Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

Nautilus

Don’t Tell Your Friends They’re Lucky

Luck has a lot to do with success. We just don’t want to admit it.

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.

MEL Magazine

A Blinding History of the Laser Pointer

They can wreck your eyes, and they can land you 14 years in jail for shining one at a police chopper. But where did they come from?

CityLab

How to Build a Neurodiverse City

Cities and schools are not typically designed by, or for, people with conditions such as autism.

Mic

Could an Afternoon Nap Really Be Better Than Sleeping More at Night?

Implementing a nap during the day could be even more beneficial than increasing the hours you sleep at night.

Kiplinger

How to Pay for Long-Term Care

Most people will need long-term care at some point, but insurance is pricey. Here’s a guide to covering the expenses.

Stylist

How to Deal With a Narcissist When You Can’t Avoid Them, According to a Psychologist

While it’s always advisable to give narcissists a wide berth, it’s not always possible. Stylist asked the experts how to manage narcissistic behaviour when you can’t avoid it.

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.

BBC Worklife

The Way We View Free Time Is Making Us Less Happy

Some people try to make every hour of leisure perfect, while others hate taking time off altogether. Have we forgotten how to enjoy free time?

The Kitchn

How To Make the Best Macaroni and Cheese on the Stove

Whatever the occasion, a bowl of this mac and cheese will always spell comfort.

BBC Future

The Secret Lab Hidden Inside a Famous Monument

The Monument is one of London’s most famous landmarks, even giving its name to a local Tube stop. But this tribute to London’s greatest fire also has a secret second use – as a giant piece of scientific equipment.

Inc.

Beat Stress Like a Navy SEAL With This Ridiculously Easy Exercise

Control your breath, rule the day.

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

Tuesday, July 29

NPR

She’s Trying to Open a Birth Center Near a Maternity Desert. It’s Not Easy.

When Katie Chubb was pregnant she wanted to have her baby at a birth center, but there was no local option. Now she's trying to open one herself. She has community support, but not from the hospitals.

NBC News

Crypto Kidnapping: How Armed Gangs Are Hunting the Internet’s High Rollers

Kidnapping and extortion are growing concerns in the crypto world, with cases rising alongside the price of bitcoin.

POLITICO Europe

Inside the Wild World of Britain’s Private Spies

Lucrative, freewheeling — and largely unregulated — private intelligence and security firms are booming in the land of James Bond and John le Carré.

The New York Times

I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students.

My conversations with A.I. showcased its seductive cocktail of affirmation, perceptiveness, solicitousness and duplicity — and brought home how complicated this new era will be.

The Guardian

Who Needs Quinoa? 17 Overlooked and Affordable Superfoods, From Peas and Potatoes to Popcorn and Even Sugar

Can’t afford goji berries, spirulina or turmeric – or just don’t like the taste? Most kitchens are full of healthy but unglamorous alternatives. Nutrition experts name their favourites.

Axios

Why GLP-1s Could Become the “Everything Drug”

The biggest buzz around GLP-1 drugs these days has nothing to do with weight loss. And that might lead to some problems for patients and insurers.

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 New Yorker

“No Tax on Tips” Is an Industry Plant

Trump’s “populist” policy is backed by the National Restaurant Association—probably because it won’t stop establishments from paying servers below the minimum wage.

Recommended Reads

Curated by Pocket

Texas Monthly

On the Cusp of Literary Stardom, This West Texas Novelist Lost It All

Even Larry McMurtry thought highly of Jack Sheridan’s fiction. Why hasn’t anyone heard of him?

TASTE

Gas Station Food Is Southern Black Resilience

Important restaurants with ambition, heart, and seven-cheese mac and cheese, are hiding in plain sight.

NPR

Some Kids Need More Protection From Ultra-Processed Food. Here’s Why

Kids in the U.S. get most of their calories from ultra-processed foods, which are tied to health problems. Now, scientists are finding that kids don’t all react to these foods in the same way.

Popular Science

The 5 Best Free Streaming Services

You don’t have to pay for your entertainment. Try Tubi, Kanopy and others.

NPR

Do ‘Work Requirements’ in Medicaid Work? Georgia’s Been Trying It for Two Years

Most states will have to establish work requirements for Medicaid by 2027. Georgia has had them for two years. Some Georgians say the glitchy system makes it too hard to prove they actually qualify.

BBC

The F1 Driver Who Survived a Devastating Crash

The F1 champion Niki Lauda had a near-fatal accident in Germany in August 1976. After defying all expectations, he told the BBC in 1977 how he willed himself to stay alive.

BBC

The ‘Other’ Michelin Award Travellers Should Know

Long overshadowed by the coveted Michelin stars, the Bib Gourmand celebrates the world's best budget-friendly restaurants.

Motherly

Most Premature Baby Ever Born Celebrates His First Birthday

At just 21 weeks gestation, weighing only 10 ounces, baby Nash Keen entered the world fighting. A year later, his parents, Mollie and Randall, are celebrating a milestone they once weren’t sure they’d see: Nash’s first birthday.

The Hollywood Reporter

Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler Reflects on Band’s Final Rehearsals, Concert Before Ozzy Osbourne’s Death: He Was So “Frail”

“I didn’t realize then that I would never see Ozzy again after that night,” Butler writes of the July 5 “Back to the Beginning” show in England.

Architectural Digest

Inside a Spanish Designer’s Colorfully Restored 1950s House

Marta Ordovás Lladó breathed new life into her dream home with pieces passed down through her family and a mosaic that provided inspiration for the redesign

BBC

How Trump Wants the US to Cash in on Mineral-Rich DR Congo’s Peace Deal

The US president is spearheading an ambitious but controversial deal to end a long-running conflict.

Essence

Generations of Black Women in Politics — the Strategists: Donna Brazile & Symone Sanders Townsend

Two generations. One mission. Brazile and Sanders Townsend on shaping power—and passing it on.

Life Hacks

Tips for better living

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.’

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Parents

A Parent Let Their Son Choose What to Do With Money They Found–Here’s What He Decided

Doing real-time experiments like this in the wild can teach us a lot about our kids and ourselves as parents.

NPR

Dear Life Kit: My Friend Says Ugly Things About Her Body and It Makes Me Anxious

Body-acceptance advocate Katie Sturino and Ronald Young Jr., host of the podcast Weight for It, answer listener questions about body image, weight loss drugs and bullying.

Harvard Business Review

The Right Way to Prepare for a High-Stakes Conversation

Before commercial pilots push back from the gate, they complete a comprehensive preflight check to verify that every system functions correctly during the journey ahead.

The Atlantic

The Problem With Rewards Credit Cards

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

Kiplinger

Are You an Auto Theft Target? Discover the Clues

Thieves seized over 850,000 cars last year. See which models, states and behaviors draw the eyes of opportunists.