An age of extinction is coming. Here’s how to survive. Ross Douthat portends, “The bottleneck of the digital age is different: The new era is killing us softly, by drawing people out of the real and into the virtual, distracting us from the activities that sustain ordinary life, and finally making existence at a human scale seem obsolete.”
Chickens, elephants, and the illusion of freedom. Donal shares a simple, but memorable story, ““the chicken is tied to a tree for so long, that when it is released, as long as it has the string on its ankle (do chickens have ankles?) it thinks it cannot go any further than the length of the original string. It is still attached in its own mind.”
For everything there is a time: Elyse Fitzpatrick says, “Even the most foolish among us give that truth tacit recognition. Yes, yes, we think, I know my life will end someday . . . but not this day. This kind of foolishness plays out in hundreds of ways in our everyday lives.”
American crying: What makes people cry the most? I was surprised that “feeling nostalgic” wasn’t higher. Make sure you filter the list based on male/female differences. Look particularly how different male and female responses to stress are.
50 most edifying films of the 21st century: Great list from Brett McCracken. Lots here to explore.

Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash