TouchStone Reads - July 31st, 2026

Phil Richmond & Doug Goodman - Jul 31, 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... 

  • Los Angeles Public Library Unveils the World's Largest Pop-Up Book (Colossal)

  • Letter to My Fellow Americans: About Canada. We lost our oldest friend on purpose. How we start deserving them back. (Substack)

  • On Quality: An ode to Pirsig: What quality is and how it is degraded.  (Worse On Purpose)

  • UHN’s Kevin Smith has a grand vision to supercharge Canada’s health science sector (Be Giant)

  • Why are our fingers different lengths? (The Conversation)

  • Your brain gets tired from making decisions. Here's how to help (AP News)

  • Inside the growing vigilante movement to knock out Flock surveillance cameras: An underground network of privacy activists is disabling or destroying the ubiquitous surveillance devices sprouting up across the US. (The Guardian)

  • The Bone Rush: Dinosaurs have become an asset class for billionaires (Bloomberg)

  • Greenland shark genome reveals clues to 400-year lifespan (Make Tech Easier)

  • The history of stadium design in 15 buildings. How the places where we watch sports have evolved, and what they reveal about the cultures that built them. (De Zeen)

  • The Biggest Hygiene Mistakes People Make in the Pool: We asked infectious disease doctors and water-quality experts which hygiene mistakes they see most. (Time)

  • What do you call the irrational fear of jewelry? Kosmemophobia (Medium)

  • Fear that somewhere a duck is watching you? Anatidaephobia (verywellmind)

  • Fear of long words? Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia (verywellmind)

  • And fear of happiness? Cherophobia (healthline)

  • Where the design beats the view (dezeen)

  • What kind of English do you speak? Say just five words and this map will pinpoint where you’re from in North America (Instagram)

  • How to feed your dog (Five Books)

  • Why nobody uses Craigslist anymore (YouTube)

  • Crypto has lost half of its peak capitalization (Source: Paul Kedrosky)

 

What are you reading or listening to?