A public display of affection — more commonly referred to as PDA — is a bit like the smell of a fart: If it’s your own, it’s inexplicably pleasant. If it’s someone else’s, it stinks of crap. In 2016, researchers looked into why people are so repulsed...
“Everyone is getting older,” Alan Castel, a professor of psychology at UCLA, tells me when I call to talk about his new book, Better with Age: The Psychology of Successful Aging. He’s right, of course: Literally speaking, every single person, from the moment they’re conceived to the...
If you’ve ever taken a stomach-wrenching poop, stood up, examined said onyx-colored floater with your eyes and thought to yourself, “Well, that can’t be good,” but decided it was too much effort/stress to actually ask a doctor about it, I have some good news for you. According...
Satisfaction comes in many forms: It’s a sip of water to moisten a dry throat; the crack of stepping on an icy puddle; the crunching sound of dry leaves in your clenched fists; watching your kids grow up to be decent human beings you’re proud to call...
In 2005, Cliff Arnall, a South Wales lecturer and happiness coach, determined that the third Monday of January was the worst day of the year. Why? Because most people have accepted that not only is the holiday season truly over, they’ve figured out just how far over...
Most people, by the time they’ve hit their early 20s, have figured out that the faster they drink from that bottle of tequila, the faster they’ll be making mariachi noises into the nearest vomit-receptacle. We all know that slow and steady wins the not-puking race, but are...
So, on the third night of binge drinking, you looked at your sweaty reflection in that fourth shot of whiskey and thought, This isn’t working the same way it did two nights ago. Well, friend, you’re right — and you’re not alone (although you’re also not exactly in...
We’ve all experienced the agony of holding in a ripe poop. Maybe you’re on a date and you’re afraid of the monster broiling within; maybe you’re driving in the middle of the desert and even if you wanted to stop and poop, the only napkins you have...
There’s a stark difference between being swole and being swollen. For one, being swole is an understandably desirable state for some bros, as was explained to contributing writer Oliver Lee Bateman earlier this year. “‘Swole,’ meanwhile, seems like a classic erection reference, ‘jacked’ likewise — the body...
As we near that time of year where you feel socially obligated to invite some friends and family over to your house, for no other reason than the fact that it’s your turn to host the thing, it’s time to address the issue of lingerers. I am...
‘Tis almost the season to call in sick: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the flu generally strikes most often between December and March. “Other illnesses that show up most often in winter include the common cold,” reports The Chicago Tribune. Now, whether you’re...
In 1970, David Bowie created the androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, depicted in his third album, The Man Who Sold the World. It was the beginnings of an androgynous revolution that would come to a head with the 1984 Grammy Awards, which according to Jefferis Kent Peterson,...