We live in a post-tryptophan world. The idea that turkey makes you sleepy because it has a special chemical in it has been a standard part of Thanksgiving small talk since time immemorial. Plus, having a scientific term on hand let us pretend there was a pseudo-medical...
Patrick Nerrant has the “virus for tanks.” He means, of course, a “bug” for collecting tanks — his French interpretation of an old American idiom. Luckily for him, Normandy, France, where he lives and works, is a good place for a World War II tanks collector to be. Nerrant’s...
In March, one week after IMG announced it had signed Zach Miko, its first plus-sized male model, American Eagle Outfitters debuted a new commercial to promote Aerie, its line of intimate apparel. The commercial featured three men lounging about at home in snug boxer briefs. In a...
This spring, The New York Times confidently announced the return of chest hair, contextualizing the trend as an extension of the lumberjack look that brought with it beards and a more rugged, natural approach to men’s grooming. It’s hard to imagine a day of felling trees starting...
The promise of “power posing” was simple: Stand like Wonder Woman for two minutes a day, and you’ll instantly feel more powerful, more accomplished, and able to achieve. In recent years, power poses have become a standard of the productivity-maximizing business life hack literature. You could read...
Tyler Lyson has been hunting dinosaurs his whole life. Growing up in a family steeped in fossil fuels, Lyson benefited from access to land and heavy equipment as well as a knack for finding prehistoric creatures. Every year, Lyson invites volunteers — average folks from all walks of life — to...
I first realized I had a sweating problem when I was in the third grade. I was running around during gym class when my friend Dion stopped, cocked his head, looked at me and asked, “What the hell is wrong with you?” “What do you mean?” “You’re...
Martin Riese is a sommelier. But not for wine. Or beer. Or any other beverage you typically would think requires an impeccable palate and expert recommendation. No, Riese is a water sommelier — and one of the best in a small, but quickly growing field. (The Wall Street Journal...
It was the moment someone suggested setting up a Doodle poll to organize going for drinks that I realized something had gone wrong. You know how it goes. A casual agreement to go for drinks with more than one person all of a sudden gets stuck in...
In this week of excess, we’re covering gluttony in all its forms — from the traditional face-stuffing variety to people who can’t be regarded as anything other than a glutton for punishment. One of the best examples of the latter is 50-something Australian John Mostyn, who has spent a...
In this week of excess, we’re covering gluttony in all its forms — from the traditional face-stuffing variety to people who can’t be regarded as anything other than a glutton for punishment. One of the best examples of the latter is Dean Karnazes, a 54-year-old endurance runner who once...
Spend enough time on Yelp, and you’ll lose your faith in the wisdom of the crowd. Someone will give a Sichuan restaurant one star for including Sichuan peppercorns in their food, and then go on to rave about the turkey melt at Subway. But sometimes, in the...