Reading List by Rochelle Dsouza - Year 2026 - 12th January

Hi 

Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy New Year. This is the first list of articles for 2026 and I hope that the articles shared every week will encourage you to read more and aid your preparation for the verbal section. Try to read at least 2 articles from the list every day. Create a list of the new words which you come across as you read. Share this list of articles with people who want to create this healthy habit of reading or who love reading. 

Sharing this week’s list of 20 articles, short stories and informative videos

1. https://unherd.com/2026/01/how-big-tech-killed-literary-culture/

2. https://libertiesjournal.com/online-articles/kafkainc/

3. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/06/men-women-friendship-silent-masculine-trains-golf-drink

4. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dancing-with-the-devil/202601/the-emotions-behind-ai

5. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-a-sudden-winter-storm-in-1617-sparked-the-deadliest-witchcraft-trials-in-norwegian-history-180987919/

6. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-venezuela-rules-based-order-must-be-built-anew-by-daron-acemoglu-2026-01

7. https://daily.jstor.org/the-book-that-became-the-iron-giant/

8. https://aeon.co/essays/the-discovery-of-aeonophiles-expands-our-definition-of-life

9. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/01/12/markets/sneaker-boom-analysts/

10. https://www.plough.com/en/topics/community/one-hundred-years-of-gossip

11. https://salmagundi.skidmore.edu/articles/1707-what-now-humanist

12. https://philosophersmag.com/beneath-the-surface-of-straussianism/

13. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/ambassador-spy-and-chocolatier

14. https://jillianhess.substack.com/p/the-paradox-of-failed-resolutions

15. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/06/donald-trump-venezuela-coup-us-president-caracas

16. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/1/10/in-search-of-swedens-lost-empathy

17. https://philosophynow.org/issues/171/The_Necessary_Ache

18. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/platonic-psychology/202601/why-think-rationally-isnt-always-the-answer

19. https://daily.jstor.org/the-hidden-aesthetics-of-early-astrophotography/

20. https://aeon.co/essays/should-we-intensively-alter-coral-reefs-so-they-can-survive-the-heat

Short stories 

1. https://americanliterature.com/author/mark-twain/short-story/was-it-heaven-or-hell

2. https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/monsieur-parent

TED Talk Daily 

1. How to introduce yourself—and get hired | Rebecca Okamoto | TEDxNorthwesternU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_N3PGvnVKg

2. Silence, the universal medicine https://www.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_silence_the_universal_medicine

Happy Reading