TouchStone Reads - November 21st, 2025

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...
 

• Anxiety is one of the world’s most common health issues. How have treatments evolved over the last 70 years? - Our World in Data
• How to help friends and family dig out of a conspiracy theory black hole: Some tried and trusted techniques that might help. (MIT Technology Review)
• Excellent charts from Michael Cembalest on the shift from old to new media
• Tips for Cyber Security at Home. (GOC)
• The Decline and Fall of the Heritage Foundation: (Paul Krugman)
• “Riots Raging”: The Misleading Story Fox News Told About Portland Before Trump Sent Troops: (ProPublica)
• Resy’s 2025 retrospective on the top dining trends
• Why Doesn’t Anyone Trust the Media? Anatomy of a credibility crisis: Trust in the press is at a record low, with only a quarter of Americans aged 18 to 29 expressing confidence in media organizations. (Harper’s)
• The Slop Cycle—How Every Media Revolution Breeds Rubbish and Art: (Scientific American)
• Private Equity/Credit: The Bubble and its Implications. The golden age of PE – at least from the standpoint of investor returns (AUM and fees to sponsors were significantly lower) – was during 1980-2000. During this era, PE delivered legitimately good returns – in some cases outstandingly so. The opportunity was ripe, competition was limited, and everything subsequently went right. (The LT3000 Blog)
• How to tolerate annoying things: (Psyche)
• Why car insurance costs have soared (and what drivers are doing about it): Almost all of that increase came between 2022 and 2024. (NPR)
• NASA’s Quiet Supersonic Jet Takes Flight: The X-59 successfully completed its inaugural flight—a step toward developing quieter supersonic jets that could one day fly customers more than twice as fast as commercial airliners. (Wired)
• In 2010, the median age of all US homebuyers was 39 years old. Today, it is 59. (Apollo)

What are you reading or listening to?