It was just after 8 p.m. when the doorbell rang. Rita Taylor peeled herself off the couch where she’d been playing Xbox and opened the door. There stood a delivery guy and a box of pizza. At first, Taylor figured it was a mistake. I didn’t order...
In this installment of our “What Makes Me a…” column, we asked seven people how a person should behave to be considered smart. Turns out, it’s not all about your IQ. … Rachel Winograd, assistant research professor at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health: Someone smart is...
Every now and then, even the staunchest home-bathroom-only poopers will find themselves using the facilities in unfamiliar — even hostile — territory. Regardless of your feelings on the issue, keeping your impending dump from innocent eyes, ears and noses can be a tricky situation. So to help you navigate the intricacies...
Relationship counselors might tell you, in comforting tones, that it’s natural for passion to fade over time, and that it’s slowly replaced with things like comfort and trust and emotional intimacy. That’s great and all, but what happens if what you really need right now is sex?...
For most of the world, the symbol most associated with America isn’t the bald eagle, George Washington or even the stars and stripes—it’s the hamburger and fries. But how much has this simple meal — a ground-beef sandwich with fried potatoes — changed since its glory days of the 1950s? Let’s...
The ring floor beneath my bare feet is warm. The man I only know as Korn smiles and holds the ring ropes open for me. I clumsily step through them onto the blue mat. There are no walls where Korn works—Master Toddy’s Muay Thai Academy—only a corrugated...
While public figures like Donald Trump and Jay-Z have gained attention for eschewing wedding rings, matrimonial bands for men are actually more popular than ever before. Men’s wedding bands first caught on in America with GIs in World War II; thanks to increased economic prosperity, a push...
I recently came upon a hair in my entree at a restaurant, but I didn’t send back the meal. At least it wasn’t curly, I reasoned. Plus, it could’ve been mine; I am, if nothing else, a hairy beast. The follicle in question, however, had an amber...
Whether we mean to or not, we’re all constantly judging each other, on everything from our handshakes to our gym clothes. Even our laugh — something we think of as involuntary — isn’t safe from this constant unconscious scrutiny, implying a range of potentially negative traits across both class and gender....
As Prohibition showed, taking booze away from the public is wildly unpopular with just about everyone but Bible-thumpers and bootleggers. But what if, instead of being banned, alcohol was simply replaced with something better? Something that makes you feel talkative and sociable without also making you throw...
Humans are, scientifically speaking, the ape species most obsessed with sex (narrowly edging out our close relatives the bonobos, who’ve also been known to get pretty freaky). We’ve also evolved to have more visual erotic triggers on our bodies than any other primate. This includes having fuller...
A friend recently posted this comic on Facebook: It got me thinking: Do dogs actually resemble their owners? It seems the idea has amused cartoonists for decades. For example, the opening scene of Disney’s original 101 Dalmatians features a parade of dog-human doppelgangers walking down a London...
