WEEKEND READS: Living for the future
The best writing and thinking for January 17, 2026
Happy Saturday, readers!
We hope you’ll get some time to rest and reflect this weekend, and to that end, as we do each weekend, we’ve collected below the readings that have stuck with us this week: a meditation on the problems of the past and how important it is, no matter how dark the prospects seem, to stay focused on the promise of the future; a look at how grief can unite us, or divide us; an essay on how politics colors our view of the world; and much more.
Welcome to today’s edition of Weekend Reads. We invite you to read along with us.
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Modern living
Adulation of the past is a misunderstanding of the past, either because of childhood nostalgia, or out of ignorance. Almost every age looks back and says, “it was better than”, and while that can be true, especially around tragedies like wars, in the long run it keeps getting better. [Chris Arnade Walks the World]