Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

Popular Science

Probiotics Are More Hype Than Science

Experts say that the marketing for these supplements has outpaced the actual science.

Prevention

How to Be a Better Person: 16 Expert-Backed Methods for Self-Improvement

Try these simple life changes to become a more kind and thoughtful version of yourself.

Outside

How to Eat Like a Nutritionist (And Never Feel Like You’re On a Diet)

It doesn’t have to be all kale salads and quinoa.

Architectural Digest

11 Kitchen Storage Ideas to Make Your Small Space Easier to Cook In

Save your precious cabinet space with these brilliant tips.

The Conversation

This Salt Alternative Could Help Reduce Blood Pressure. So Why Are So Few People Using It?

Potassium-enriched salt tastes like regular salt and you don’t need to change how you cook or season your food. You just need to switch the type of salt you buy.

Greater Good Magazine

Why It Doesn’t Pay to be a People-Pleaser

Christine Carter always tried to meet other people’s expectations—until she realized how out of sync with her own wants and needs she’d become.

WIRED

Easily Distracted? You Need to Think Like a Medieval Monk

Focusing wasn’t much easier in the time before electricity or on-demand TV. In fact, you probably have a lot in common with these super-distracted monks.

Knowable Magazine

What Would Signal Life on Another Planet?

Astronomers have long debated what kind of chemistry might serve as a bona fide alien biosignature. With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, those ideas may be put to the test.

Aeon

Haunted by History

War, famine and persecution inflict profound changes on bodies and brains. Could these changes persist over generations?

Inc.

An Incredibly Clever Hack for People Who Want to Read More Books

This brilliant brain hack hijacks your social media habit to build a new commitment to reading.

Country Living

50 Meditation Quotes to Help You Find Inner Peace

No matter how stressed out you are, they’re sure to put you on the path to inner peace.

Smithsonian Magazine

How Scientists Resolved the Mystery of the Devil’s Corkscrews

Smithsonian paleontologist Hans-Dieter Sues tells the tale of a fossil find that bedeviled early 20th-century researchers.

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

Saturday, July 26

The Guardian

How Video Games Are Keeping Romance Alive – One Level at a Time

Some are using Final Fantasy and GTA Online as dating sites and long-time lovers are finding comfort and connection through Resident Evil. Could video games be the ultimate relationship tool?

Business Insider

Return Fraud Is Running Rampant

Whether it’s sending back broken items or claiming a package never arrived, Americans are committing return fraud at Amazon and other retailers.

The New Yorker

Mary Had Schizophrenia—Then Suddenly She Didn’t

Some psychiatric patients may actually have treatable autoimmune conditions. But what happens to the newly sane?

The Associated Press

Photos Show a Filipino Couple Walking Down a Flooded Aisle on Their Wedding Day

Jade Rick Verdillo and Jamaica Aguilar were determined to walk down the aisle on their wedding day.

Slate

The Rise of the One-Day Overseas Vacation

In the age of remote work, Instagram reels, and shrinking PTO, the one-day international trip is becoming both absurd and strangely relatable.

NBC News

The Deadliest Extreme Weather Event Is Not What You Think It Is

Nationally, extreme heat causes more deaths each year than any other weather event, including floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.

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.

The Guardian

Why Are Thailand and Cambodia Engaged in a Border Conflict?

Territory mapped during France’s colonial rule is behind clash that has exposed tensions between the countries.

Recommended Reads

Curated by Pocket

Grist

There’s a Surprising Climate Solution Right Under Your Feet

Mycorrhizal fungi help plants thrive, and sequester a lot of carbon. But a new atlas shows these climate warriors need urgent protection.

Context

Q&A: The Pastor Pushing Back on Anti-DEI in Trump’s America

What’s next for Jamal Bryant, the pastor who led a massive protest against retail giant Target over its anti-DEI moves?

Parents

Half of Parents Expect to Go Into Debt for Back-to-School—Here’s How to Avoid It

Multiple surveys underscore that BTS shopping is sending parents into debt. Experts offer money-saving tips.

Big Think

5 of the Strangest Books Ever Written

Some books are remembered for their lyrical prose or engaging stories. Others are remembered for simply being weird.

Open Culture

How Disney Fought Fascism With Propaganda Cartoons During World War II & Averted Financial Collapse

Today, the Walt Disney Company seems like one of those entities that’s ‘too big to fail’ — but during the Second World War, fail it nearly did.

Kiplinger

The Big Red Bucket Theory: A Financial Adviser’s Simple Way to Visualize Your Retirement Plan

When you think about retirement, picture a big red bucket brimming with all the money you’ve saved. It’s everything you’ve got, and it has to last you.

How-To Geek

It’s Not Just Nostalgia, Here’s Why Nintendo’s Retro Games Hit Differently

It’s some kind of magic.

Popular Science

Why Do We Put Seatbacks up for Landing? An Aviation Expert Explains.

Two inches might not seem like a big deal, but there’s a good reason for it.

The 19th

How a ‘Wall of Determined Black Women’ Rallied for Harris One Year Ago

The 19th spoke to half a dozen leading Black women in Democratic politics about their recollections of July 21, 2024, when Harris kicked off her 107-day presidential campaign.

Real Simple

This Personality Trait Might Be the Key to a Longer, Healthier Life

An unexpected personality trait might actually be the key to longevity.

Smithsonian Magazine

‘Robo-Bunnies’ Are the Newest Weapon in the Fight Against Invasive Burmese Pythons in Florida

Scientists are experimenting with robotic rabbits in hopes of luring the destructive snakes out of hiding so they can be euthanized

The Verge

Google Is Bringing Its AI-Powered Photo-to-Video Capability to More Apps

With more restrictions than the Gemini version.

Life Hacks

Tips for better living

NPR

Doctors Urge FDA to Remove Black Box Warning on Hormone Therapy for Menopause

The FDA may remove the warning labels on hormone replacement therapies used to treat the symptoms of menopause. Doctors say the warning is scaring people who could benefit from these treatments.

The Atlantic

The Problem With Rewards Credit Cards

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

The Cut

‘Are My Student Loans About to Become Unaffordable?’

You could do nothing—or you could sign up for a new repayment plan. Here are your options.

Axios

Social Security Recipients Set to Face an $18,000 Benefit Cut in Just Seven Years

Retirees are facing the prospect of substantial Social Security cuts in just seven years, sooner than projected, due to the “big, beautiful bill,” per an analysis out Thursday from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

NPR

What Borrowers Should Know About Student Loan Changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill

If you’re a federal student loan borrower or about to become one, your head may be spinning.

The Associated Press

For Some Employees, Education Benefits Such As Tuition Assistance Prove Life-Changing

As higher education costs have grown to heights many U.S. residents find unattainable or illogical, some adults are looking to their employers for help.

Harvard Business Review

Make the Most of Your Vacation When You Can’t Fully Unplug

While advice abounds on the importance of fully unplugging during your hard-earned time off — and for good reason! — what should you do if you’re in a situation where you can’t be fully offline?

Axios

Venmo the Treasury to Help Pay Uncle Sam’s Debt? You Can, If You Really Want

Of all the things you might use Venmo for — buying drinks, splitting a check with friends, repaying a loan — there’s a good chance you’ve never had “sending the government a gift to help pay the public debt” on your list.

NBC News

Did Your Doctor’s Office Charge You a ‘Facility Fee’? Here’s What to Know.

Facility fees, often associated with inpatient hospital stays, are becoming more common for outpatient doctors’ appointments.

NPR

You Can’t Outrun a Bad Diet. Food Not Lack of Exercise Fuels Obesity, Study Finds

One explanation for the rise in obesity in industrialized countries is that people burn fewer calories than people in countries where obesity is rare. A major study finds that’s not the case.

Allure

Why Are People Fighting About At-Home Gel Nail Kits on TikTok?

A closer look at both sides of the “OPI nail drama.”

CNBC

The 10 Best U.S. States to Retire—It’s About More Than ‘Just the Number of Sunny Days and Taxes’

If you want affordability, access to health care and neighborhood safety, you may want to look outside historically popular retirement destinations.