TIME Five Best Ideas

Read Difficult Novels

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C.

These are today's best ideas

1. Read difficult novels.

By Will Self in Literary Hub

2. By taking internet literacy for granted, we ensured the success of foreign digital trolls.

By Kevin Munger in the Outline

3. SNAP food assistance consistently lifts millions out of poverty. Why change it?

By Laura Wheaton, Emily Peiffer and Victoria Tran at the Urban Institute

4. Bring back the negative book review.

By Rafia Zakaria in the Baffler

5. This is the best time of day to learn a new language.

By Burr Settles and Masato Hagiwara in Quartz

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C.

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TIME Ideas hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

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