Victorian elites stayed in bed until the afternoon
Works in Progress (Substack) · 9 Oct 2026

Victorian elites stayed in bed until the afternoon

This is our third article from Issue 26, which arrives with print subscribers this week. Books about successful people often make success sound rather unappealing. Education should be intense and rigorous, focused on driving up IQ and on the ‘STEM’ quaternity of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Once adulthood is reached, life follows an austere pattern, with a 5am start, cold baths, daily visits to the gym, little or no alcohol, a Huel-rich diet, and Stakhanovite working hours.


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