Not everything deserves your time. That sounds obvious, but in practice most of us spend a surprising amount of attention on things we’re not that interested in — half-watching something forgettable, reading articles we don’t remember an hour later, listening to music we don’t really like because it was the first thing that came up.
This is our edit. The things we’ve genuinely engaged with recently and would actually recommend. No filler, no padding.
What We’re Reading
A novel worth the hype
There’s been a quiet resurgence of long-form fiction that takes its time — books that trust you to follow a slow build. If you haven’t yet made time for a novel that rewards patience, this is a good moment. The books that tend to stick are the ones that describe something you’ve felt but never found language for. Look for fiction translated from Japanese, Korean, or Norwegian right now — the translated fiction coming through in 2025 and 2026 has been quietly exceptional.
Ask a bookseller rather than an algorithm. Tell them the last book you loved and why. The recommendation you get will be better than anything a platform surfaces.
For understanding how you think
If you haven’t read Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow, it’s the rare popular psychology book where the underlying research mostly holds up. It explains the two modes of human thought — the fast, intuitive system and the slow, deliberate one — in a way that genuinely changes how you notice your own decision-making. Useful for almost every area of life.
For understanding the world
The best journalism being written right now is long-form and mostly not behind the first paywall you encounter. Delayed Gratification (the slow journalism magazine), The Browser newsletter, and Rest of World’s technology coverage are three places worth spending reading time if you want to understand what’s actually happening and why.
What We’re Watching
The case for rewatching things
We spend a lot of time looking for new things to watch when some of the most satisfying viewing is rewatching something you loved at a different point in your life. A film you watched at 22 and watch again at 35 is a different film — you notice different things, feel differently about the characters, understand the ending differently.
Pick something you loved ten years ago and give it another hour and a half. It’s a more interesting experience than most new releases.
Documentary worth your evening
The best documentaries right now are about subcultures — worlds you had no idea existed until someone let you inside them. The ones about craft, about obsession, about people who take something very seriously that most people barely notice. Search for documentary recommendations in whatever niche interests you and you’ll find something that surprises you.
For shorter attention spans
A well-made thirty-minute episode of almost anything is better than a mediocre two-hour film. The format constraint forces tighter writing. If you find yourself not finishing films, stop fighting it and find a series with short episodes you actually look forward to.
What We’re Listening To
The case for albums, not playlists
Algorithmic playlists are excellent at keeping you comfortable. They serve you more of what you already like. Albums are different — they have a shape, a beginning and end, an argument the artist is making. Listening to an album in one sitting is a different relationship with music than shuffling through recommendations.
Pick an artist you’re interested in and listen to their best album start to finish, uninterrupted. It’s a better experience than it sounds.
Podcasts worth the time
The podcasts that have lasted — the ones people still recommend years after they launched — tend to be the ones with strong points of view and genuine expertise rather than just access. Cautionary Tales by Tim Harford uses disaster stories to explain human psychology and decision-making. Desert Island Discs from the BBC archives is an extraordinary document of the 20th and 21st centuries through the music people love. Both reward listening from the beginning.
What We’re Thinking About
Attention as a resource
There’s a growing body of work — and experience — around the idea that attention is the most valuable resource most of us have, and that we’re increasingly bad at protecting it. The notifications, the infinite scroll, the ambient noise of being constantly reachable — these aren’t neutral. They fragment concentration in ways that accumulate.
The counterintuitive response isn’t a digital detox. It’s designing your environment so the default is concentration rather than distraction. Turn off notifications for everything except calls and messages from specific people. Use your phone’s Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing settings to actually see where your attention goes in a day. Then decide what you want to do about it.
The return of the long lunch
In cities across Southeast Asia, Europe, and increasingly elsewhere, there’s a quiet return to the long midday meal — not as a luxury but as a structural feature of a good day. Two hours at lunch, eaten slowly with people you like, does something to the afternoon that no amount of coffee manages. It’s not a productivity hack. It’s just a better way to be in a day.
We’re interested in things that are simple and old and work. The long lunch qualifies.