TouchStone Reads - May 15th, 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... 

• The whining meant it wasn’t about the pied-à-terre tax It was about being personally singled out: Jonathan Miller dissects the manufactured outrage from billionaires over Mamdani’s housing tax plan. (The Real Deal)

• I Want to Live Like Costco People: On the strange aspirational pull of bulk warehouse shopping. A rare cultural piece that’s actually fun. Some of us are crying in H Mart; some of us are mourning in Costco. (Taste)

• The Stephen Colbert Exit Interview: “I Did Not Expect It to End This Way”. As ‘The Late Show’ nears its final bow, the host opens up about the cancellation that shocked the industry, the win of going out as a “martyr” and his next act in Middle-earth. (Hollywood Reporter)

• Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth: The vitamin-K refusal trend produces preventable infant deaths. (ProPublica)

• Video of the day: Stronger Than Steel. Lighter Than Plastic. Why Aren’t We Using It? (YouTube)

• Some sumptuous Smithsonian photos (Smithsonian Magazine)

• Video of the day: Why Nobody Wants the Chrysler Building (YouTube)

• The Sleep Trick That Actually Quiets a Racing Mind (Time)

• Color doesn't exist - at least not how you think (Popular Science)

• Which Brands Make the Best Cars? (Source: Consumer Reports) 
  

What are you reading or listening to?