Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

Quanta Magazine

Quantum Questions Inspire New Math

In order to fully understand the quantum world, we may have to develop a new realm of mathematics.

Fast Company

What Happened When I Ate The Best Brain Foods For A Week

This is what cutting out sugar and dairy and eating lots of fish and blueberries did to my productivity.

Aeon

Before You Can Be With Others, First Learn to Be Alone

If we lose our capacity for solitude, our ability to be alone with ourselves, then we lose our very ability to think.

Greater Good Magazine

Here’s How to Find Meaning in Your Midlife Crisis

Middle age can be a time of renewal, if you’re willing to ask the right questions.

The Hustle

Are Advertisers Going To Infiltrate Our Dreams?

Major brands like Coors, Microsoft, and Burger King want in on our dreams — and researchers are concerned about it.

CityLab

Churches, Cinemas — and Moon Artifacts — Top List of Endangered Monuments

The 2025 World Monument Watch list features a non-terrestrial site for the first time.

The Drive

How To Wash a Motorcycle

Clean bike, full hearts, can’t lose.

Stylist

What Your Profile Picture Says About Your Personality, According to a Life Coach

What’s in a profile picture? Well, quite a lot according to life coach Francesca Tighinean.

Atlas Obscura

The Communist Cookbook That Defined Prague’s Cuisine

For years, one book dictated how and what people could eat.

Slate

How to Talk About Your Salary With Co-Workers

Breaking this taboo is crucial to getting paid what you’re worth—and it could help shrink the wage gap, too.

The Atlantic

A Counterintuitive Way to Cheer Up When You’re Down

When you most need to get happier, try giving happiness away.

BBC Future

The Strange Appeal of Garden Lawns

Many of us create or maintain lawns in our gardens without giving it a second thought. But could these innocent patches of greenery be a colossal waste of space?

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

Friday, July 4

New York Magazine

'People Want That African Euphoria'

Black Americans are moving to Ghana — and driving up the cost of living for everyone around them.

Bon Appétit

An Inside Look at the Best Snack Trends at the Summer Fancy Food Show

At the Comic Con of snacks, we track down the latest in sweet treats, sauces, and drinks.

Smithsonian Magazine

In a Milestone for Manhattan, a Pair of Coyotes Has Made Central Park Their Home

For six years, two photographers have carefully followed the canines and documented their secret lives.

Reuters

They Tried Made in the USA. It Was Too Expensive for Their Customers.

Tens of thousands of American small and midsize manufacturers are facing the choice between paying steep tariffs on Chinese imports or taking on significantly higher domestic production costs.

CNN

A Couple Tried for 18 Years to Get Pregnant. AI Made It Happen.

As artificial intelligence shapes fertility care, it’s now helping doctors find hidden sperm.

Boston

Did We Ruin Summer Camp by Making It Safe?

The kids are all right—but are they missing out?

The New York Times

He’s Ringo. And Nobody Else Is.

As he turns 85, one of the last surviving Beatles is still musically curious, dispensing his signature wisdom, and preaching the gospel of peace and love.

The Atlantic

The Feminine Pursuit of Swoleness

A new book considers how weight lifting can help you unlearn diet culture.

Recommended Reads

Curated by Pocket

Los Angeles Times

Ritchie Valens Died Too Young. His Legacy Will Live on Forever

Though he died in a plane crash at 17, Ritchie Valens changed rock ‘n’ roll and Latin music forever.

Los Angeles Times

‘All the Sharks’ Might Be the Friendliest Competitive Shark Show You’ll See This Summer

Netflix’s latest competition series features teams of divers vying to photograph the most sharks in exotic locations.

CBS News

Supreme Court Takes up State Bans on Transgender Athletes in Girls’ and Women’s Sports

The Supreme Court will take up cases involving laws in Idaho and West Virginia that prohibit transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.

CNET

11 Things I’ll Never Put in the Dishwasher Again (and Neither Should You)

The dishwasher may be the easy way out for most messy kitchen items, but it will quickly ruin copper cookware, insulated mugs and wooden boards.

NBC News

Monsoon Season Brings the Promise of Rain for the Arid Southwestern U.S.

The monsoon relies on the buildup of summer heat and shifting wind direction, which helps funnel moisture from distant bodies of water to areas where rain is sparse.

The Atlantic

The Disturbing Implications of the Diddy Verdict

The music mogul was acquitted of his most serious charges. What comes next?

Inverse

Legend And Trials Of Mana Show Two Great But Different Ways To Remake A Classic

Two entries from a classic RPG series come to Xbox Game Pass in July, with two takes on how to approach remakes and remasters.

Big Think

American Science to Soon Face Its Largest Brain Drain in History

Over the first half of 2025, the USA has cut science as never before. This disaster for American science is a gift to the rest of the world.

CBS News

Layoffs Reach Highest Level Since 2020, New Data Shows. Here’s Why Companies Are Cutting Jobs.

Companies have reported more than 744,000 job cuts this year — the highest figure since the first six months of 2020, according to an outplacement firm.

Vanity Fair

And Just Like That…: Would Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda Even Be Friends Anymore?

Maybe not—and they wouldn’t have connected at all without Carrie as the fulcrum, says Cynthia Nixon. “Would Miranda and Charlotte have become friends alone? No.”

PS

The Hottest New Workout in Town is Physical Therapy

Despite society's pressure to exercise intensely at all times, the best workout I’ve had in the last year was during physical therapy. Here's why.

Nautilus

Is It Cake? How Our Brain Deciphers Materials

Neuroscientists are discovering how this basic ability, essential to our survival, works

Life Hacks

Tips for better living

Lifehacker

Five Psychological Tricks You Can Use to Make Yourself Feel Happier

It’s easy to see why being happy is such a challenge these days. People are working jobs they hate, struggling to pay bills, and living in an increasingly isolated, digitally driven world.

Fast Company

Why Office Gossip Can Be Good for the Workplace (If It’s the Right Kind of Gossip)

Gossip at work is inevitable. But what exactly workers gossip about can be key in dictating company culture. Rumor has it that gossip can be a positive force in workplace cultures, under the right circumstances.

The Conversation

Self Determination Theory: How to Use It to Boost Wellbeing

A foundational idea in self-determination theory is that we have three basic psychological needs: for autonomy, competence and relatedness.

The New York Times

Illness Took My Mother’s Independence, but It Gave Us Something Precious

An immune condition changed my mom’s life — and taught us to see art differently.

Fast Company

How to Make the Most of Your Summer Vacation

Plan to connect with loved ones and plan to disconnect from work.

The Guardian

How Sorry Are You? Why Learning to Apologize Well Could Save Your Relationships

Got something to say sorry for? Here are words that have no place in your apologies, according to those who have spent years analysing them.

The New York Times

Better Half

The midpoint of the year is an opportune moment to look back at where we’ve been, and set our sights for where we want to go.

The New York Times

Gen Z, It Turns Out, Is Great at Saving for Retirement

Brynnley Beckman is only 23, but she is already thinking about retirement. She teaches ninth grade biology at the Shelton School in Dallas and contributes 3 percent of her salary to an employer-sponsored retirement fund. She hopes to increase her contribution by 1 percent each year.

Money.com

The Ultimate Guide to Paying Less for College

Running the numbers on typical college costs can leave you feeling breathless and wondering how you’re going to afford it. Sticker prices look staggering these days, especially for private colleges.

CNBC

Here’s the Average 401(K) Balance by Age

When it comes to our retirement nest egg, we can't help but wonder where we stand compared to our cohorts.

The Atlantic

How to Make Your Work Your Calling

Three ways to find purpose and meaning in a job.

Time

Are You Just Tired or Truly Burned Out?

Fatigue and burnout are similar, but one requires more serious attention.