Weekly Reading List: 16/8/2025

Things I read this week that made me think.

Every week, I share the pieces that made me stop scrolling, think harder, or scribble down notes in the margins of my brain. This isn’t a “hot take” list, it’s a collection of writing, research, and reporting worth sitting with. If you want a diet of ideas that stretch from politics to philosophy, startups to science, this is it. I’ve been doing this on Instagram for a while, and now, on popular demand, we’re here on Substack!

This week’s reading list is a wide-angle lens: from AI’s role in grief to why Guinness might prove economic stagnation wrong. You’ll find slow-burn essays, sharp investigations, and the occasional mind-bender (is God a mushroom?). Settle in.

1. Meta’s chatbot and a mother’s grief — A heartbreaking Reuters investigation into what happens when experimental AI tools cross paths with the rawest moments of human vulnerability. A mother, mourning her son, finds herself entangled with Meta’s chatbot, raising urgent questions about how corporations are deploying AI without fully grappling with the human stakes.

2. How social media quietly steals your years — Gurwinder makes the case that our feeds aren’t just shortening our attention spans; they’re compressing our actual lives. By fragmenting time into endless micro-doses of distraction, social media doesn’t just waste hours, it warps the way we experience meaning, progress, and mortality.

3. A $60M bet on creators who build, not just post — Slow Ventures’ new $60M creator fund isn’t backing the usual influencer play. Its first check went to a woodworker building a brand around craft and community. This signals a shift: venture capital is beginning to treat makers and artisans as startups in their own right, not just content engines.

4. What cells remember — Quanta dives into the eerie intelligence of biology. Cells don’t just act mechanically; they hold on to “memories” of past states, shaping how bodies heal, adapt, or even develop disease. A reminder that intelligence and memory might be more deeply embedded in life than just our brains.

5. Is God a mushroom? — A provocative exploration into the spiritual and cultural history of fungi. Beyond psychedelics, the Long Now Foundation traces how mushrooms have shaped human myths of gods, rebirth, and transcendence. Equal parts philosophy, anthropology, and whimsy.

6. No stagnation in Guinness — Tyler Cowen and co. argue that the story of Guinness is a counterexample to the “Great Stagnation” thesis. By looking at how brewing has innovated over centuries, the piece reframes economic growth, not just as tech progress, but as craft adapting to shifting tastes and constraints.

7. The roadmap of mathematics for machine learning — A dense but rewarding guide to the math behind machine learning. Not just linear algebra and calculus, but the broader structures that underpin how machines “learn.” A must-read if you want to connect first principles of math to the cutting edge of AI.

8. Baldwin, a love story — Nicholas Boggs’ new book on James Baldwin doesn’t cast him as just a literary icon or political figure. Instead, it traces Baldwin through his most intimate relationships; love as lens, not footnote. The New Yorker review is a reminder of Baldwin’s humanity as much as his genius.

9. Israel’s emerging occupation consensus — Foreign Affairs examines how Israeli politics is shifting toward a troubling “consensus” on occupation. What was once contested has, in many corners, become accepted, reshaping policy, identity, and the region’s future.

10. The erased Adivasi freedom fighters of Bardoli — Scroll brings to light the forgotten role of Adivasi communities in India’s independence movement. While Bardoli is remembered for Sardar Patel’s leadership, the Adivasi fighters who bore the brunt of violence have been erased from mainstream history.

11. India opens the door to private uranium mining — In a move with massive long-term consequences, India is set to let private firms mine and import uranium. Reuters breaks down what this means for the country’s nuclear expansion, energy independence, and geopolitical position.

12. The new gene therapy playbook — Ashlee Vance explains how gene therapy is moving past “miracle cure” headlines into a structured, replicable playbook. It’s the beginning of biology being engineered with the same rigor as software.

13. The key to love is understanding — Velvet Noise takes apart one of the oldest clichés: that love is about chemistry. Instead, they argue that love endures through comprehension — the daily act of really seeing the other person. Less rom-com, more radical empathy.

14. It’s not about stray dogs—it’s about a broken system — Newslaundry uses the polarizing debate around stray dogs in India to highlight something deeper: a civic system that fails citizens, animals, and communities alike. The problem isn’t dogs, it’s governance.

Thanks for reading all the way down here. I hope one of these pieces keeps you company over coffee, or on your commute, or in a stolen quiet hour. See you next week, same place, with more links worth your time. If you prefer your lists visual and bite-sized, I share them on Instagram too: [@harnidhk].