Hello there, and almost happy new year! As promised, this year’s top ten reads from Kat’s Kable. Before you get to the list, a few stats for the year:

Well, well, 52 weeks, 28 issues, not bad eh? It’s been pretty freeing to think of Kat’s Kable as just for myself. This way of thinking makes it clear in my head that I want to run the Kable, that it brings me joy and happiness and satisfaction and helps me channel my curiosity. It also takes away the pressure of needing to, or even wanting to, release an issue every week. I simply don’t have the volition to, sometimes, and I love that I’m able to run it at the cadence I want. The fact that I have a thousand+ readers is a big bonus.

I will admit that it’s strange to think of a degrowing audience, but I honestly don’t mind. My aim is to create a corner of curiosity, and I think I’m doing just fine. Thanks for being part of it, and hope it’s a great 2026 for you.

1. YouTube: The Learning Machine, KK#342 (Trung Phan’s Substack):

“Can YouTube have a similar impact on education as the printing press did? Yes, and the explosion of sports footage on the platform helps to explain why.”

2. What’s going on here, with this human? KK#343 (Graham Duncan’s blog):

I somehow came across a few posts on Graham Duncan’s blog - he works in investments and the about section of his blog says “I’m always looking for new ways of seeing reality, particularly the reality of what makes people tick”. This essay is in that direction - he’s talking about different frameworks he uses to judge people in the context of hiring them. It’s really good! I imagine I’ll keep going back to it.

3. The White Darkness: A Journey Across Antarctica (The New Yorker) KK#344:

Long, and harrowing read, to be honest. Henry Worsley, massively inspired by Ernest Shackleton, attempted to walk across Antarctica, alone. This is the story of his Antarctic obsession, his previous journeys, and finally this heroic journey.

4. The Blue Collar Jobs of Philip Glass (The Honest Broker) KK#347:

_So I celebrate Philip Glass the composer, but also as a role model in so many other ways. He’s not just the hardest working man in minimalism, but maybe the most versatile in self-reinvention of any major composer in the Western canon.

Glass did all this by taking on the toughest jobs in the toughest city on the planet. And instead of letting it drain him, he turned everything into a source of self-reliance, energy, and confidence in his life._

5. The miraculous case of Sumit Nagal (Himal Magazine) KK#349:

Great profile about Nagal, Indian no. 1 men’s singles player and how he’s had to jump through a lot of hoops to get where he’s gotten.

6. That Time I Tried to Buy an Actual Barrel of Crude Oil (Bloomberg) KK#351:

Hilarious 2015 article by Bloomberg journalist Tracy Alloway who wanted to purchase a barrel of crude. An actual barrel. All she got was a jar, and that too after a whole lot of finagling with a broker and a gas trader. Entertaining!

7. Brian Eno: Ambient 1: Music for Airports (Pitchfork) KK#353:

“Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Today we revisit a 1978 ambient masterpiece that helped launch the genre through its technological savvy and its soft heart.”
I really, really love this album - I have lots of fond memories of my time in grad school when I’d run a warm bath, add some epsom salt, run this album and just relax completely for a good hour or so. I loved this review of the album - so well put together.

8. Solitude and Leadership (The American Scholar) KK#357:

I really enjoyed this commencement address by William Deresiewicz. It’s from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2009, and his point is that leadership comes from spending time with yourself and developing a sense and talent of concentration. I found it pretty interesting how he connects the two, and it makes sense.

9. The McPhee method (James Somers’ blog) KK#359:

Excellent! I’m a big fan of McPhee’s writing and his writing style. Somers writes about the way the detailed notes are put together, catalogued and bucketed, and finally put together into the final essay. It’s a masterful process and I also enjoyed reading about Somers’ own writing framework inspired by the McPhee method.

10. At 40, She Discovered She Was One of America’s Best Free Divers (Texas Monthly) KK#360:

Well, doesn’t the title tell you all you need to know? Superb.