Pocket Future

Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

Fast Company

Four Ways to Build Influence at Work, No Matter Your Job Title

Even if you’re an entry-level employee, you can create a powerful presence.

MEL Magazine

What Happens to Spelling Bee Champions When They Grow Old?

Spelling contests have remained a feature in American life since the Puritans landed on Plymouth Rock — but is peaking at 12 years old all it’s cracked up to be?

Greater Good Magazine

How to Stop the Pain of Wishing People Were Different

Sometimes it’s hard to just accept people for who they are. Here’s how to be at peace with someone, faults and all.

Mental Floss

10 of the Most Unique Playgrounds in the U.S.

From St. Louis’s popular City Museum to the Little Debbie Park in Collegedale, Tennessee, these kid-friendly spaces put a fun twist on what playgrounds can truly be.

Epicurious

The Coffee Lingo You Need to Find Your New Favorite Beans

Natural vs. washed, blend vs. single-origin...you need a cheat sheet to understand how the descriptors on the bag translate to the taste inside each cup.

Inc.

Here’s How Highly Successful People Make Little Choices Different From the Rest of Us

It’s simple: If you want to live an exceptional life, you can’t behave like everyone else.

Prevention

How to Be More Confident in 8 Steps, According to Experts

Sometimes you really do have to fake it ’til you make it.

Bloomberg Businessweek

The Surprisingly Lucrative Business of Recycled E-Waste

In Nigeria and elsewhere, entrepreneurs are making money by dismantling electronics—and sending valuable metals back to the developed world.

MEL Magazine

An Oral History of Whac-a-Mole

The surprisingly contentious story of the beloved family game about bludgeoning small rodents.

Scientific American

Why Nearly 80 Percent of Autoimmune Sufferers Are Female

The effects of sex hormones, X chromosomes and different gut microbes may be parts of the answer.

Quanta Magazine

How a Strange Grid Reveals Hidden Connections Between Simple Numbers

A long-standing puzzle seems to constrain how addition and multiplication relate to each other. A graduate student has gone further than anyone else in establishing the connection.

BBC Worklife

Why Do We Buy Into the ‘Cult’ of Overwork?

Overwork culture is thriving; we think of long hours and constant exhaustion as a marker of success. Given what we know about burnout, why do we do give in?

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 13

Travis Kelce on His Upcoming Season, Post-NFL Ambitions, and Life With Taylor Swift

After a grueling Super Bowl loss, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end spent his summer vacation focused on coming back stronger than ever.

The Washington Post

What 17 Years of Dog Sitting Has Taught Me About Animals — and People

Hundreds of dogs have been in my care, and I’ve realized I like to live at their pace.

BBC

Should We All Be Taking Vitamin Supplements?

Vitamin supplements can be an efficient way to add vitamins lacking in our diet. But they're not a silver bullet.

Texas Monthly

Arch Manning Is the Anointed One. Can He Survive the Hype?

Pundits are touting him for the Heisman. UT fans are expecting the world. What do those other famous quarterbacks in Arch’s family make of the hullabaloo? Funny you should ask.

Knowable Magazine

How the Cavefish Lost Its Eyes — Again and Again

Mexican tetras that got swept into pitch-black caverns had no use for the energetically costly organs. They lost their eyes in multiple ways — and gained some nifty traits too.

The 19th

She Hid an Eating Disorder and Lost Her Navy Career. It Saved Her Life.

Service members battling eating disorders may not receive the help they need as the military pushes a “warrior ethos” and “lethality.”

Zillennials Can’t Afford to Buy Homes. So What?

Millennials and Gen Z have so much debt that home-buying feels like a fantasy. But these experts say renting is the real power move.

Bitter Southerner

For the Living of These Days

Every summer, locals reenact the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, where Prosecutor William Jennings Bryan remains something of a hero. I wanted to see for myself why this story still resonates.

Taylor Swift’s New Album, ’The Life of a Showgirl’: What We Know So Far

TS 12 is coming! Swift announced plans to release her 12th studio album in a clip from her highly anticipated appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s podcast.

Business Insider

The End of the Mega-Employer

For more than a century, armies of office workers were a necessary cost of doing business in corporate America. Not anymore.

Time

The Worst Opening Lines to Use on Dating Apps—and What to Say Instead

If you simply say “hi,” wave goodbye to a first date.

The Verge

UK Government Suggests Deleting Files to Save Water

Officials are pleading with people to help reduce demand.

The Verge

Krafton Claims Former Subnautica 2 Devs ‘Lost Interest’ in Developing Game

Who’s telling the truth?

Kiplinger

How to Break Free From the ‘One More Year’ Trap and Actually Retire

Despite having more than enough money to retire, some people simply cannot leave their jobs.

Dwell

“Freedom Cities” Won’t Solve the Housing Crisis

And with President Trump’s proposed plan to build 10 brand-new cities on federally-owned land, democracy itself is also at stake.

Essence

We Built the Culture, but Where’s the Investment? The State of Black Reality TV.

Despite huge cultural impact and loyal audiences, Black reality TV is at a crossroads. This story uncovers why Black shows are disappearing.

Smithsonian Magazine

This Visionary African American Politician Dreamed of Creating an All-Black State in Oklahoma Territory

Edward P. McCabe petitioned Benjamin Harrison for an opportunity to show him that Black people “are men and women capable of self‑government.” When the president was unmoved, McCabe and his followers went west anyway.