Pocket-Worthy Reads

Stories to fuel your mind

Popular Science

How Much Water Should You Drink in a Day?

The answer isn’t as simple as you might think.

Popular Mechanics

How To Fool an Eavesdropping AI … With Another AI

This tool can garble your words to trick an unwanted AI from listening in.

Inc.

This Productivity Method Is Way Better Than a To-Do List

This method will help you get your most important work done for the day.

Darius Foroux

A Practical Way To Overcome Imposter Syndrome

Be humble and approach each day like a learning opportunity.

CityLab

Urban Heat Stress Is Another Disparity in the World’s Most Unequal Nation

South African shantytowns are far hotter than wealthy city suburbs.

Homes & Gardens

9 of the Best Fruit Trees to Grow in Pots for Healthy Harvests in Small Spaces

Many highly popular fruit trees can successfully be grown in containers thanks to dwarf modern cultivars.

Nautilus

A Mental Disease by Any Other Name

For Frank Russell, reinterpreting his schizophrenia as shamanism helped his symptoms.

The Marginalian

Anne Gilchrist on Our Greatest Obstacle to Happiness

“One of the hardest things to make a child understand is, that down underneath your feet, if you go far enough, you come to blue sky and stars again; that there really is no ‘down.‘”

Bloomberg Businessweek

Young Americans Are Drinking Less—But Can It Last?

History teaches us that the US has always loved to drink (even during Prohibition).

BBC Future

How to Decode a Food Label

The information on a processed food label may seem obvious, but there’s often more to decipher than first appears.

Aeon

How Your Mind Gets Better at Processing Bad News

Such neural engineering could have helped early humans to survive.

Apartment Therapy

10 Simple Things to Make You Happier At Home

It’s amazing how a few tweaks to our daily habits can become a catalyst for meaningful, positive change.

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, June 13

SELF

What Type of Snacker Are You?

Take this quiz to find your munching style—and we’ll give you a healthy snack idea based on your preferences.

Popular Science

Why Do Kids Love Reading the Same Book Over and Over? Child Development Experts Explain.

Repetition helps your child feel safe, even if you need a break from ‘Click Clack Moo.’

Vanity Fair

The “Grief” of Leaving ’Friday Night Lights’

Connie Britton and Taylor Kitsch reveal their fondest memories from the set of ‘FNL’ and whether they’ll show up in the upcoming reboot.

Eater

Gone to Seed

More restaurants are signaling they’re seed-oil free. In this political moment, what does that really mean?

Architectural Digest

The Tallest Bridges in the World Are Feats of Modern Engineering

Crossing these striking structures should be on every design lover’s bucket list.

SELF

5 Major Reasons Why People Cheat, According to Couples Therapists

Anyone who’s been cheated on in a relationship knows the question that hits the hardest is Why?

The Atlantic

An Innocent Abroad in Mark Twain’s Paris

My quest for a true literary experience resulted in choucroute, a surprise organ feast, an epiphany at the Louvre, existential dread, and a rowboat.

NBC News

Tenants Are Flooding the Suburbs Where They Can’t Afford to Buy

Remote work, steep mortgage rates and new types of rental properties are fueling demand far from urban downtowns.

Recommended Reads

Curated by Pocket

USA TODAY

Most Job Switchers Are Making a Change in Career: Top 5 Fields They’re Leaving

Nowadays, when Americans switch jobs, they’re not just making changes around the edges. Sixty-four percent of workers who switched jobs from 2022 to 2024 also changed careers, according to an Indeed study of 35 million profiles on the leading job site.

Men's Health

Dwyane Wade Shares the Vulnerable Moment That Made Him Stronger

Hall of Fame basketball star Dwayne Wade was a few years into retirement in 2023 when a call from his doctor stopped him in his tracks.

The New Yorker

How Many Naomis Does It Take to Deconstruct “Doppelganger”?

Inspired by Naomi Klein’s best-seller about the headache of being confused with Naomi Wolf, Naomi Becker decided to have a Prospect Park picnic for her fellow-Naomis.

Fast Company

Greenhouse and Clear Team up to Fight Fake Job Applications Flooding Tech Hiring

Hiring platform Greenhouse and identity verification company Clear are partnering to stop the surge of AI-generated résumés and fraudulent applicants before they reach the interview stage.

Kiplinger

J.D. Power Study Finds More Drivers Switching Car Insurance

The latest J.D. Power study shows that car insurance is a buyer’s market right now, as providers focus on retaining customers.

Los Angeles Times

Forget Tariffs — GOP Proposals on Student Loans Will Crack the Economy

GOP budget proposals will raise costs on student loans, push more borrowers into default and cut assistance programs to the bone — putting college out of reach for millions of households.

Inc. Magazine

10 Ways to Improve the Workplace for Women During Menopause

Focusing on women’s health beyond pregnancy can better support your staff and help with recruitment, too.

Nautilus

Evolution and Guinea Pig Toes

How one animal’s oddity inspired Sewall Wright to take on one of Darwin’s big ideas.

The Walrus

Are Women Allowed to Be Happy in Their Marriages?

Literature often describes matrimony as banal or repressive. That’s a shame.

Smithsonian Magazine

Yemen’s Al-Qahira Castle Survived Centuries of War and Neglect. Can It Survive Its Own Restoration?

With funding for preserving the historic site in jeopardy, local officials are wondering what will come next for the 800-year-old structure.

Big Think

The Hidden Cost of Chasing Clarity

Uncertainty can trigger stress responses that make quick clarity feel rewarding, even when it doesn’t align with your goals and values.

CNET

You Can Now Lock and Hide Apps on Your iPhone: Here’s How

This trick can keep your kids and others out of certain apps.

Life Hacks

Tips for better living

The Cut

How to Make More Money Without Working Yourself Into the Ground

Realistic advice for increasing your income without overhauling your life.

The Conversation

You’re Probably Richer Than You Think Because of the Safety Net – but You’d Have More of That Hidden Wealth If You Lived in Norway

The typical worker on the verge of retirement is due roughly $412,000 in this under-the-radar wealth.

Fast Company

How Can I Delegate More?

If you want something done right, you don’t have to do it yourself. You just have to give someone else clear instructions.

NPR

Is All This Talk of Recession Indicators a Sign a Recession Is Coming?

For generations, people have looked for small, informal signs that a recession is coming or already here. This phenomenon recently exploded on social media, often in joke form.

Men's Health

How to Crawl to Get Stronger

These 6 variations from Superhero Shred trainer Don Saladino will hone your core stability and athleticism.

Fast Company

Starbucks Is Hiring Full-Time Content Creators to Travel the World and Post on Social Media

Dream job for chronically online coffee lovers: Starbucks is hiring two full-time content creators for a 12-month gig posting content at Starbucks locations around the world.

Vox

We’re Secretly Winning the War on Cancer

The quiet revolutions that have prevented millions of cancer deaths.

Harvard Business Review

When Help Isn’t Helpful

Nonspecific asks, a lack of accountability, and the potential of a charged aftermath.

USA TODAY

Can You Pass This Quiz on Social Security, Savings and Debt? Most Americans Could Not.

Overall, Americans got correct answers on just under half of the quiz questions.

BBC

The Everyday Activity That Can Reveal Your Brain’s Age

The speed at which you walk can reveal profound insights into your brain's rate of ageing – with slower walkers having smaller brains and fundamental differences in crucial structures.

Men's Health

Inside the Brave New World of Streetlifting

The love child of calisthenics and weightlifting is about to make all of us rethink what it means to be strong.

Men's Health

I Thought I Knew What Strength Looked Like. Then I Experienced Streetlifting.

It totally changed the way I approach my training.