TouchStone Reads - October 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... 

• Swarm Intelligence: Fifty years from now most AI is invisible. There is nothing to see. It is sort of like air – always there, always on, everywhere. Something you need and use but take for granted. AI is so prevalent we become blind to it. (Kevin Kelly)
• What AI Personal Assistants Can’t Do (Yet): Sophie Bakalar tested nearly every consumer agent while returning to work with a three-month-old. She finds they handle nuisance tasks well but only excel when there’s an API on the other end. (Sophie’s Notes)
• Teen Discovered With a Memory More Powerful Than 99.9% of The Population (Science Alert)
• The Time Scott Bessent Tried to Outsmart the Bond Market: Matt Egan: Bessent arrived at Treasury with market credibility, Wall Street’s respect and the swagger that helped Soros break the Bank of England in 1992. The bond market had other ideas. (CNN)
• “If You Don’t Risk Your Neck, You Haven’t Made a Commitment.” Patagonia Founder Yvon Chouinard on Living with Intent. In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, filmmaker Jimmy Chin profiles Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, and takes a deep dive into Chouinard’s lifelong relationship with taking risks in the outdoors. (Outside)
• Ukraine is Successfully Bombing the Heart of Russia’s Online Disinformation Machine: Yandex answers 70% of Russian searches, and Ukraine hit three of its five data centers in four days. (Existentialist Republic)
• The Generation Raised on Sugar Rations, and What Their Health Reveals 70 Years Later (The Guardian)
• Video of the day: The Building That Broke Airbnb (YouTube)
• The top 0.1% of Americans now hold more than six times more wealth than the bottom half (Source: Steve Rattner)
  

What are you reading or listening to?