5 Interesting Reads – 8/19/2021

Note: Because my brain is off today, this post was originally titled “5 Interesting Reads – 8/19/2019.” I have no idea where the 2019 came from, but it has since been corrected.

In addition to books, I do a lot of short reading. Here are five recent shorter reads that I found interesting. Let me know if you find these interesting and maybe I’ll start doing this weekly.

1. From the September issue of The Atlantic, a powerful 9/11 read by Jennifer Senior, “What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind.” Though it has been 20 years, it is still difficult for me to read about 9/11. What attracted me to this piece was the diary that lies at its center. It’s a long read, but worth getting through to the end.
2. The September issue of WIRED has a great piece by Clive Thompson on the failure of to-do apps. I mentioned this piece earlier this week, but its worth repeating here since there’s a lot of good stuff in it.
3. I found an older piece by Maria Papova on why time seems to slow down and speed up under different circumstances. I certainly notice this more and more as I get older.
4. In the New Yorker, Cal Newport (of Deep Work fame) asked why so many knowledge workers are quitting during the pandemic.
5. Finally, I really enjoyed Jo Marchant’s article, “Inside the Tombs of Saqqara” in the July/August Smithsonian. When I read an article like this, and try to imagine that a 4,400 year-old tomb was already over 2,000 years old at the end of the Roman Empire, it makes me think of those science fiction novels that take place thousands of years in the future. Looking back on our time is like looking back on that tomb.