Unknown Author | October 17, 2026
The Saturday Selection, Vol. 125
Victorian elites, Anne Carson, the importance of uncles, and much more.
Every day, WITI’s group chats buzz with fresh links. As part of our Saturday send for paid readers, we round up 11 of the best.
It’s WITI, on the weekend.
Why are these interesting?
Why Were Victorian Elites So Effective? (Works in Progress)
The biggest empire the world has ever seen was run by a small elite who partied all night, drank liters of port, and stayed in bed until the afternoon.
Only Diesels Will Do at West Virginia’s Radio-Silent Green Bank Observatory (Road and Track)
Workers and visitors alike at the radio telescope must obey strict rules. One of them involves going wisthout spark plugs.
Here Are Some of the Poems Anne Carson Has Written and You Are Welcome to Them (LRB)
Time to appreciate our latest Nobel Laureate.
The People Holding up the Internet (Sheets)
Billions of phones run on code looked after by a handful of people. We counted them from the code itself.