Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

Bon Appétit

The 3-Ingredient Tuna Spaghetti I Fell for in Italy

Yes, two of the ingredients are tuna and spaghetti.

The Drive

Hear Me Out: We’re Doing Rest Stops All Wrong in America

We invented the roadside grill. Then we failed it.

The Hustle

The Murky Math of the New York Times Bestsellers List

How to land one of the spots on the list.

The Marginalian

A Stunning Meditation on Walking Into the Questions of Our Becoming

From poet and philosopher David Whyte.

Bustle

65 Random Questions To Ask To Get To Know Someone Better

If you ran for president, what would be your campaign slogan?

Aeon

When Is Stress Good for You?

The subtle flows and toxic hits of stress get under the skin, making and breaking the body and brain over a lifetime.

Quanta Magazine

The Math That Tells Cells What They Are

During development, cells seem to decode their fate through optimal information processing, which could hint at a more general principle of life.

Kiplinger

How to Pay for Long-Term Care

Most people will need long-term care at some point, but insurance is pricey. Here’s a guide to covering the expenses.

MIT Technology Review

One Woman’s Race to Defuse the Genetic Time Bomb in Her Genes

How DNA sequencing and new genetic drugs raise the chance we can cure any inherited disease.

Quartz

Three Questions to Ask Yourself When You Feel Overwhelmed by Career Choices

Get closer to your goals.

Narratively

The Woman Who Found a Snail in Her Soda and Launched a Million Lawsuits

Sixty-six years before the infamous spilled McDonald’s coffee, May Donoghue drank a ginger beer with a dead mollusk in it and changed personal-injury law forever.

BBC Travel

‘Kulning’: A Hypnotic Swedish Singing Tradition

Singers of this ancient form of Swedish herd-calling corral farm animals with haunting melodies, drawing in cows, goats, sheep and ducks with each hypnotic note.

Popular Collections

Curated guides to the best reads on the web

Pocket Collections

The Art of Navigating Thorny Office Politics

From bad bosses to gossipy colleagues and, of course, office refrigerator drama.

Today’s Pocket Hits

Tuesday, July 29

The Independent

Why Are We So Bad at Apologising?

For a nation that is famously apologetic about everything, the UK apparently has a hard time saying sorry. Olivia Petter asks why we find making genuine apologies so difficult – and what that says about our ability to take accountability.

Vox

Am I Actually “Too Sensitive”?

Some people, in fact, are more prone to big feelings than others.

POLITICO Europe

Inside the Wild World of Britain’s Private Spies

Lucrative, freewheeling — and largely unregulated — private intelligence and security firms are booming in the land of James Bond and John le Carré.

Atlas Obscura

The Original ‘Survivor’ Island Changed Television Forever

Pulau Tiga, best known as the original ‘Survivor’ island, was as much of a character on the show as the contestants were.

BBC

The ‘Other’ Michelin Award Travellers Should Know

Long overshadowed by the coveted Michelin stars, the Bib Gourmand celebrates the world's best budget-friendly restaurants.

The 19th

Debbie Dingell Tells Her Story — Even When She Doesn’t Want To

The Michigan congresswoman is again recounting her childhood experiences as funding to combat domestic violence is under threat.

The Guardian

The Rise and Fall of the British Cult That Hid in Plain Sight

Philippa Barnes was a child when her family joined the Jesus Fellowship. As an adult, she helped expose the shocking scale of abuse it had perpetrated.

NPR

She’s Trying to Open a Birth Center Near a Maternity Desert. It’s Not Easy.

When Katie Chubb was pregnant she wanted to have her baby at a birth center, but there was no local option. Now she's trying to open one herself. She has community support, but not from the hospitals.

Recommended Reads

Curated by Pocket

The Verge

The Verge’s 2025 Back-to-School Shopping Guide

From laptops to dorm room staples.

Inc. Magazine

Of All the Productivity Hacks People Try, This Is the 1 That Sticks (According to Science)

Everyone wants to be more productive. This simple trick can help.

NPR

‘There You Are’: How Mariska Hargitay Sought Out the Truth Behind Her Bombshell Mom

The Law & Order: SVU actor was 3 years old in 1967 when her movie star mom, Jayne Mansfield, died in a car crash. Hargitay’s new documentary My Mom Jayne explores her mother’s identity, and her own.

Polygon

Steam’s Mechanical New Puzzle Game Has Taken Over My Brain

Mass producing bidets has never been so satisfying

Kiplinger

Are You an Auto Theft Target? Discover the Clues

Thieves seized over 850,000 cars last year. See which models, states and behaviors draw the eyes of opportunists.

Popular Mechanics

Archaeologists May Have Discovered the World’s Oldest Burial Ground

The 100,000-year-old site contains the remains of both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

The New York Times

How Parenting Changed After Etan Patz

Did the shocking disappearance of a 6-year-old in 1979 forever alter how Americans raised children? Or were there other reasons for parents to be anxious?

Fast Company

3 Tips for Getting More Satisfaction Out of Your Routine

Sometimes it feels like life is a meaningless routine. A time management coach offers tips on getting more joy out of your day.

PS

I Went Through a “Sleep Divorce,” and It Was Amazing for My Marriage

Here’s how it went for one couple.

Real Simple

8 Ways to Fill Your Home With a Fresh, Summery Scent

The smell of summer is fresh, bright, and welcoming.

Motherly

Most Premature Baby Ever Born Celebrates His First Birthday

At just 21 weeks gestation, weighing only 10 ounces, baby Nash Keen entered the world fighting. A year later, his parents, Mollie and Randall, are celebrating a milestone they once weren’t sure they’d see: Nash’s first birthday.

Bustle

Alicia Tillman Is on a Mission to Elevate Women’s Sports

Alicia Tillman discusses Delta’s partnership with the WNBA, the inspiration behind their new ‘Power Forward’ series, and how the airline is elevating women’s sports.

Life Hacks

Tips for better living

Vox

How to Make the Hardest Choices of Your Life

From picking a career to picking a spouse, one radical philosophical idea will guide you.

CNBC

Even Many High-Earning Americans Don’t Feel Wealthy. Here’s Why

Many high earners in the U.S. still feel broke. Between lifestyle creep, debt and social pressure, even $200,000 per year doesn’t always buy peace of mind.

The Guardian

Trust Your Gut and Fail Bravely: Seven Influential Women on the Advice They Would Give Their 30-Year-Old Selves

It’s tempting to imagine what we might have done differently. But, as Diana Nyad says: ‘We earn our wisdom.’

The Associated Press

If You Don’t Have Diabetes, Do You Really Need a Continuous Glucose Monitor?

A quarter-size device that tracks the rise and fall of sugar in your blood is the latest source of hope — and hype — in the growing buzz around wearable health technology.

The Guardian

‘It Would Destroy Me’: Fear of Student Loan Default Haunts US Borrowers

The Trump administration has ended the pandemic-era pause on repayments, leaving many facing colossal debts.

The Cut

What If a Child Was Terrified of Food?

The rise of ARFID, a new eating disorder driven not by body image but by fear.

CNBC

Animal Shelters Are Crowded as High Costs Squeeze Pet Owners

Millions of animals are stuck in increasingly cramped shelters because their owners are struggling to pay rising vet bills and other expenses.

Axios

Why GLP-1s Could Become the “Everything Drug”

The biggest buzz around GLP-1 drugs these days has nothing to do with weight loss. And that might lead to some problems for patients and insurers.

The Atlantic

The Problem With Rewards Credit Cards

Their fees are getting higher—and their benefits are sometimes wildly complicated to redeem.

Parents

A Parent Let Their Son Choose What to Do With Money They Found–Here’s What He Decided

Doing real-time experiments like this in the wild can teach us a lot about our kids and ourselves as parents.

NPR

Dear Life Kit: My Friend Says Ugly Things About Her Body and It Makes Me Anxious

Body-acceptance advocate Katie Sturino and Ronald Young Jr., host of the podcast Weight for It, answer listener questions about body image, weight loss drugs and bullying.

Harvard Business Review

The Right Way to Prepare for a High-Stakes Conversation

Before commercial pilots push back from the gate, they complete a comprehensive preflight check to verify that every system functions correctly during the journey ahead.