TouchStone Reads - January 16th, 2026

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...

• Must Read (Video Link embedded): Cory Doctorow on the Post-American Internet (pluralistic.net)

• 25 Lessons on Money and Meaning: Notes from everything I’ve learned so far about the deeper forces behind our financial lives (The Root of All)

• Hot Doc: California Typewriter (TVO)

• Prediction Markets Are Becoming a National Security Problem: The bets on Maduro’s ouster should be treated like a five-alarm fire. (Slate)

• Small-Time Crypto Investors Are Facing Violent Attacks: Rising prices and the irreversible nature of crypto transactions have led to a surge of brutal home invasions and kidnappings. (BusinessWeek)

• The Oddest Couple in American Literature: Norman Mailer and Lawrence Schiller’s Marilyn: A Biography sold more copies than anything Mailer ever wrote. He also believed it cost him a Nobel Prize (Airmail)

• Among the Prophets: Science fiction and the art of prediction (The Baffler)

• Terrence Malick’s Disciples: Why the auteur is the most influential director in Hollywood (The Yale Review)

• More than 10% of Congress won’t return to their seats after 2026 (NPR)

• We are all le Carré’s people now: Look into his wilderness of mirrors and see our own world reflected all around (New Statesman)

• Instructional Manual for Good Writerly Practice: An Interview with rob mclennan (Cleveland Review of Books)

• 37 Pieces of Career Advice I Wish I’d Known Earlier (Ryan Holiday)

What are you reading or listening to?