The Top 5 articles for your week:“Routine Maintenance” (Harper’s)Because - are habits and routines “machine-like” or are they closer to what Benedictine monks discovered in medieval times as a healthy way to live?“It does not escape me that what I’ve been describing as a spiritual discipline bears an uncomfortable resemblance to the cruder ethos of “life hacking.” Perhaps I am no different from those data fetishists in Silicon Valley who refer to Benjamin Franklin as a “productivity master,” and speak of free time as a “release valve.” It is difficult today to avoid the thought that we are becoming as rigid and inflexible as the machines that structure our lives. The New York Times columnist Kevin Roose calls this process “machine drift,” arguing that it’s degrading our humanity and making us professionally obsolete.”“Why Isn’t Biden’s Expanded Child Tax Credit More Popular?” (NYT)Because, as we discuss in the podcast, many expected the program to receive higher approval, but several factors might be limiting support. “The Forever Culture War” (The Atlantic)Because “Elites in both parties enjoy a certain privilege—one appropriate to a rich, advanced democracy—that allows them to emphasize culture while deprioritizing economic well-being. Civilizational concerns gain more political resonance precisely as perceptions of civilizational decline intensify on right and left alike. But this particular kind of decadence—characterized, per The New York Times’ Ross Douthat, by reproductive sterility, economic stagnation, political sclerosis, and intellectual repetition—is an ideal foil for young conservatives cum reactionaries. It gives them something worthy of reaction. And, importantly, it doesn’t require being religious as much as it requires a recognition that religion is a vital societal good, regardless of whether it’s true.”“The future of Europe hinges on the coming talks between the West and Russia” (Washington Post)Because WaPo’s Editorial Board issues a dire warning about the situation the US finds itself in with Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening to imperil Europe if the US does not react strongly towards Putin’s threat of invasion of a sovereign country.“Rootin’ Tootin’ Charcutin’” (Substack - Mothers Under the Influence)Because charcuterie boards are all over our social media and our social gatherings, and it might be a deeper commentary on cultural trends — of abundance and individualism, of aesthetics and algorithm — than we’d expect.Wear is the Love PodcastA subscriber, Mitchell Atencio, sent us this hilarious image for the podcast. Like it? In Episode 3, we discuss article #2 above on the Child Tax Credit. We also discuss Wordle (girdle????) and the Buffalo Bills.Episode notes:“Here's why we can't stop playing ‘Wordle’” (Ma

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