Sometimes, the best way to deal with overwhelming news is to re-read something old. A third of Pakistan flooded, 33 million people displaced; China experiencing a heat wave like we’ve never seen on this planet; Europe experiencing the worst drought in 500 years; a water crisis at the Horn of Africa putting the lives of 10 million children at risk; the list continues… In trying to grapple with all of this, I turned to Alex Steffen’s essay on discontinuity. It’s not going to make you feel better about all that’s happening, but it puts it in context and gives you a framework of thinking about it. I found it helpful when I first read the article last year, I found it helpful again this week.

«We’re not yet ready for what’s already happened» is the title of an excellent essay that I’m reminded of more often than I’d like (and it’s one of less than a handful links that I’ve shared more than once in the history of the Weekly Filet). This latest episode from This American Life takes it from the societal to the personal, and tells the stories of people trying to make sense of a sudden change that has already happened.