Pocket Future

Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

Atlas Obscura

Why Renaissance Paintings Aren’t as Green as They Used to Be

Once a brilliant hue, the pigment verdigris is now mostly brown.

The Atlantic

Whatever Happened to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

A national plague of workplace injuries was once a media obsession. Now it’s all but forgotten.

Scientific American

Can Introverts Be Happy in a World That Can’t Stop Talking?

Acceptance is key to the well-being and authenticity of introverts.

WIRED

How to Set Your Thermostat—According to Science

Win the family arguments—or better yet, avoid them altogether—with this handy guide.

Greater Good Magazine

How Your Siblings Can Make You Happier

Sibling relationships affect us more than we probably realize—and we can work on improving them at any age.

Allure

“I Felt Misled”: Are Women Getting the Full Truth About Egg Freezing?

We talked to 26 women who have frozen their eggs — these are the 8 things they wish someone had told them first.

Harvard Business Review

How to Beat Procrastination

If you only focus on the task, there’s always an easier one. But the pestering task often has the greater reward.

Smithsonian Magazine

Puppies Are Born Ready to Communicate With Humans

Research shows that very young dogs with little human contact can understand pointing gestures—and that the ability has a strong genetic basis.

Quartz

The Most Powerful Thank-You Notes Don’t Come the Next Day

Sometimes it’s better to wait until you can really express how your life has been improved.

Knowable Magazine

Can Cosmology Untangle the Universe’s Most Elusive Mysteries?

From the Big Bang to dark energy, knowledge of the cosmos has sped up in the past century — but big questions linger.

Shondaland

How to Make New Friends Whether You’re an Introvert or Extrovert

Two friendship coaches break down myths about personality types and let us in on how to take part in new social situations with deeper connections — and less anxiety.

Delish

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

Thursday, July 10

The Guardian

The Terrifying Truth About Why Tesla’s Cars Keep Crashing

Elon Musk is obsessive about the design of his supercars, right down to the disappearing door handles. But a series of shocking incidents – from drivers trapped in burning vehicles to dramatic stops on the highway – have led to questions about the safety of the brand. Why won’t Tesla give any answers?

MIT Technology Review

Inside the Most Dangerous Asteroid Hunt Ever

As space rock 2024 YR4 became more likely to hit Earth than anything of its size had ever been before, scientists all over the world mobilized to protect the planet.

The Guardian

Walkouts, Feuds and Broken Friendships: When Book Clubs Go Bad

While most book clubs go off without an issue, when they do turn sour the fallout can be significant. So why do some go wrong – and what can be done to prevent it?

The Cut

What Plastic Surgery Couldn’t Fix

I thought if I fixed my body, I could fix how I felt. Three surgeries later, I was further from myself than ever.

The Paris Review

Monks in Jersey

A coming-of-age ceremony, a Burmese bar mitzvah, a meditation retreat: I had called it all of those things to friends in the weeks before.

The Kitchn

The Famous Grilled Chicken I’ve Loved Since Childhood

Inhaling the scent of the rich, turmeric-laden marinade as it caramelizes atop the charring meat brings me right back to my middle school days, when the same smoky smell coming from the line of carts waiting just outside the school gate for hungry students would hit our noses as we impatiently waited down the final bell.

BBC

Beyond Words: The 200-Year-Old Hidden Languages of Dating

From Regency-era "fan flirting" to coded gifts, people have perfected the art of discreetly signalling their love over many centuries.

The Walrus

How I Solved the Century-Old Mystery of a Miraculous Shipwreck Survivor

In a disaster worse than the Titanic, it was believed a young man swam over six kilometres to safety. It didn’t add up.

How an Ancestral Peruvian Ceremony Is Saving the Once-Endangered Vicuña

Each year in the first weeks of June, Indigenous communities in the Andes form a human chain to corral the camelids and shear their valuable wool

Word In Black

Oak Bluffs: The Legacy of Black Martha’s Vineyard and Black Artists

For generations, Black artists have turned to Oak Bluffs as a refuge where rest, history, and creativity converge in full, unapologetic view.

Fast Company

Hurricane Forecasters Are Losing Key Satellites. What to Know

The loss of satellite data, along with other cuts to data, funding, and staffing, could ultimately put more lives at risk during hurricane season.

Polygon

Forget the Blue Shell: Mario Kart World’s Lightning Is the True Villain

There is no escape from mother nature’s fury in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Harper's Bazaar

Can Running Gear Ever Be Cool?

One Mexico City-based brand is trying—with the help of Adidas—to make it so

Nautilus

How to Make the Bread That Fueled the Pyramids

And the beer that gave rise to civilizations, too.

Popular Science

Shipwreck Fragment Linked to One of WWII’s Strangest Rescue Tales

Coconut trees helped saved the USS New Orleans after a torpedo hit.

The Verge

Thread Count: Ikea Is Stitching Together a Smarter Home

Over 20 new devices are on the way.

Kiplinger

Five Ways Retirees Can Keep Perspective Through Market Jitters

Market volatility is a recurring event with historical precedents (the dot-com bubble, global financial crisis and pandemic), each followed by recovery. Here’s how people who are near or in retirement can navigate economic uncertainty.