Check out these recent articles from around the web:

We Weren’t Happy Before the Pandemic, Either by Esau McCaulley: “The pandemic has disabused us of the illusion of time as a limitless resource and of the false promise that the sacrifices we make for our careers are always worth it.”

This Is Our Chance to Pull Teenagers Out of the Smartphone Trap by Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge: “But as data accumulates that teenage mental health has changed for the worse since 2012, it now appears that electronically mediated social interactions are like empty calories.”

Why Americans Die So Much by Derek Thompson: “Before the 1990s, average life expectancy in the U.S. was not much different than it was in Germany, the United Kingdom, or France. But since the 1990s, American life spans started falling significantly behind those in similarly wealthy European countries.”

No, Facebook’s domination isn’t inevitable by Christine Emba: “But a company shouldn’t be allowed to grow unchecked if it’s causing harm. And it’s now evident that the harms of Facebook have begun to outweigh the benefits of whatever it’s selling.”

Sally Rooney’s surprising read of the shifting millennial zeitgeist by Christine Emba: “Some might read this trend as defeatism. But I’m inclined to read it as defiance — an attempt to live fully despite a crumbling world, focused neither inward (obsessed with individual success) nor far outward (engaging in theoretical activism), but on the present moment and one’s present circle.”

Robert Kagan’s warning about the US constitutional crisis: It is 1932 by Michael Sean Winters: “Biden’s decision not to assert executive privilege concerning documents and testimony that might shed light on Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 is significant because it recognizes that we can’t treat Trump and the threat he poses the way we normally confront problems. His threat is altogether different and more dangerous.”

The Social Security Trap by Stephanie Murray: “The program rewards work and ignores parenting, but needs both to function. If we all worked and no one had kids, our elder-care system would collapse under us as we aged—and not just Social Security. Medicare, the broader economy, and financial markets depend on people having babies too.”

Want to Change the World? First, Be Still. by Tish Harrison Warren: “Advocacy in support of the oppressed, the poor, the marginalized and the pursuit of peace requires action. Particularly in a democracy, we have a responsibility to raise our voices to call for a more just and compassionate society for all people. But the practices of silence, contemplation and stillness are essential disciplines in Christian spirituality.”

How to Help Prepare Kids for Suffering by Tish Harrison Warren: “Children — like all human beings — need to truthfully face difficulty and heartache to grow stronger. Not too much of course. When exposed to too much trauma, bones shatter and people can too. But we weaken our kids by trying to guard them from all pain.”

Teenage girls say Instagram’s mental health impacts are no surprise. by Erin Woo: “Documents that a whistle-blower, Frances Haugen, provided to The Wall Street Journal showed that Instagram made body-image issues worse for one in three teenage girls.”