What We're Reading

Each week, the editors share the outside writing that shaped their thinking — across law, the economy, and society at large.

Articles

The Inside Story of How Democrats Lost the Working Class

The Free Press · July 26, 2026 · Evan Barker

What would it actually take for Democrats to win back the voters they lost? Evan Barker, writing from inside that realignment, is better positioned than most to answer.

The Norwegian Case for Mediocracy

Financial Times · July 18, 2026 · Jinu Koola

Does a society focused on expanding the median hold merit against the American model of optimizing for excellence? Jinu Koola weighs a Norwegian society built on egalitarianism against her American roots.

The Second Home Tax Is a Win for New York

The New York Times · July 20, 2026

Any attempt to raise taxes on the wealthy inspires the same pushback — that it will hurt the economy and, by extension, everyone. Sometimes true, often not. New York City’s debate over a tax on high-priced second homes (the “pied-à-terre” tax) makes a clean case study in how that argument holds up.

We’re About to Find Out Whether Republican Senators Can Still Say No

The New York Times · July 15, 2026

A live test of whether “advice and consent” still bites: as the Senate weighs a contested attorney general nomination, the piece asks how much independent check the chamber is still willing to exercise over executive appointments.

The Happiness Industrial Complex

The Wall Street Journal · July 26, 2026 · Andy Kessler

A 2025 Gallup survey found just 44% of Americans “very satisfied” with their personal lives — a new low, down from 59% in 2007. Kessler’s contrarian take: the secret to flourishing may be as simple as tuning out “Negative Nikki.”

Books

The Tyranny of Merit

Michael J. Sandel · 2020

Michael Sandel argues that to overcome the crises upending our world, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have grown to accompany it. Sandel traces the consequences of meritocracy across American life, offering an alternative way of thinking about success—more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility and solidarity, and more affirming of the dignity of work. The Tyranny of Merit points us toward a hopeful vision of a new politics of the common good.

On Settler Colonialism

Adam Kirsch · 2024

Since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, “settler colonialism” has become central to public discourse in the United States. With expert concision, Adam Kirsch sets out to study settler colonialism, showing how the concept emerged and how it has been applied to the state of Israel. The first author to examine settler colonialism for a general readership, Kirsch shows how the framework is as much spiritual as it is political, how it can delegitimize, and why it has the potential to turn past injustice into indignation.