The Top 5: Sleeping habits, polyamory, CS Lewis, TikTok's infinite scroll
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 our list, and do always let us know if you have a suggestion or a recommendation!
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The Spirit of Our Politics: Spiritual Formation and the Renovation of Public Life is available now! Here are some more interviews from the last week:
- over on did a 5-part, month-long series on The Spirit of Our Politics. You can listen to the podcast here, and we particularly loved the 4th installment.
- ’s Footnotes podcast interview with Michael on politics, race, and the gospel.
John Inazu’s
interview with Michael about The Spirit of Our Politics
The Top 5 articles for your week:
“The Hottest New Bedtime for 20-Somethings Is 9 p.m.” (WSJ)
Because Rachel Wolfe looks at new stats on young people and their burgeoning sleep habits, while talking to some young professionals about their thought processes in being “out past bedtime.” It’s the kind of innocuous phenomenon which could lead to wider social implications.
“Have We Reached the End of TikTok’s Infinite Scroll?” (NYT)
Because Jon Caramanica may be one of the first to predict TikTok’s inevitable downfall.
…increasingly in recent months, scrolling the feed has come to resemble fumbling in the junk drawer: navigating a collection of abandoned desires, who-put-that-here fluff and things that take up awkward space in a way that blocks access to what you’re actually looking for. This has happened before, of course — the moment when Twitter turned from good-faith salon to sinister outrage derby, or when Instagram, and its army of influencers, learned to homogenize joy and beauty….Similarly, the malaise that has begun to suffuse TikTok feels systemic, market-driven and also potentially existential…"
“Polyamory, the Ruling Class’s Latest Fad” (The Atlantic)
Because Tyler Austin Harper, in critiquing a very popular new book on one woman’s journey through “ethical non-monogamy” looks at the class elements of the recent hyper-focus on polyamory in popular media. “…the present interest in polyamory more broadly—is the result of a long-gestating obsession with authenticity and individual self-fulfillment.”
“What if It’s Not the Economy (Stupid)?” (
)Because while we don’t necessarily agree with where political scientist Lee Drutman ends up in this piece, we think his examination of common wisdom around the economy and presidential approval ratings is worth considering in 2024.
“Lewis Takes Manhattan” (Ad Fontes)
Because Mark Noll looks back on CS Lewis not as he is viewed today, but how he was viewed through his staunchest critics during 20th century America.
ICYMI on Wear We Are:
The Morning Five: January 29, 2024
The Morning Five: January 30, 2024
The Morning Five: January 31, 2024