Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

Romper

The Food Our Parents Fed Us

Cans of Cream of Something and frozen vegetables and rice plus more rice made for dinners that tasted like love. (And sanity.)

Inverse

Can Spicy Food Boost Our Gut Health? Here’s What the Science Says.

Foods that help the microbiome flourish could provide a host of health benefits.

Stylist

“Don’t Take It So Personally” Is the Ultimate Gaslighting Insult—According to Experts

The phrase “don’t take it so personally” might sound innocent enough, and is often used with the best of intentions, but it’s also used by gaslighters as a classic way of asserting control and spreading self-doubt in relationships.

Knowable Magazine

What if We Tolerated Diseases?

The immune cells that fight viruses are well-known. But some scientists think we should allow our bodies to more harmlessly live with pathogens until they’re cleared from our system.

The Conversation

Here’s How Your Metabolism Influences How Many Calories You Burn Each Day

Whatever the current speed of your metabolism, there are things that will nudge it into lower or higher gears.

The Drive

Here’s How a Pro Waxes a Car by Hand

Wax on left, wax off right. Seems simple enough, yeah? Not so fast, grasshopper.

MIT Press Reader

The Thorny Ethics of Planetary Engineering

Whenever someone waxes poetic about terraforming alien worlds, it’s worth taking a moment to consider the ethical implications of the proposal.

The Washington Post

They’re All Good Boys and Girls, But Only Some Can Be Service Dogs

Researchers are working to identify early signs that a dog is cut out to be a working canine.

Inc.

Why ‘Early to Bed, Early to Rise’ Is a Myth (and Night Owls Can Finally Rejoice)

Waking up early isn’t the secret to success—focusing on your chronotype is what’s more important.

CityLab

How London’s Taxi Drivers Navigate the City Without GPS

Drivers of the city’s black cabs can teach satellite navigation apps a few things about how to plan the most efficient route.

Aeon

Acting Like an Extrovert Has Benefits, but Not for Introverts

Psychologists are beginning to explore the potential, life-changing benefits of certain personality traits.

Romper

30 Questions To Ask Kids When They Get Home From School

“How was school today?” just isn’t cutting it.

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

Wednesday, August 6

WIRED

From Cheating Exposés to Dating Background Checks, TikTok Detectives Are Thriving

Private investigator influencers are staking out suspected cheaters and vetting dates for their clients, posting the tea for their followers. But there’s a dark side to morality-based surveillance.

The New Yorker

Treating Gaza’s Collective Trauma

In Gaza, where displaced children play games called “air strike” and act out death, the lack of mental-health resources has become another emergency.

POLITICO Magazine

Meet the Fraudster Who Wants to Make California Its Own Country

The man behind the Calexit movement claims to be a baller. But he’s broke.

Scientific American

The Hidden Way Allergens Attack Nose, Throat and Lung Cells

The immune system senses damage to cell membranes caused by pore-forming proteins and mounts a response.

Slate

I Quit Drinking. It’s Great. There’s Just One Small Problem.

How do I deal with my emotions without whiskey?

Aeon

A Life in Zen

Growing up in countercultural California, ‘enlightenment’ had real glamour. But decades of practice have changed my mind.

PBS

In the Gray World of GLP-1 Supplements Online, Health Experts Urge Caution

TikTok beauty influencer Kaycee Ogle is regularly contacted by brands who want her to promote their products. But one email she received in June was different, and made her curious.

The Associated Press

Photos of Surfing Dogs Hanging Ten in Annual Competition

The annual World Dog Surfing Championships took place near San Francisco on Saturday.

Recommended Reads

Curated by Pocket

SFGate

One of Earth’s Oldest Plants Sits in the Calif. Desert, and No One Cares

A small masterpiece was 11,700 years in the making.

Vanity Fair

George Clooney and Adam Sandler’s ’Jay Kelly’ Explores What Movie Stardom Really Means

The two actors explain Noah Baumbach’s new Hollywood tale, which forced them to dig deep and forge a tight bond: “I kept telling the cast, ‘Don’t call him Sand Man.’”

NBC News

This Is the ‘No. 1 Reason’ to Buy the Early Boarding Upgrade, Travel Expert Says

Priority boarding is “basically the race to get our carry-on suitcases in the overhead bins,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of Atmosphere Research Group.

Lifehacker

The 25 Best Movies Streaming on Peacock Right Now

There’s some prestige stuff here, as well as more delightfully disreputable fare.

The Atlantic

What’s Really Behind the Cult of Labubu

The border between childhood and adulthood keeps getting fuzzier and fuzzier.

Literary Hub

How Witi Ihimaera’s ‘The Whale Rider’ Helped Introduce Maori Literature to the World

Shilo Kino on the novel that represented and reconnected New Zealand’s indigenous people.

The Atlantic

This Is the News From TikTok

When young adults use the social-media outlet to keep up with current events, what kind of information are they getting?

CrimeReads

10 New Books Coming Out This Week

Another week, another batch of books for your TBR pile. Happy reading, folks.

Los Angeles Times

Love These 8 Emmy Nominees? Here Are the TV Classics to Watch Next

Some of this year’s most-lauded shows have classic TV counterparts available to watch. Here are 8 recommendations to tide you over until next season.

The Independent

Thousands of Formerly Secret Files on Police Misconduct in California Made Public Through Searchable Database

The records open a window into nearly 12,000 cases involving allegations of sexual assault to brutality complaints and incidents involving deadly force

BBC

Chris Hemsworth on Facing Fears, Ageing and Return of Thor

The actor is back for a second season of ‘Limitless’ which sees him explore how to live longer and healthier.

Time

Survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombings Share Their Stories in ‘Atomic People’

PBS doc ‘Atomic People’ features survivors who talk about what it was like in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, when the atomic bombs dropped.

Life Hacks

Tips for better living

Allure

A New Form of Alopecia Is Affecting Menopausal Women

Experts are calling it an “emerging epidemic.”

The Atlantic

How the Muppets Helped Me Grieve

After my father got sick, his collaborations with Jim Henson kept me afloat.

HuffPost

The ‘Expectation Effect’ Hack Might Be the Secret to Happiness

This one simple but powerful shift can have major benefits. But be mindful of going overboard.

WIRED

What’s Inside the Tiny Miracle Food Pouches That Can Save the Lives of Starving Gazans

Packed with calories and protein, the same magic mixture has successfully treated famine for decades—but due to funding cuts it’s now in short supply.

CBS News

Thinking About an Annuity? Here’s Who Should (and Shouldn’t) Buy One This August

Annuities can offer guaranteed income, but they’re not for everyone. Here’s who should (and shouldn’t) buy now.

NBC News

New Guide to Wealth Terminology Aims to Better Inform Investors

In 2024, households worth $5 million or more controlled an estimated $49 trillion in financial wealth, more than half of the nation’s total, according to Cerulli Associates.

NBC News

Vast Majority of U.S. Adults Stressed About Grocery Costs, AP-NORC Poll Finds

Only 14% say it’s not a source of stress, underscoring the pervasive anxiety most Americans continue to feel about the cost of everyday essentials.

NPR

Wildfire Smoke Is Like Smoking ‘Half a Pack a Day.’ Here’s How to Protect Yourself

As Canadian wildfires spread smoke across the U.S. the air pollution is dangerous to health. But there are ways to protect yourself. Here’s what to know.

The Marginalian

How to Be a Happier Creature

Even as the merchants of silicon and code try to render us disembodied intellects caged behind screens, something in our animal body knows where we came from and where we belong.

Greater Good Magazine

How Does Retirement Affect Our Health and Happiness?

A review of research investigated how mental health and physical activity change in retirees around the world.

The Associated Press

What to Know If You’re at Risk of Having Your Wages Garnished Over Student Loan Debt

Millions of student borrowers could begin having their wages garnished as soon as this summer. That’s according to estimates from credit bureau TransUnion.

CBS News

Dr. Mehmet Oz Says Applications for $50 Billion Rural Hospital Fund Will Go Out “In Early September”

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the applications for a rural hospitals fund will go out in “early September” in the wake of Medicaid cuts.