Unsplash photo by Matthew Brodeur

It's not the election result that got the most attention, but I wanted to note that an effort to roll back marijuana legalization failed miserably in Massachusetts, with voters opposing it by about 3 to 1.

As Scott Sumner notes, this is despite a wave of propaganda in the media:

Puritan busybodies on both the left and the right are now telling us that marijuana legalization was a mistake that the public has come to regret. In Massachusetts, voters were recently given a chance to go back to the old system of putting young mothers in prison for selling a few ounces of pot. Here's what they decide.

Don't believe the Puritans.

Here is Jacob Sullum's report at Reason, which notes that support for legalization has generally risen in states that have approved it. 

Rome's is the world's biggest Maker Faire outside of Maker Faire Bay Area and it draws exhibitors from all over Europe.

The post Maker Faire Rome Is the Greatest Show-and-Tell in Europe appeared first on Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers.

Illustrations of supposed physiognomic affinities between humans and animals.

"I saw the hype and I fell for it… (it) had me in my room screaming like I just won a championship… oh my god this is so good." With 2.7 million views, influencer Chris Fizer's Instagram video wasn't discussing the latest film or TV show; he wasn't even referring to the latest Stephen King book; in fact, he was reviewing a novel first published in 1846: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. 

The formidable 1,000-plus-page epic is one of a number of classics garnering attention across social media. From Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (1880) to Eliot's Middlemarch (1871), the surging interest in such monumental titles contradicts the notion that Gen Z has a dwindling attention span from endless online 'doomscrolling'. 

it's pretty dope pic.twitter.com/3FXCIV7vRu

— Chris Fizer (@ChrisKindaReads) June 1, 2026

As of 2025, #BookTok had amassed over 370 billion views on TikTok. The TikTok subcommunity along with the Instagram equivalent, 'Bookstagram', glorifies reading through reviews, book hauls and recommendations. A poll of 2,000 16-25-year-olds, conducted by the Publishers Association, found that 59% discovered a passion for reading as a result of BookTok or book influencers. Although romance and fantasy dominate, classic literature is gaining noticeable traction as a result of BookTok creators such as Chris Fizer. 

Based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, independent bookshop Books on the Hill told East Anglia Bylines that at weekends they have experienced "an increasing young customer base browsing the classics". This is reflected in surging sales worldwide. White Nights by Dostoevsky became a TikTok sensation in 2024 and sold over 100,000 copies in the UK in that year alone. Similarly, the 1930s cult classic Cain's Jawbone by Edward Powys Mathers sold out across the world in 2021 due to a single viral TikTok video. 

Although social media acts as a catalyst for the increasing enthusiasm for classic fiction among Gen Z, it isn't always the primary cause. Film and TV have been sparking interest in iconic literature. Take the recent film adaptations of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847). Both saw a boost in sales for their respective books, with fans often preferring the original story. 

The 2026 interpretation of Brontë's magnum opus was described by book reviewer Frederick Atkinson as "a miscarriage of adaptation" and "slightly disrespectful" to the author when critiquing the film's overly erotic nature. Thousands of commenters agreed.

Gen Z is more likely to suffer from anxiety or depression than older generations. So not only does classic fiction present a form of escapism, it often mirrors the struggles that the young are experiencing today. The works of Dickens often tackled the economic hardship of Victorian Britain, Dostoevsky created complex characters suffering from mental health issues, and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) examined themes of identity and gender norms. 

Reading can help soothe worries. A 2025 study by UK charity The Reading Agency found that those claiming to be 'regular readers' were 58% more likely to say they were happy compared with non-readers. Research from the University of Liverpool (2015) found that complex literature particularly increased "mental flexibility" and "activated areas of the brain that provided a sense of reward". They asserted the "findings are consistent with evidence that relates reading to improved mental wellbeing." 

Yet, these are the best of times and the worst of times for Gen Z. Despite more youngsters picking up books, nearly half of all 18-24-year-olds hadn't read or listened to a single book in the previous 12 months, according to YouGov. This is disappointing given the benefits of reading, especially classic literature.

Nevertheless, the relatability of classic fiction, spurred on by BookTok and film/TV, will likely continue to boost the genre's popularity amongst Gen Z. This contributes to the enduring success of bookshops and libraries across the country. Those who do read are evidently consuming more books compared with a decade ago. Despite previous struggles, Waterstones continues to expand and the number of independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland is at the highest level since 2012.

For this, we can thank the digital natives for turning the page.  

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The post A novel trend: Gen Z's love for literary classics first appeared on East Anglia Bylines.

By manipulating paper flaps, the child could turn Adam into Eve into a mermaid, a lion into a griffin into an eagle — all while learning about the inevitability of death.

Vibrant textiles from the dazzling Timurid metropolis of Bukhara.

Centuries before Neo instantly mastered Kung Fu in The Matrix, medieval scholars found a shortcut to years of difficult study: a magical manuscript that promised to fast-track advanced learning. Anne Lawrence-Mathers investigates the Ars notoria, its supposed powers, and the demonic influence it had upon some users.

Photographs from when Atlantic City beaches featured artists ornately sculpting sand.

A Zoroastrian text about serpents translated by the President of the Bombay Anthropological Society.

Circular maps custom-made for the fire towers that once dotted the American wilderness.

Pompous know-it-alls were once a mainstay of mockery on the Italian stage. Arnoud Visser investigates this stock character of the pedant and his association with individual superiority, social distinction, and sexual transgression, finding a form of satire that took aim at the Renaissance humanist's erudition and lofty ideals.

Cover designs for José Carlos Mariátegui's radical Lima-based magazine.

Selections from the long-running British journal on historical peculiarities, from the whereabouts of Mary Queen of Scot's severed head to the identity of Charles I's hooded executioner.

Diagrams from a now-lost Urdu manuscript illustrating the propitious days and directions for travel.

Arguably the first work of fiction to feature a Tyrannosaurus rex, Louis Pope Gratacap's The New Northland (1915) is at once kaleidoscopic, mischievous, fascinating — and exhausting. Richard Fallon explores this "lost world" novel, finding a work as interested in cutting-edge science as it was in paying dues to its generic precursors.

69 images of kite flying from across 5 centuries and some dozen countries.

Artworks from an era when Venetians brawled on bridges.

A philosophical system and a practical guide for the cultivation of dramatic genius.

Our Mid-Year Fundraiser is launched, and the new postcards theme will be Soil.

Legal infographics that reflect a Turkish nation in flux.

In the Middle Ages, rumours spread across Europe of a strange hybrid creature, half-animal, half-plant, known as the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary. A hoax based on fern rhizomes? A euphemism for culled fetal lambs? Or perhaps a medieval misapprehension of cotton? Thom Sliwowski traces the roots of this fabled zoophyte.

Photographs of flowers by an advocate of California's beauty.

Historical predictions from the Scottish Nostradamus.

Photographs and films of a forgotten pastime.

Before Linotype revolutionised typesetting in the 1880s, compositors set texts by hand — and they set them fast. Alex Wright rediscovers the thrilling world of typesetting races, which drew crowds in the thousands, offered huge cash prizes, and helped women "Swifts" fight for workplace equity.

A Dutch physician's encounter with acupuncture.

A treatise on a powder that can cure wounds at a distance.