Imagine breaking down on a gravel road where the nearest help is 475 miles away — and winter temperatures hit 40 below zero. Quebec's Trans-Taiga Road ends at a point… Read the rest of the article: 745 km from civilization: Exploring North America's most isolated road
Bulgarian proverbs offer a window into a culture's soul through darkly observant insights into human nature. Here are a few from a longer list published in Futility Closet: Previously:• 'All's… Read the rest of the article: Bulgarian proverbs reveal dark truths about human nature
"In every local newspaper, there would be long lists for resort hotels in the Poconos or in certain parts of the Catskills, and they would just simply have the word… Read the rest of the article: MAD magazine artists reveal how anti-Semitism shaped American comics (video)
An automated welfare fraud detection system in Australia falsely accused hundreds of thousands of innocent people of theft, leading to multiple suicides and costing taxpayers $1.8 billion in settlements. As… Read the rest of the article: "We will find you: How a flawed algorithm terrorized welfare recipients
A hydraulic riddle from The Magician's Own Book, published in 1857, challenges readers to connect three fountains to three houses without any pipes crossing. The Fountain Puzzle A is a… Read the rest of the article: Fountain puzzle: Connect water to houses without crossing pipes
Jack Kirby (1917–1994) is probably the most famous American comic book artist and writer in history. Kirby created and co-created many of the most famous characters in comics, including Captain… Read the rest of the article: Explore the extraordinary legacy of Nazi-slugging comic book pioneer Jack Kirby
One of the reasons I keep returning to Tokyo is to wander quiet neighborhoods in search of tiny stores you can't find anywhere else. In 2018, David and I stumbled… Read the rest of the article: Why Japan's micro-shops create wonder missing in America
The latest issue of the highly recommended Japan or Die Newsletter has review of Ramen Heads (2017), a documentary about Japan's dedicated ramen culture. The documentary focuses on Osamu Tomita,… Read the rest of the article: "Ramen Heads" documentary spotlights Japan's obsessive noodle masters
Charlotte Beradt's The Third Reich of Dreams: The Nightmares of a Nation — newly translated and back in print after decades — shows how totalitarianism invades not only our waking… Read the rest of the article: Back in print: chilling collection of 300 dreams under Nazi totalitarianism
A dating app that leads with your worst qualities — verified by exes — might create better matches than apps showcasing carefully curated highlights, suggests Uri Bram in his latest… Read the rest of the article: Would you use a dating app that showcases your worst traits?
A Hiroshima survivor spent decades tracking down families of American POWs who died in the atomic bombing, making peace through memory and shared grief. This remarkable story comes to Japan… Read the rest of the article: Documentary reveals untold story of 12 American POWs killed in Hiroshima bombing
A stay-at-home mom, a corporate executive, a bride-to-be, and a a social media influencer all share an unwanted distinction — they're permanently banned from flying their preferred airlines. Their stories,… Read the rest of the article: 4 passengers share how they got permanently banned from major airlines
The billionaires buying New Zealand bunkers to live luxuriously in the aftermath of global nuclear war probably should have read Mark Lynas's new book, Six Minutes to Winter: Nuclear War… Read the rest of the article: Billionaire preppers picked wrong country to build apocalypse bunkers
Here's a short fable about a lawyer used quick thinking to save his career. From How to torture your mind; paradoxes, fallacies, dilemmas, figures, and word wonders by Ralph L.… Read the rest of the article: Clever fable about quick thinking
Will Jesus Christ return in 2025? People are betting real money on this outcome on Polymarket. If you think Jesus is due for a return visit by the end of… Read the rest of the article: Will Jesus return in 2025? Traders bet half a million on Polymarket
The United State Library of Congress has a collection of 11,000 of John Margolies's roadside America photographs featuring novelty architecture from 1969-2008. According to Bill Guerriero's excellent new Britannica article,… Read the rest of the article: 11,000 public domain photographs of America's forgotten roadside attractions
"How is it that we live in an era of apparently unprecedented choice and yet almost every film and TV series, as well as a good many plays and novels,… Read the rest of the article: Why every movie and TV show follows the same formula
"The Games and Pleasures of Childhood" is a set of 50 engravings published in 1657 by French engraver Claudine Bouzonnet-Stella (1636-1697). Some of the games depicted in the series are… Read the rest of the article: Drawings of bizarre and violent kids' games from 1657
A YouTuber named Steve bares his soul, recounting the sad tale of how he fell for a romance scam in the Philippines. As Steve walks through a jungle, he films… Read the rest of the article: YouTuber tells how he was "scammed beyond belief"
My friend Dug North, who wrote a lot of excellent how-to articles for me when I was editing Make magazine, has a YouTube channel where he make things from old… Read the rest of the article: Build a tin can steam engine from a 1963 Mechanix Illustrated magazine article (video)
