The Wayback Machine
How nostalgia works and why social media may destroy it altogether, or restore it to its original purpose.
intelligence
A collection of 15 issues
The Economic Benefits of Alien Abduction
According to economists, if intelligent life elsewhere wants to kidnap earthlings, there must be a reason—and a business model.
White Guys (Friendship Never Ends)
An alphabetical update to important stories that have fallen off the front page, from the existence of Atlantis to the Spice Girls’ decline.
Binge Reading Disorder
The typical American consumes more than 100,000 words a day and remembers none of them.
Grading the President
As President Obama enters his final days in office, a proper assessment of his tenure requires a variety of measurable, non-political categories: golf, offspring, homebrewing, and more.
Harry Potter and the Shades of Twilight
A generation of women read the “Harry Potter” series as teens, “Twilight” in college, and “Fifty Shades of Grey” in their twenties. What is the cumulative effect?
A Good Angle Is Hard to Find
The spread of the selfie produces daily turmoil, from columnist doom-mongering to celebrity scandals. Meanwhile, the world just took a billion more. Defense of a misunderstood phenomenon.
The Case of the Hungry Stranger
A man is always more complicated than his paper trail—especially when he’s your father, who walked out one day.
The Heretic
For decades, the U.S. government banned medical studies of the effects of LSD. But for one longtime, elite researcher, the promise of mind-blowing revelations was just too tempting.
The Bull Passes Through
Every summer, many are injured when bulls run the streets in Spain. A report from inside one man’s skull before the rocket goes off.
Russell Banks
Our man in Boston sits down for the sixth time with Russell Banks to discuss his latest novel, the movie business, Mitt Romney, the emigration of investigative journalists, and why it's wise to wait until your 70's before writing about obsessive love.
A Message From Your University President
Americans prefer "doing" to "knowing." When will our universities wake up to reality? English majors everywhere: More budget cuts are coming, but prepare to smell great.
How to Do Astrology
Those who can’t do, learn. In this installment of our series in which the clueless apprentice with the experts, we divine meaning from the heavenly bodies.
Just Like Heaven
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we answer that eternal question: What happens after we die?
God Save the Queen From You Chumps
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we defend Britain against a cursing student of Anglo-Saxons.