This week on the channel +398K views this week

Reading's digital future gets a medieval lens on Interesting Times

James Marriott joins guest host Mary Harrington for a conversation about literacy, memory and self-government.

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Interesting Times Story of October 14, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

We’re Entering the New Dark Ages

A long conversation about losing the patience for long-form reading has become Interesting Times' biggest new draw. "We're Entering the New Dark Ages" has reached about 356,000 views, with the full episode attracting far more attention than its two companion excerpts.

James Marriott, a Times of London columnist and author of "The New Dark Ages," sits down with guest host Mary Harrington to argue that declining engagement with extended text could weaken democratic deliberation. The conversation moves beyond books versus TikTok: its chapter list reaches into oral culture, the printing press and medieval ways of preserving knowledge before arriving at digital memory. The alarming title is Marriott's argument, not a settled description of our future.

The other new uploads give that discussion narrower entry points. "Reading Is Hard. Watching Is Not. | Interesting Times" focuses on the appeal of watching rather than reading; "How TikTok Warps Our Politics | Interesting Times" presents Marriott's argument about video's emotional and political influence. Viewers beneath the full episode discuss the effort of returning to books, memories of once-devoured novels and the difference between seeing information and understanding it.

The channel added subscribers over the week and drew roughly 400,000 views. Its daily audience is currently close to three times its usual size. Among nearby channels, Guard The Leaf had a similarly substantial weekly audience, while Daniel ShenSmith had a quieter week.

Marriott's episode supplies most of Interesting Times' current momentum, but the previous Nick Bostrom conversation is also drawing viewers. With Spencer Klavan hosting, that interview asks a complementary question: if superintelligence delivers abundance, what would people find meaningful to do? The channel says its relaunch will feature a series of guest hosts in the coming months.

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