The Happiness Trinity: Why it’s so hard to answer the question “What makes us happiest?”

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-happiness-trinity

Columbia University’s Anti-Semitism Problem: If the bullying of Jewish students had happened to any other group, the institution would be appalled.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/03/columbia-antisemitism-israel-palestine-trump/682054/

I Used to Teach Students. Now I Catch ChatGPT Cheats: I once believed university was a shared intellectual pursuit. That faith has been obliterated

https://thewalrus.ca/i-used-to-teach-students-now-i-catch-chatgpt-cheats/ 

Can You Think Yourself Young? Research shows that a positive attitude to ageing can lead to a longer, healthier life, while negative beliefs can have hugely detrimental effects.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/can-you-think-yourself-young

Five Surprising Ways Exercise Changes Your Brain: Moving your body is one of the most beneficial things you can do for your mind.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/five-surprising-ways-exercise-changes-your-brain

What a $2 Million Per Dose Gene Therapy Reveals About Drug Pricing

https://www.propublica.org/article/zolgensma-sma-novartis-drug-prices-gene-therapy-avexis

How Progressives Froze the American Dream: The U.S. was once the world’s most geographically mobile society. Now we’re stuck in place—and that’s a very big problem.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/03/american-geographic-social-mobility/681439/

Is it a crime to be in the country illegally? We answer your questions

https://www.deseret.com/politics/2025/02/05/uncertain-immigration-status-distinctions/

Colossal squid: The eerie ambassador from the abyss

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250130-colossal-squid-the-eerie-ambassador-from-the-abyss

Time to Delete? The Most Invasive Apps List Includes Some of Your Favorites

https://www.pcmag.com/articles/time-to-delete-the-most-invasive-apps-list-includes-some-of-your-favorites

Fake papers are contaminating the world’s scientific literature, fueling a corrupt industry and slowing legitimate lifesaving medical research

https://www.llrx.com/2025/01/fake-papers-are-contaminating-the-worlds-scientific-literature-fueling-a-corrupt-industry-and-slowing-legitimate-lifesaving-medical-research/

In a first, scientists find microplastics are building up deep in our brains: A new study shows that microplastics have crossed the blood-brain barrier -- and that their numbers are rising.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/02/03/microplastics-human-brain-increase/

How wildlife survives after wildfires

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250128-how-wildlife-survives-after-wildfires

The Benefit of Doing Things You’re Bad At: To learn a difficult new skill means risking failure—but it’s also a path to greater happiness.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/to-succeed-fail-better/681492/

The Devastating Legacy of Lies in Alzheimer’s Science

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/opinion/alzheimers-fraud-cure.html

Church says Texas town not standing by settlement reached for the McKinney Texas Temple: The town of Fairview and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints negotiated a smaller temple in November. The agreement may be unraveling and the church may seek legal remedy

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2025/01/27/church-fairview-town-mckinney-texas-temple-rluipa/

Why some experts believe there’s a society-wide ‘serious crisis of attention’ today: An entire industry is buying and selling our attention every day — filling content feeds ‘with so much garbage that even the good stuff can’t get through.’

https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2025/01/18/the-attention-crisis/

Fluoride in water: A research roundup and reporting tip sheet

https://journalistsresource.org/home/fluoride-research-roundup/

The Anti-Social Century: Americans are now spending more time alone than ever. It’s changing our personalities, our politics, and even our relationship to reality.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

The Egg: A story of extraction, exploitation and opportunity

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-fertility-egg-trade/

Why Is the American Diet So Deadly? A scientist tried to discredit the theory that ultra-processed foods are killing us. Instead, he overturned his own understanding of obesity.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/01/13/why-is-the-american-diet-so-deadly

Seriously, What Are You Supposed to Do With Old Clothes?: There are no good solutions to the problems of closet clean-out.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/seriously-what-are-you-supposed-to-do-with-old-clothes

What to know about a controversial new study on fluoride and IQ: The study is likely to further inflame politicized debates over water fluoridation

 https://www.statnews.com/2025/01/06/fluoride-iq-jama-pediatrics-critiques-meta-analysis/

The business of voluntourism: do western do-gooders actually do harm? A holiday helping out in an orphanage can be a rewarding experience. But voluntourism supports a system that is breaking up families

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/sep/13/the-business-of-voluntourism-do-western-do-gooders-actually-do-harm

The Most Common Last Name in Every Country

https://www.netcredit.com/blog/most-common-name-country/

How to Shake Off a Super Rude Interaction With a Stranger: It’s not just you: People are definitely getting more aggro.

https://www.self.com/story/how-to-shake-off-rude-interaction-with-stranger

How to Quiet Your Inner Critic Negative self-talk can do a number on your mental health.: So we asked a few experts to share their strategies to rewire your internal monologue.

https://www.gq.com/story/how-to-quiet-your-inner-critic

My shelter cat heist: How "Adopt, Don't Shop" almost became my villain origin story: A 16-month quest to bring home two cats only ended with chicanery. Turns out I'm not alone in encountering barriers

 https://www.salon.com/2024/12/06/cat-adoption-adopt-dont-shop/

The Rage and Glee That Followed a C.E.O.’s Killing Should Ring All Alarms

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/opinion/united-health-care-ceo-shooting.html

The Great Grocery Squeeze: How a federal policy change in the 1980s created the modern food desert

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/12/food-deserts-robinson-patman/680765/

14 Subtle Ways Having A Toxic Parent Affects You As An Adult: Certain traits that come out in adulthood can be signs that your parents were toxic as a kid.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/14-subtle-ways-having-a-toxic-parent-affects-you-as-an-adult

A Science Breakthrough Too Good to Be True? It Probably Isn’t: The more exciting, transformative, and revolutionary a science result appears, especially coming out of nowhere, the more likely it is to be dead wrong. So, approach science headlines with a healthy amount of skepticism and patience

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-science-breakthrough-too-good-to-be-true-it-probably-isnt/

Have You Fallen for the Myth of ‘I Can’t Draw’? Do It Anyway—and Reap the Rewards: The hurdles people face when it comes to learning to draw and how they can be overcome.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/have-you-fallen-for-the-myth-of-i-can-t-draw-do-it-anyway-and-reap-the-rewards

These are the most fulfilling jobs in America: When we looked at new data on which jobs give you the most pride or satisfaction, or serve the community best, one job took the top spot in every category.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/11/22/most-fulfilling-jobs-america-may-not-be-ones-you-expect/

The Invisible Man: We see right through the unshowered soul living in a car by the beach, or by the Walmart, or by the side of the road. But he’s there, and he used to be somebody. He still is. A firsthand account of homelessness in America.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a62875397/homelessness-in-america/ 

Underrated ways to change the world How to get a good heart unstuck

https://www.experimental-history.com/p/underrated-ways-to-change-the-world

Nutrition Science’s Most Preposterous Result: Studies show a mysterious health benefit to ice cream. Scientists don’t want to talk about it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/05/ice-cream-bad-for-you-health-study/673487/

Your Armpits Are Trying to Tell You Something: The best time to apply antiperspirant is right before bed. Seriously.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/11/antiperspirant-deodorant-night/680710/

How the Ivy League Broke America: The meritocracy isn’t working. We need something new.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/12/meritocracy-college-admissions-social-economic-segregation/680392/

The weeds are winning: As the climate changes, genetic engineering will be essential for growing food. But is it creating a race of superweeds?

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/10/1105034/weeds-climate-change-genetic-engineering-superweeds-food/

How Double-Loaded Sidewalks Bring Safety, Comfort, and Joy to Our Streets

https://www.sociallifeproject.org/double-loaded-sidewalks/

Be Kind to Your Gut Now, and the Older You Will Thank You: Experts on the microbiome explain how to eat for health and longevity.

https://www.saveur.com/culture/aging-gut-health/

The Unlikely Inventor of the Automatic Rice Cooker: A Japanese housewife’s experiments cracked the code of perfectly cooked rice

https://spectrum.ieee.org/toshiba-rice-cooker

How Comic Sans became the Crocs of fonts

https://www.fastcompany.com/91214335/how-comic-sans-became-the-crocs-of-fonts

‘You tried to tell yourself I wasn’t real’: what happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads?: In avatar therapy, a clinician gives voice to their patients’ inner demons. For some of the participants in a new trial, the results have been astounding

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/oct/29/acute-psychosis-inner-voices-avatar-therapy-psychiatry

Hear a Chopin Waltz Unearthed After Nearly 200 Years: An unknown work in the composer’s hand has emerged in a New York museum, the first such find in more than a half century. The pianist Lang Lang plays it here.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/27/arts/music/chopin-waltz-discovery.html

The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media: A note from our owner.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/

A Simple Exercise to Help You Check Your Biases

https://hbr.org/2024/10/a-simple-exercise-to-help-you-check-your-biases

We’re Told to ‘Eat a Rainbow’. Here’s What Each Color Does in Our Body: Most of us know we should eat different coloured fruits and vegetables, but do you know why?

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/we-re-told-to-eat-a-rainbow-of-fruit-and-vegetables-here-s-what-each-colour-does-in-our-body

2024 Link Guide to Employment Resources

https://www.llrx.com/2024/09/2024-link-guide-to-employment-resources/

The Vagus Nerve’s Crucial Role in Creating the Human Sense of Mind: Like a highway system, the vagus nerve branches profusely from your brain through your organs to marshal bodily functions, including aspects of mind such as mood, pleasure, and fear.

https://www.wired.com/story/how-our-longest-nerve-orchestrates-the-mind-body-connection-vagus/

Worsening brain drain

https://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/article_ad2aa9ee-8b18-11ef-aa62-630c7a425a34.html

Nonprofit Challenges

https://latterdaysaintmag.com/nonprofit-challenges/

The profit-obsessed monster destroying American emergency rooms: Private equity decimated emergency care in the United States — without you even noticing.

https://www.vox.com/health-care/374820/emergency-rooms-private-equity-hospitals-profits-no-surprises

License Plate Readers Are Creating a US-Wide Database of More Than Just Cars: From Trump campaign signs to Planned Parenthood bumper stickers, license plate readers around the US are creating searchable databases that reveal Americans’ political leanings and more.

https://www.wired.com/story/license-plate-readers-political-signs-bumper-stickers/ 

When Should Presenters Apologize?

https://www.llrx.com/2024/09/when-should-presenters-apologize/

Welcome to the Era of ‘Deep Doubt’: AI has scrambled our ability to tell what’s real and what’s synthetic. But there are tools and techniques to help stay grounded in truth.

https://www.wired.com/story/deepfakes-deep-doubt-era-artificial-intelligence

The Hardest Case for Mercy

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/09/17/school-shooting-death-penalty-parkland-nikolas-cruz

How to Kill Fruit Flies in Your Home, Instantly: DIY traps and homemade sprays to kill these kitchen and drain pests for good.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-to-kill-fruit-flies-in-your-home-instantly

Matti Friedman: When We Started to Lie: I watched as the goal of mainstream journalism shifted from describing reality to ushering readers to the correct political conclusion.

https://www.thefp.com/p/friedman-when-we-started-to-lie

The Canary: Michael Lewis on Chris Mark of the Department of Labor

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2024/michael-lewis-chris-marks-the-canary-who-is-government/

Jawbreakers: Young patients want beautifully imperfect veneers. They’re getting pain, debt, and regret.

https://www.thecut.com/article/veneers-cost-perfect-smile-teeth-regret.html

Should we think twice about fluoride?: Too much fluoride might lower IQ in kids, a new federal report says. The science (and debate), explained.

https://www.vox.com/today-explained-newsletter/369470/fluoride-iq-kids-brain-development-toothpaste-water-science-study

Having an Enemy at Work Might Help You Get Ahead: Turns out your toxic boss can teach you something.

https://slate.com/business/2024/09/workplace-mentorships-career-advancement-toxic-boss-coworker-feud-motivation.html

How to restore trust in American higher education: Governing boards must regain their control of America’s colleges and universities

https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2024/09/04/trust-restored-higher-education/

Are You Being 'Spoofed'? This Specific Type Of Scam Is Hard To Catch.: This sneaky, insidious act tricks you into sharing personal information — and it's all too easy to fall for. Here's how to spot it.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/spoofing-scam-url-emails_l_66cc97e8e4b09c9ffeaf1006

Don’t Trust the Election Forecasts: The data doesn’t support the obsession with presidential prognostications.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/09/03/election-forecasts-data-00176905

The Cure for Disposable Plastic Crap Is Here—and It’s Loony: Stretchy seaweed, reverse vending machines, QR-coded take-out boxes: They’re how we can break society’s absurd addiction to single-use plastics.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-cure-for-disposable-plastic-crap-is-here-and-its-loony/

Getting a divorce? There’s a coach for that

https://thehustle.co/originals/getting-a-divorce-theres-a-coach-for-that

The Plot Against the Principality of Sealand: How the world’s quirkiest micro-nation got pulled into one of history’s most epic intercontinental frauds

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-plot-against-the-principality-of-sealand

Hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of every American. Here’s how to protect yourself

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-08-13/hacker-claims-theft-of-every-american-social-security-number

Why toilet paper keeps getting smaller and smaller

https://thehustle.co/news/why-toilet-paper-keeps-getting-smaller-and-smaller

When Is “Recyclable” Not Really Recyclable? When the Plastics Industry Gets to Define What the Word Means. Companies whose futures depend on plastic production are trying to persuade the federal government to allow them to put the label “recyclable” on plastic shopping bags and other items virtually guaranteed to end up in landfills and incinerators.

https://www.propublica.org/article/plastics-industry-redefine-recyclable-ftc-grocery-bags

Smashing Idea: How East Germany Invented ‘Unbreakable’ Drinking Glasses: In the 1980s, a company called Superfest pioneered extra strong glass – but it disappeared with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Now it’s making a comeback.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/smashing-idea-how-east-germany-invented-unbreakable-drinking-glasses

How to Notice and Avoid Dark Patterns Online

https://lifehacker.com/how-to-notice-and-avoid-dark-patterns-online-1827734449