Powerlifter
Traditionally ostracized in the weight room, women who dare to lift weights discover strength they were previously denied.
selfhelp
A collection of 40 issues
My Top One Lists
Because the blinders were on last year, a 2015 resolution to become more culturally aware: to read more books, watch more movies, and listen to more albums.
We Are Not Beasts, We Are Gurus
Stranded on a desert island, a panel of self-help authors must rely on their wits and catchphrases to survive.
The Unofficial Roger Ebert Reader on Addiction
When Roger Ebert died, America was deprived of one of its finest critics. We also lost one of our best writers on addiction.
The Jennifer Berman Club
We all have doppelgängers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends with them. One Jennifer Berman reaches out to other Jennifer Bermans.
Watch and Learn
YouTube tutorials are the classrooms of the 21st century. Are they enough to make you a better person?
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.
MarketStrong
After resigning in disgrace from the charity he helped found and losing his sponsorship with Nike, Lance Armstrong now must cope with the leak of his new memoir—excerpted here.
Paris and the Data Mind
Registering everything from fitness levels to sleep patterns, personal tracking devices satisfy our desire for self-knowledge. But when we hand control to our holograms, we may be surprised at what they want.
Sex Lives of the Saints
Once you begin imagining yourself as the romantic lead in a novel—and convince others of it as well—you won’t want to stop.
Mastering the Art of American Eating
The USDA recently replaced the almighty food pyramid with a color-coded pie chart. To celebrate our nation’s mixed metaphors about healthy eating, one man decides to spend a month attempting to follow every government recommendation he can find. Nowhere is pie advised.
Drawn to Dogs
Pet people and non-pet people are different breeds for whom inter-species communication can be impossible. Then along comes the ugliest dog in the world. A study of one heart’s redoing.
How the Dead Live
There’s a peculiar odor to burning hope—it’s the smell of exhaust fumes, human sweat, and a fast-food container interred under a seat cushion.
Modern Hospitality
Faced with a stranger at the door seeking shelter for the night, what do you do?
My Name on My Milk
After belt-tightening forces relocation to a boarding house in Yonkers, our writer learns the ropes of his new situation, where hallways lead to the most unexpected places.
The High Is Always the Pain and the Pain Is Always the High
Gambling addiction is a simple disease. Living the addiction is a bit more complicated. A chronicle of dependency in seven parts—about poker, “Lolita,” and how to lose $18,000 in less than 36 hours.
Why I Don’t Run
Runners run, readers read, and some even do both at the same time. A bookish guide to outpacing your insecurities.
The Other Esters
Middle school can be tough even if you don’t share your oddly spelled name with the class beauty. A tale of adolescent confusion and metamorphosis.
Singing It Over Again
When you’re used to regular doses of applause, giving up the stage for a 9-to-5 gig can produce acute withdrawal. Reclaiming past glories by singing backup.
A Simple Flying Phobia
The air conditioner puckers as the door closes. The landing gear creaks as the plane departs the jetway. Above your head, the call button dings.
By Any Other Name
Writer seeks pen name: something simple, nothing dippy, and preferably one that avoids implying a lawyer who savors puns.
Lacoste of Living
After three-quarters of a century, a quintessential shirt picks up a lot of baggage—some good, some ironically so, all obsession-worthy.
You’re Just Not That Into You
Looking for love in all the wrong places? Maybe you should try closer to home. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a new book helps you ladies purge your self-loathing.
Hard Times Dog
From the financial crisis to the election and even the weather, unhappiness abounds.
It'll End in Tears
Everyone has a talent, something they do better than most anyone else. For some, that may be solving complex problems. For others, it may be performing an athletic feat. For me, it's crying.
Mr. Can’t Fix It
To the unhandy, a broken appliance offers an opportunity to prove one’s mettle—and finally break the plastic wrap on that toolbox. A stay-at-home dad calls in reinforcements.
A Writer by Any Other Name
Describing a character over 300 pages is one thing—reducing yourself to three lines is another. One man struggles with a writer’s greatest challenge: the byline.
Being Christopher Hitchens
Living as a once-Trotskyist megaforce, now war-toting superstar can take its toll. Particularly when your personality subdivides into pro wrestlers.
What's Your Resolution?
The confetti's been tossed, the funny hats are crumpled in the corner, and at least three of us had a little too much champagne.
Golf Is a Highly Mental Game
A guide to the major techniques, strokes, and hazards you will encounter during an average day on the links.
The Bright Side
In this day and age of unmet expectations and underwhelming results, it’s more important than ever to follow the examples of others and look at things in the right light. Welcome to the Bright Side.
Am I a Hypochondriac?
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we introduce a paranoid reader to our personal physician, Dr. Google, who has induced paranoia in more patients than anyone.
Ferry Tale
The best realtors have personality, professionalism, and drive—Mike Ferry’s One-on-One training seminar is where they get it. Three days of ego crushing, dream building, and chasing the world’s greatest real-estate agent, Froy Cadelario.
BetweenTheLines.com
Tired of having your work rejected by editors left and right? The Frustrated Amateur Writers Network may be just what you need to jump-start your writing career. They won't be able to get you published--but they can help you feel better about it.
Barnosky and I
You’ve received the credit card statements, the cancelled checks, the postcards from Aruba. But only at the end of a case of identity theft will you discover how much was really taken from you.
I, Servant
Admitting you have a problem is a big hurdle to face, but confessing you need help can be even more difficult, especially when you're forced to choose your own path. So: Will it be robot or monkey?
The Omarosa Experiment
Reality TV isn’t for the weak of ego, or the merely normal; to succeed, you must be “super-normal.” Talking to some of the industry’s most infamous offspring about their lives after the show—and the psychologists who were responsible for vetting them in the first place.
Time to Floss
He told everyone what it stood for before, but this week nobody's buying a single detail about James Frey's life--or his tattoo. The true story behind contemporary literature's most in-your-face symbol.
How to Write a Thank-You Note
“Sincerely, Help?” Having trouble finding the right words to thank cousin Sal for that mango slicer? How to write the perfect, honest thank-you note every time.
Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” Revisited
In the first installment of a new series of re-readings, we dust off our dog-eared copy of Metamorphosis and see it in a decidedly different light.