A list of good reads
- The Atlantic (splainer gift link) dives into Mark Twain’s life—and finds more tragedy than comedy behind the wit.
- BBC News tells the story of the flawless biscuit that took years for Grammy-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens to master.
- Also from BBC News: half a century on, the ocean floor is still scarred from the world’s first deep sea mining test.
- Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) reports on kids’ unexpected lit craze: WWII novels packed with bombings, spies, and young resistance heroes.
- Also from Wall Street Journal (login required): how Gaza grapples with hunger, illness, and crime under Israel’s blockade.
- Harvard Business Review breaks down how gen AI is being used in 2025—from voice commands on the go to new players like DeepSeek and Google’s podcast generator.
- Washington Post (splainer gift link) celebrates the 50th anniversary of Judy Blume’s ‘Forever’—the honest tale of teen love and sex—now reimagined for Netflix.
- Scroll revisits the journeys of two US women who explored India behind the wheel in the early 1900s—and found their experiences strikingly similar.
- Public Books explores the translator’s dilemma—balancing theory with the art of interpretation.
- ChatGPT has unraveled the entire college academic system—everyone’s cheating their way through, says New York Magazine (login required).
- Aeon uncovers how Vikings, known for their European raids, also ventured far beyond, trading and exploring the Silk Roads.
- The Guardian dives into why many Ozempic users are hiding their weight loss secrets, fearing stigma over ‘cheating’ the diet and exercise grind.
- Also from The Guardian: Louis Theroux says if you were shocked by his new documentary ‘The Settlers’, you’re missing the bigger picture of ongoing displacement and intimidation of Palestinians by Israelis.
- Elle reveals how TikTok’s runaway tradwives are using the internet to break free from traditional, oppressive roles.
- Proto-Indo-European shaped half the world’s languages—yet most people know little about it. The Economist (login required) has more.
- The New Yorker serves up a hilarious guide to French colloquialisms.
- Financial Times (splainer gift link) asks whether Japanese anime is the next global IP gold mine.
