Did you know that the average American consumes an average of eight pounds of avocados per person, per year? Indeed the time has come for the fruit, which is rich in the fats we need for brain health, digestion, and more. Restaurants have also struggled with consistent quality when it comes to avocados. While working in retail banking, Miguel...

In this excerpt from her book, Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos, Lisa Kaltenegger makes science accessible—and exciting. Recounting the day she learned of a new discovery, her enthusiasm is infectious, and you will devour every word. That cold day in Vienna with terrible coffee turned into one of the most exciting...

People are increasingly trading their privacy for a sense of security. Becoming a parent showed writer Jia Tolentino how tempting, and how dangerous, that exchange can be: Shortly after I became pregnant with my second child, in the fall of 2022, I decided to try a modest experiment. I wanted to see whether I could hide my pregnancy from my...

In this well-reported, entertaining, yet depressing story, Adam Iscoe reports on how hard it is to snag a table at a trendy restaurant in NYC. The city’s restaurant reservation ecosystem is far from democratic, and services like Appointment Trader (an online marketplace for people to buy and sell reservations) and memberships like Dorsia (an exclusive...

Cameron Gordon moved to Los Angeles for the same reason that so many other transplants do: to make it in Hollywood. He realized it’d be cheaper to sleep in his car than rent a hotel room, and eventually, he spent $15,000—his life savings—on three ambulances, one of which was good enough to drive around and sleep in. In this LA Times profile, Jack Flemming...

Alex Wigglesworth gives us a fascinating portrait of Danielle Wall, who has dedicated her life to rescuing rattlesnakes. Set high in the desert, this story exudes the Wild West—but modern-day environmental issues are what disturb these snakes. Later that afternoon, after she ribbed the construction crew, Wall drives into the backcountry of...