The Top 5: From John Lewis to research on psychedelics
The Top 5: From John Lewis to research on psychedelics
Welcome to the latest edition of the Top 5 articles we’ve read this week. Each week, we read dozens of articles in the hope we find essays and reporting that speak to big ideas, trends, future looks, and incredible human stories. We hope you enjoy these articles, and do always let us know if you have a suggestion or a recommendation!
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The Top 5 articles for your week:
“The Story You Haven’t Heard About John Lewis, Segregation and Nashville” (Politico)
Because David Greenberg provides a historical account worthy of your time: “This is the real story of how Lewis, together with a small band that dubbed itself the “Horrible Seven,” effectively ended segregation in Nashville.”
“The Weak Science Behind Psychedelics” (The Atlantic)
Because Olga Khazan examines the problems with pscychedelic research and the bias of researchers.
Johnson, who has published many studies on psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, recently left his lab at Johns Hopkins after a dispute with Roland Griffiths, a senior researcher with whom he worked closely. Griffiths, who died last year, said in talks that psychedelics might be “critical to the survival of the human species.” He also behaved like a “spiritual leader,” according to a complaint by Johnson obtained by The New York Times, ran “his psychedelic studies more like a ‘new-age’ retreat center,” and recommended spiritual literature and meditation classes to study participants. Johnson argued that Griffiths’s emphasis on the metaphysical risked steering study participants toward his desired outcomes.
“Forget Swing States. It’s These 21 Microcommunities That Could Decide the Election.” (NYT)
Because Patrick Ruffini digs deep into 2016 and 2020 polling and demographic data of 21 microcommunities to examine trends in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Arizona — and what kind of margins each candidate needs in 2024. As an example:
Pennsylvania’s Latino population is not large but is potentially decisive and is trending right. A 10-point swing toward Mr. Trump in the state’s Latino vote could erase almost half of Mr. Biden’s 2020 margin of victory...
“We Don’t Feel Safe, Heard, or Understood” (Substack)
Because Daniel Cox did a follow-up to a viral Washington Post “Letter to the Editor” focus group of young men and young women on what they wish the opposite sex knew about them.
“As a man you get no sympathy from the world. Nobody is coming to save you, they will just tell you to suck it up and keep going because ‘that’s what men do.’”
— Danny, Age 31
“His daughter was murdered. Then she reappeared as an AI chatbot.” (Washington Post)
Because Daniel Wu investigates how a grieving father discovered through a Google Alert that Character. AI had taken his daughter’s name and image and made her into a chatbot, 18 years after her murder.
ICYMI on The Morning Five
The Morning Five: October 14, 2024
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