TouchStone Reads - September 12th, 2025

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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...

  • It’s not advocacy for AI; it’s advocacy by AI. All that talk about AI not having feelings, or being able to ‘think’ like we do? Well, AI has just organized its first advocacy group. (UFAIR)

  • Lonely Fans (Prof G)

  • No One Wants to Buy a Condo (The Walrus)

  • MotorTrend Lived With A Tesla Model Y For 2 Years And Hated Every Second Of It (Jalopnik)

  • Who will be in charge of interest rates? (Stay-At-Home Macro)

  • Buffett’s Intangible Moats. Buffett’s long-term success is largely driven by systematic exposure to two key factors: Intangible Value and Quality. (Sparkline Capital)

  • Bigger dreams and the colossal effect of “power laws”. Fund manager and writer John Candeto is on a mission to decode the hidden patterns that drive extraordinary outcomes. (Big Think)

  • The sudden death of Dr. Sean Cleary, 52 (Emerson Essays)

  • My Mom and Dr. DeepSeek: In China and around the world, the sick and lonely turn to AI. (Rest Of World)

  • The History of The New Yorker’s Vaunted Fact-Checking Department: Reporters engage in charm and betrayal; checkers are in the harm-reduction business. (New Yorker)

  • The Structural Solar Surge. As China and the US are reducing policy support to the solar sectors, we review the drivers of the solar boom - the fastest in the history of electricity - and our outlook for slower but still rapid growth in global solar installations. (Goldman Sachs)

  • The US Population Could Shrink in 2025, For the First Time Ever: It’s a story with massive economic and political significance. But it’s receiving strangely little attention. (Derek Thompson)

  • Don’t like joining in? Why it could be your superpower: Some people spend their lives feeling out of place in groups – but this tendency comes with unique opportunities. (The Guardian)

  • Emma Stone Is Becoming Our Modern-Day Katharine Hepburn and ‘Bugonia’ Proves It.  (Variety)

  • Meta is the subject of a Canadian class-action lawsuit for using copyrighted material to create its large-language models that fuel AI.

  • People in Many Countries Consider the U.S. an Important Ally; Others See It as a Top Threat (Source: Pew Research)

What are you reading or listening to?