Learning how to be, keeping it weird, found and lost
WEEKEND READS for November 15, 2025
Happy Saturday, Ink readers!
This week, we saw the federal government reopen after the longest shutdown in American history, the release of the Jeffrey Epstein emails — and, perhaps, the beginning of a leadership crisis for both parties. And as we do every Saturday, we invite you to read some of the most interesting writing and thinking we’ve come across as we’ve done our research, collected here for our supporting subscribers. Welcome to today’s edition of Weekend Reads.
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Now, what do I mean by public culture? I keep saying it’s not a perfect word, I keep waiting for someone to find a better word. But the idea is that as you’re in a public space, whatever it is, including your library or including the sidewalk, that you learn how to be with other people, that they teach you how to be a correct participant in this space. And there’s a lot of accommodation that occurs. So, in Costa Rica, I used to, one day I sat on a bench, and a woman said, “Hey, you know, you can’t sit on the bench.” She said, “Eh, mijita, no puedes.” And I said, “Well, why?” She said, “Well, it’s Roberto’s bench.” And I go, “But Roberto’s not here.” She said, “No, no, no, Roberto will be here at such and such a time, and, and this is his bench.
Any time you go into a new environment, people will interact with you, and by doing that you learn how to be. [JSTOR Daily]