TouchStone Reads - March 27th, 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... 

• In Favor of Enjoying Things on Purpose: A case for deliberate pleasure - paying attention to what you’re eating, listening to, or watching instead of letting everything blur into background noise. (Raptitude)

• Shoot the Messenger The perfect person can read a social science paper and immediately spot the flaws. The class of people who shape public debate can’t see our own blind spots. (The Argument)

• Why More U.S. Doctors Are Moving to Canada: Wendell Potter, a former insurance industry insider, on the accelerating physician brain drain to Canada - a healthcare system under stress is now exporting its talent. (Health Care Un-Covered)

• Judgment as Edge The skill that turns insight into outcomes (The Financial Pen)

• Prediction Markets Promised Better Information. Instead They’re Creating Powerful Incentives to Corrupt Information. (TechDirt)

• The Accidental Moat-Killer: How a Mission to Accelerate Cancer Research via Idle Devices Is Now Upending AI’s Inference Economics (Super Genius Chronicles)

• Why So Many Americans Online Suddenly Want to Become Chinese: “Chinamaxxing” is the latest absurdist internet meme that reveals just how disillusioned younger generations are. (Slate)

• Iran Built a Vast Camera Network to Control Dissent. Israel Turned It Into a Targeting Tool: Iran’s domestic surveillance infrastructure - built to monitor its own citizens - was reportedly co-opted by Israeli intelligence for military targeting. Orwellian doesn’t begin to cover it. (Yahoo)

• A Billionaire, a Scientist, and a Secret in the Florida Everglades: A yearslong battle between a celebrated hydrologist and a respected environmental juggernaut led to accusations about political motivations and stealing trade secrets (Rolling Stone)

• What are the biggest price determinants for watches? Four and five-figure sums for rare vintage watches are not uncommon. (Chrono24 Magazine)

• Who Am I When I Care? Emotion Through the Lens of Franz Boas. Does culture make emotion?  (Aeon)

• Huge Reversal of Senate Control Odds Since Iran War Began (Source: Adam Ozimek)
  

• How big is Iran? (Source: Adam Tooze: Substack)
  

What are you reading or listening to?