TouchStone Reads - June 28th, 2024

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We often set aside articles that are longer, deserve a re-read, are broader in scope…or just for fun — for weekend reading. Below are some from this week — pour yourself a hot cup of coffee & enjoy...

  • More and more of us are looking on the bright side (Gallup)

  • The Great American Poisoning or, wtf is going on with our food system (The Next)

  • Perplexity Is a Bullshit Machine: The AI-powered search startup Forbes has accused of stealing its content is surreptitiously scraping—and making things up out of thin air. (Wired)

  • Trump super fans are impossible to argue with because they don’t actually believe in logic: The far-right worldview is incomprehensible until you realize that devotees believe truth flows from authority rather than reality (Flux)

  • Guns are a public health threat, surgeon general says in new advisory (Axios)

  • Roaring Kitty Is Playing With Fire: Influencer Keith Gill, known online as Roaring Kitty, became a pied piper for amateur stock traders after sparking a historic GameStop short squeeze. But his next move could land him in big trouble. (Wired)

  • A supermarket trip may soon look different, thanks to electronic shelf labels (NPR) 

  • Rise of the Nanomachines: Nanotechnology can already puncture cancer cells and drug-resistant bacteria. What will it do next? (New Yorker)

  • Why the most powerful men in America are the worst dressed: Twitter’s menswear guy explains, from Trump Republicans’ shiny red ties to the horror of “dress sneakers.” (Vox)

  • The invisible dangers of travelling through time: The mishaps caused by time travellers exploring the past are a staple of science fiction. But what does physics think? (BBC)

  • The Strange Journey of John Lennon’s Stolen Patek Philippe Watch. (New Yorker)

  • When Death Came For Frank Miller: The comic book icon behind The Dark Knight Returns, 300, and Sin City reveals the addiction that nearly ended his life - and how his loved ones (and a determined documentary maker) pulled him back. (Vanity Fair)

What are you reading or listening to?