• “The teachings of Epictetus are rather less useful when it comes to interactions with other people. ‘If you kiss a child of yours,’ he says, ‘or your wife, tell yourself that you’re kissing a human being, because then you won’t be upset if they die.’ This must have been a common piece of Stoic advice; the line is quoted admiringly by Marcus Aurelius.” (London Review of Books)

• “Washington, DC, and the long life of housing segregation.” (The Baffler)

• The history of nepo babies: “The Catholic Church itself, which imposed celibacy on its own Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, and Sisters, kept power in the family when Popes positioned their nephews—nipote, in Italian—in positions of authority, a practice that…gave us the term nepotism.” (The New Yorker)

• “Romans, lend me your shears: empire brought hair removal to Britain, says English Heritage.” (The Guardian)

• The history of government involvement in American agriculture. (The American Prospect)

• “Nineteenth century painters may have primed their canvases with beer-brewing leftovers.” (Science News)

• On Kerry James Marshall’s latest exhibition: “History isn’t always tragic, but it is always complicated. My paintings tackle history in its most complex form. Nobody is getting off the hook.” (Art in America)

• This week in obituaries: Tina Turner, Martin Amis, Jim Brown, Kenneth Anger, Bill Lee, Rod Kedward, Nicholas Gray, Ray Stevenson, Ken Westbury, Rick Hoyt, Leon Ichaso, Marta Wise, James de Jongh, Andy Rourke, Seán Keane, Shermane Billingsley, Alice Coleman, George Logan, Buddy Melges, Terry McDermott, Rick Wolff, and Rolf Harris.