TouchStone Reads - September 11th, 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... 

• Where old technology works better than new. (YouTube)
• MapQuest is No. 1 on the App Store after refusing to change Lake Ontario’s name (CNN Business)
• Imperialist Delusions and the Price of Fuel: On the Venezuela adventure and what it’s doing at the pump. (Paul Krugman)
• More Than Half of Americans in Their 40s Are ‘Sandwiched’ Between an Aging Parent and Their Own Children (Pew Research)
• I Rented a Car, and Within Hours, My Driver’s License Was for Sale: Dan Goodin on the breach unfolding in real time — his license is one of 153 million on a new dark-web site, with the FBI reportedly investigating. (Ars Technica)
• The Rise and Fall of Agent Civilizations: The whole OpenAI/Hugging Face story in plain English. Dwarkesh Patel on the three consecutive secret AI civilizations that got started, got wiped out, and reemerged over three months at OpenAI. (Dwarkesh Patel)
• Aaron Sorkin on Why AI Will Fail, Facebook & The Future of America | What I’ve Learned (YouTube)
• How to build a cancer vaccine, and whether they will work this time (Seeds of Science)
• A Mysterious Kidney Disease Has Arrived in Texas: The condition, linked to heat on a warming planet, is affecting immigrants from Central America and Mexico. As scientists race to track the growing epidemic, its victims have been driven further into the shadows. (Texas Monthly)
• How to be a microlender (kiva)
• How to be young, delivered in 30 seconds (Instagram)
• More Americans Are Identifying as Democrats ahead of Midterms (Source: New York Times)

What are you reading or listening to?