhutan announced that “gross national happiness is more important than gross domestic product.” It was a charming sound bite that captured imaginations worldwide. Finally, someone was brave enough to say it: Happiness matters more than money. At the time, Bhutan was poor. More than 50 years later, Bhutan still ranks […]