Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

The Conversation

Do I Have to Drink Eight Glasses of Water Per Day? We Asked Five Experts

Where did that age-old advice come from, and is it outdated?

Fast Company

A Neurosurgeon Shares His Effective Strategy for Overcoming Fears

Instead of letting fear control your actions, be mathematical about your reaction and decision-making process by using this method.

Atlas Obscura

How Did the World’s Smallest Flightless Bird Get to Inaccessible Island?

The first scientists to describe the animal thought it might have walked.

Popular Science

Time Passes Faster for Smaller, Quicker Animals

Dragonflies experience change more than three-times faster than humans.

Bloomberg

Amazon Sold a Used Diaper. It Tanked a Mom-and-Pop Business.

The company put the returned diaper back into circulation, prompting a scathing review that haunts the sellers to this day.

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.

The Guardian

I Am Obsessed With My Blood Pressure. Can I Hack My Way out of High Readings?

Whether I’m relaxed, stressed, doing yoga or ingesting enough salt to kill a slug, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the figures.

Smithsonian Magazine

An Ode to the World’s Most Average Dinosaurs

They lacked the gargantuan size and spikes of the species museums often celebrate, but these species are how paleontologists learn about the Mesozoic.

Afar

How to Take Your Kids out of School and Travel

Teaching your kids with the world as your classroom can take them further than any textbook. This is definitely not “home” schooling.

Mental Floss

10 Mysterious Incidents at the Bermuda Triangle

Most shipwrecks can usually be blamed on weather, currents, or mechanical failures. For others, the Bermuda Triangle could be the culprit.

Slate

Go Ahead, Heap Rewards on Your Kid

Parents are told stickers and trinkets for good behavior will ruin their children—but the research is wildly misunderstood.

BBC Culture

Five Ways to Be Calm – and Why It Matters

Is being calm about passivity and numbness, or is it a superpower that makes us strong? Lindsay Baker explores the ideas behind serenity, and ways that we can achieve 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, July 30

NPR

Here Are the 13 Books That Made the Booker Prize Longlist

An epic fable about two young Indian writers. A dark comedy about a loner who gets a job as a chauffeur for the mega-rich.

Outside

After the Biggest Doping Bust in Years, What’s Next?

Now that the fastest marathoner in history, Ruth Chepngetich, has been caught, is it time to give up and let athletes dope?

Mother Jones

The Surgery That Reveals Everything That’s Wrong With Women’s Health Care

From "wandering wombs" to modern biases, the troubling politics of hysterectomies

Vox

The Real Reason We Tip

…and why it needs to change.

The New Yorker

Mexico’s Molar City Could Transform My Smile. Did I Want It to?

More than a thousand dentists have set up shop in Los Algodones. Their patients are mostly Americans who can’t afford the U.S.’s dental care.

The Hollywood Reporter

Is Gen X Dying Before Our Eyes?

The tragic passing of ‘Cosby Show’ star Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 80's wrestling legend Hulk Hogan and heavy-metal icon Ozzy Osbourne bring on a generation’s old familiar feeling: doom.

Vogue

Are Drugstore Shampoos As Good As Their Expensive Counterparts?

Everything you need to know about choosing an affordable shampoo without sacrificing hair health.

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.

Recommended Reads

Curated by Pocket

CNET

No, You Shouldn’t Venmo the Government to Pay the National Debt. Here Are Better Uses for Your Money

You can also set your money on fire, but we wouldn’t recommend that either.

Condé Nast Traveler

How Artists, Makers and Fisherfolk Are Still Shaping Midcoast Maine

This central sweep of the shore has always been a place of refuge. On a visit to his home state, Darrell Hartman discovers it’s still a haven for dreamers and doers.

NBC News

Early Results From Major Clinical Trial Show Healthy Lifestyle Slows Cognitive Decline

Older adults at risk for dementia who engaged in a structured lifestyle intervention — involving exercise, social interaction and a healthy diet — boosted brainpower.

Context

U.S. Hurricane Forecasters Losing Critical Access to Government Data

With the Atlantic hurricane season underway, U.S. forecasters are crippled by lack of data from three meteorological satellites.

Business Insider

Big Tech Keeps Firing Thousands of Employees —and Then Keeps Hiring Thousands More

Meta, Microsoft, and Google are laying off thousands of people. They’re also hiring lots of people — especially to win the AI race.

The Verge

One of Nintendo’s Most Creative Super Nintendo Games Is Now on the Switch

Mario Paint has been added to the Nintendo Switch Online’s SNES catalog and supports the Switch 2’s mouse mode.

PS

Why Having a “Sleepover Friend” Is Simply the Best

A friendship expert explains what a sleepover friend is and what makes this type of friendship so special.

Bon Appétit

The Best Sparkling Water Maker for Bubbly Beverages on Demand

This is how you transform a bad rosé into something bubbly and palatable.

Slate

My Daughter Was Invited to a Birthday Party That Includes a Certain Activity. My Wife Is Set on Ruining It for Her.

I think she’s being unreasonable.

Parents

11 Signs Your Child Is Too Competitive and What to Do About It

Competition is a normal part of being human, but it can also morph into something unhealthy in kids who struggle to manage their emotions. Here, experts explain why kids are overly competitive, the negative impact, signs to look for, and how to encourage them to have a healthy relationship with competition.

Real Simple

People Are Protein Maxing With the Viral “6 Eggs 6 Ways” Trend—We Asked RDs If It’s a Good Idea

The viral “6 Eggs 6 Ways” TikTok Trend is a way people are trying to up their protein intake. We spoke to a registered dietitian to see if this is a good food combination to try at home.

Natasha’s Kitchen

Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe

Our homemade Sourdough Pizza Dough Recipe makes the perfect crispy, chewy crust using active sourdough starter. It’s also easy to make ahead.

Life Hacks

Tips for better living

Maclean’s

Confessions of the Working Poor

I work hard, buy quality clothes and know how to fake my way through dinner-party conversations. But behind the scenes, I’m part of a fast-growing Canadian underclass.

CNBC

While the Fed Kept Its Benchmark Unchanged, Here’s What Happened to Consumer Borrowing Rates

When it meets this week, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep its key short-term interest rate at its current target range — where it has stayed for all of 2025.

The New York Times

Study May Undercut Idea That Cash Payments to Poor Families Help Child Development

Rigorous new research appears to show that monthly checks intended to help disadvantaged children did little for their well-being, adding a new element to a dispute over expanded government aid.

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.

NPR

In a First, the Senate Confirms a New CDC Director

Susan Monarez is the first director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to require Senate confirmation. She’s also the first director without a medical degree in more than 70 years.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

USA TODAY

Trump’s Trade Deal With the EU: What It Means for Your Wallet

The new tariff could increase prices on goods such as cars, furniture and pharmaceuticals. Trump's tariffs are expected to raise prices by 1.8% in the short term, per the Yale Budget Lab.