Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind
The Hustle

The Worst Sales Promotion in History

In 1992, an electronics company offered free international flights with a £100 purchase. Today, it’s cited as the worst promotion in history.

WIRED

How to Actually Find Good Recipes Online

So many food blogs and recipe sites are full of pretty pictures but untested recipes. Don’t worry, it’s possible to find something you’ll love to cook and eat.

BBC Culture

Why Being Creative Is Good for You

What is the key to creativity, and how does it help our mental health? Beverley D’Silva speaks to author Julia Cameron and others about ’flow’, fear and curiosity.

Knowable Magazine

Nature, Nurture and Randomness

More than genes and upbringing determine animal personalities: There’s a good dose of chance in the mix, too.

Popular Collections

Curated guides to the best reads on the web

Today’s Pocket Hits

Thursday, July 31
The American Scholar

Hundreds and Thousands

I didn’t know how you could inventory memories. I might search for a particular one, bring it up, dust it off. But how to count five days’ worth?

Punch

Are Kava and Kratom Drinks Addictive?

In detox centers and online support communities, it’s called “the little blue devil.” But its real name is less insidious: “Feel Free” is a drink sold in tiny blue bottles in gas stations, liquor stores and smoke shops to people 21 years or older.

The New Yorker

Notes on Bed Rest

I spent months limiting my movement, to protect a high-risk pregnancy. How did it change me?

The Independent

Meet the Childfree Communities Planning for a Future Without Kids

As increasing numbers of us can’t or won’t have children, Helen Coffey talks to those who are planning their lives without a nuclear family, and investigates why government policy has yet to catch up with this rapidly growing demographic.

Recommended Reads

Curated by Pocket
Reuters

What Is CTE and Its Connection to the NFL and Other Contact Sports?

A gunman who opened fire in a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday believed he suffered a brain injury that he blamed on the National Football League, New York’s mayor said, thrusting the issue of chronic traumatic encephalopathy back into headline

Life Hacks

Tips for better living
Maclean’s

Confessions of the Working Poor

I work hard, buy quality clothes and know how to fake my way through dinner-party conversations. But behind the scenes, I’m part of a fast-growing Canadian underclass.