Well, every tradition has an origin story, and the history of s’mores is one of the most interesting and fun ones! How did graham crackers, chocolate and toasted marshmallows become the ultimate campfire combo? And after more than 100 years of gooey goodness, is the humble s’more finally getting a modern makeover? With International S’mores Day landing on Aug. 10, there’s no better excuse to find out and celebrate America’s favorite campfire dessert.

Read on for the sweet, sticky story behind the dessert that’s been bringing people together for generations.

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When were s’mores invented?

If you’ve ever balanced a marshmallow over a campfire while praying it doesn’t burst into flames, you have the Girl Scouts to thank. (Well, mostly.)

The earliest known published recipe for s’mores appeared in 1927 in Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts, a handbook created to help troop leaders organize camping trips and outdoor activities. According to the guide, the recipe was called “Some More,” a fitting name considering no one stops at just one. The handbook credited Loretta Scott Crew, who made them for Girl Scouts by the campfire, with the recipe’s creation.

And the recipe was (and still is) wonderfully simple. On page 71, the original instructions read: “Toast two marshmallows over the coals to a crisp gooey state and then put them inside a graham cracker and chocolate bar sandwich. The heat of the marshmallow between the halves of the chocolate bar will melt the chocolate a bit. Though it tastes like ‘some more,’ one is really enough.”

Nearly 100 years later, not much has changed, although spoiler alert: The last part didn’t exactly age well.

When did this concept really take off?

Like the best trends, s’mores didn’t explode overnight—they slowly caught fire. (Pun fully intended.) The 1927 Girl Scout handbook introduced the recipe to campers across the country, but it was the post–World War II camping boom that transformed s’mores from a niche campfire snack into a national obsession. As families embraced road trips, national parks, summer camps and backyard cookouts throughout the 1940s and 1950s, millions of Americans were suddenly spending evenings around campfires with all the right ingredients nearby.

The rise of packaged graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars also made the dessert incredibly easy to recreate. Companies like Hershey’s and Kraft promoted these ingredients as camping staples, while summer camps helped create generations of lifelong s’mores fans. By the late 20th century, s’mores had become less of a recipe and more of an American tradition.

Fast-forward to today, and more than 2.5 million Americans enjoy s’mores each year, according to the latest Hershey’s S’mores Heated Debate Report. What began as a simple campfire treat has become a full-blown flavor phenomenon, inspiring everything from cereal and Pop-Tarts to cookies, ice cream, coffee creamers and even s’mores chocolate mousse.

Was there anything similar to s’mores before this?

As iconic as s’mores are, the idea of pairing marshmallows with chocolate wasn’t entirely new. One of the closest predecessors arrived in 1913, when Nabisco introduced Mallomars. These chocolate-coated cookies combined a graham cracker–style cookie base with fluffy marshmallow, creating a very familiar flavor combination. The biggest difference? No campfire required.

There were also chocolate-covered marshmallow candies and homemade marshmallow desserts floating around in the early 1900s. Graham crackers had already been popular for decades, and chocolate was becoming increasingly affordable and accessible. The Girl Scouts simply combined three beloved ingredients into one brilliantly simple dessert.

Why are s’mores a uniquely American treat?

S’mores may be one of the most American desserts ever created—not just because they were invented here, but because they’re practically a culinary melting pot. Here’s a historical rundown.

Graham crackers

Believe it or not, graham crackers weren’t created with dessert in mind. They were invented in the 1830s by American Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham, who believed a simple diet centered around whole grains would encourage healthier—and more virtuous—living. Sweet treats definitely weren’t the goal.

Ironically, the mildly sweet cracker he inspired became the foundation for one of America’s most indulgent desserts. Sorry, Reverend Graham. We don’t think this is what you had in mind.

Marshmallows

Marshmallows have one of the oldest origin stories of any s’mores ingredient. More than 2,000 years ago, ancient Egyptians mixed sap from the marshmallow plant with honey to create a chewy confection that was typically reserved for royalty and religious ceremonies. The plant was also prized for its medicinal properties and used to soothe sore throats and other ailments.

The pillowy marshmallows we roast today didn’t appear until French confectioners reinvented the candy in the 1800s, replacing the labor-intensive plant sap with whipped sugar mixtures and naming it pâte de guimauve. Thankfully for campers everywhere, they also became much easier, and cheaper, to make.

Chocolate

Chocolate’s journey started thousands of years ago with the Maya and Aztec peoples, who revered cacao and drank it as a rich, often bitter beverage long before it became dessert.

The game-changing moment came in 1875, when Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter figured out how to blend milk with chocolate, creating the first successful milk chocolate bar. After partnering with Henri Nestlé, milk chocolate quickly exploded in popularity, inspiring companies like Cadbury and Hershey to create their own versions. By the early 1900s, affordable milk chocolate bars had become an everyday treat in American households—and eventually the perfect partner for a toasted marshmallow.

Put those three stories together, throw in America’s love affair with the great outdoors and you get something that’s far more than just dessert.

Are s’mores changing anytime soon?

Classic s’mores aren’t going anywhere. There’s something about the original trio of graham cracker, chocolate and toasted marshmallow that’s hard to improve upon.

That said, we certainly aren’t afraid to experiment! Peanut butter cups regularly replace plain chocolate bars, gourmet marshmallows come in flavors from salted caramel to espresso, and people swap graham crackers for cookies, waffles or even doughnuts. Personally, I’ve swapped milk chocolate with cookies and cream, white chocolate, and Tony’s Chocolonely’s dark milk chocolate pretzel toffee. (Give it a try and let me know what you think!)

Still, after nearly a century, the original recipe remains the gold standard. Some traditions are worth keeping exactly as they are. After all, if it isn’t broken, or deliciously gooey, why fix it?

Sources:

• Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts
• The National Confectioners Association: “Marshmallows”
• The Hershey Company: “Hershey’s and Patrick Renna Spark Nationwide Debate Over How to Make the Perfect S’more”
• Time: “A Brief History of the S’more, America’s Favorite Campfire Snack”

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The post This Is the Real History Behind S’mores—And How They Became One of America’s Favorite Treats appeared first on Reader's Digest.

Well, there’s another thing that’s probably not on your mind but absolutely should be. The “right” bathing-suit color should go beyond faves and flattering choices. In fact, choosing wisely can increase your safety in the water, something that’s doubly true if you have children, while choosing poorly can do the opposite.

How, exactly? And is this more of a factor in pools, lakes or the vast ocean with its rip currents and (gulp!) sharks? To find out, we examined the latest data and talked to Tom Griffiths, a decades-long aquatic safety expert and consultant, and Lisa Zarda, executive director of the U.S. Swim School Association (USSSA). You’ll definitely want to read this before you head back into the water.

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What is the main danger when it comes to water activities?

Drowning. It’s the No. 1 cause of death for children ages 1 to 4, according to the CDC, and it remains a leading cause of death for children as they age into adulthood. Zarda notes that 40% of drownings among children 5 to 14 occur in natural water (versus all sources, which includes swimming pools, hot tubs and bathtubs). And, of course, drowning is not limited to children. The CDC also reports that there are more than 4,500 unintentional fatal adult drownings each year in the U.S., plus an additional 8,000 nonfatal incidents that bring people to the emergency room.

Proper swim safety mostly entails taking swimming lessons, wearing a Coast Guard–approved life vest when appropriate, staying within lifeguard zones, swimming in groups and paying attention to important signs. The experts I spoke with emphasize those protocols most of all. But beyond that, the color of your swimsuit can make a difference. This is more than just an interesting fact: This simple choice can increase your visibility in the water, which can make a critical difference when you’re in trouble and time is of the essence. And while an increase in visibility shouldn’t be confused with a decrease in drowning, it can be a powerful tool in managing potential risks by using all of the options at your disposal.

What are the most dangerous bathing suit colors?

Light colors, like greens, blues and white, as well as “water” colors, like darker blues and blacks. That’s because these colors either reflect the surrounding colors or have low surface visibility and don’t create enough of a contrast with water. In other words, they blend into water environments more than others, which can decrease their visibility—and, as a result, yours.

In 2019, water-safety consulting company Alive Solutions produced an often-cited report suggesting these palettes are the most difficult to discern from your surroundings, regardless of the underlying pool, lake, ocean or river color, and regardless of whether they’re on the surface of the water or beneath it. That means a lifeguard, family member or bystander may not notice anything is amiss until it’s too late.

What are the safest bathing suit colors?

To increase your visibility in the water, go bright! Neon colors, especially orange and yellow, can be the easiest to spot in different aquatic settings. And increasing visibility can “make a difference [when] seconds count,” according to Zarda.

In Alive Solutions’ report, the group looked at three different conditions: light-bottomed swimming pools, dark-bottomed swimming pools and open water. It concluded that neon oranges and yellows were the most visible colors in all the different settings.

However, add in some rough water or ripples and almost any color can become very difficult to see under the surface of the water. Alive Solutions looked at both the surface visibility of the different colors and the visibility at 18 inches below the water. Even in calm water, it’s extremely difficult to see colors at the 18-inch depth, says Griffiths, who compares wavelets in water to an “obscuring bathroom glass door or an obscuring bathroom window.” The same is true of a white-bottomed pool, he adds, noting it’s very difficult to see bright colors under the water when there is any turbulence. So, again, this shouldn’t be your only line of defense when it comes to drowning—for you or your kids.

Still, says Zarda, “it is a good idea to wear a bright neon colored swimsuit. It can be easier to see kids underwater if they are wearing bright neon colors that don’t blend in with the pool bottom or light colors that could get lost in water reflections.”

And don’t forget a life jacket for kids. Griffiths remains firm on that point. “We absolutely urge the use of Coast Guard–approved life jackets,” he says. “Life jackets don’t fail, but parents and lifeguards fail because they see what they want to see, they see what they expect to see, and we don’t get any practice at detecting drowning victims.”

Hold on—isn’t “yum-yum yellow” really attractive to sharks?

Let’s do some myth-busting! Although there’s a widely held belief that bright colors attract sharks because of their high visibility in the ocean to human eyes, wearing a yellow suit does not actually increase your risk of a shark attack.

According to the BBC, the idea that “yum-yum yellow” is a shark favorite probably got its start sometime in World War II, when the U.S. Navy dealt with its fair share of shark attacks. These men came to believe that the oranges and yellows associated with life preservers increased their comrades’ chances of being targeted by sharks. This anecdotal evidence led to some pretty deep scientific inquiry into the makeup of sharks’ eyes over the next few decades, and the truth is that there isn’t really a “yum-yum yellow” phenomenon. Instead, it’s more likely that the yellow worn by some of the men created more visual contrast for sharks. And contrast, it turns out, is the critical factor to avoid when it comes to these toothy sea dwellers.

And yes, that means there are certain kinds of suits you should avoid for ocean swimming. They just might not all be yellow.

What is the most dangerous bathing suit color when it comes to shark bites?

To decrease attention from sharks, skip the high-contrast, highly patterned suits. Stripes may be cute, but avoid patterns that alternate light and dark striping. The same goes for the sweet white patterns—like gingham—on darker backgrounds. Cool for the pool, but maybe a little too attractive to a shark.

The thing is, many species of sharks are colorblind. But being colorblind doesn’t mean they can’t see color contrast. In fact, they can be extremely good at that! Beyond choosing a low-contrast suit, experts also recommend leaving your jewelry and watches on the sand. In the ocean, these shiny objects can reflect light the same way fish scales do, creating more of a danger when it comes to sharks.

We should also note that your risk of being attacked by a shark is extremely low. Still, this is another piece of information that can make it just a little safer to go back in the water.

Sources:

• Tom Griffiths, PhD, water-safety consultant for the Aquatic Safety Research Group and professor emeritus; phone interview, July 14, 2026
• Lisa Zarda, executive director of the United States Swim School Association; email interview, July 15, 2026
• Lehigh Valley Health Network: “Shopping for Children’s Swimsuits? Keep Color in Mind”
• BBC: “‘Yum-yum yellow’: Could your swimwear attract sharks?”
• Alive Solutions: “All Things Aquatic + Water Safety”
• Florida Museum: “Yearly Worldwide Shark Attack Summary”
• Florida Museum: “Advice to Swimmers”
• Florida Museum: “Color of Apparel”

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The post This Is the Most Dangerous Bathing Suit Color to Wear While Swimming—And It’s Probably Not the One You’re Thinking appeared first on Reader's Digest.

Odysseus, the Greek king played by Matt Damon, who is trying to make it home to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and their son, encounters many strange creatures on his decades-long journey. However, the Cyclops stands out for his size and the frightening scene in which the soldiers slip out of the cave camouflaged as a herd of sheep as the monster sleeps.

But how was the creature created? That’s an interesting story all by itself.

A puppet and a real actor brought the Cyclops to life

According to NBC News, Nolan used a 60-foot puppet to create the Cyclops, whose formal name is Polyphemus in Greek mythology. Actor Bill Irwin, who previously played the robot in Nolan’s Interstellar, brought the Cyclops to life. The filmmakers created the fiction that the Cyclops was interacting with soldiers by also filming footage of Irwin at Nestor’s Cave, a limestone cavern with ties to ancient mythology in Messenia, Greece.

Nolan avoided using CGI or a green screen. Instead, he used animatronics, puppetry and computer graphics. He wanted the monster to have complexity and seem realistic, so it was also important to him to have a real actor play the character.

Nolan revealed that creating the Cyclops was one of the toughest things he’s done as a director.

Nolan says he didn’t want the monster to be a cartoon

Nolan didn’t want the Cyclops to seem like a cartoon.

“Everything about the Cyclops sequence is aimed at trying to imagine: What would this be like in real life?” Nolan told Empire. “Not approaching it from a storybook or cartoony point of view, but really trying to be in there with Odysseus and his men. It’s a horrifying situation.”

Damon revealed in the interview with Empire that shooting the scene was difficult because thousands of bees hovered at the cave door. The filmmakers used 40 real sheep to film the scene, and Nolan explained that it felt more realistic to film the scene in a real cave.

Nolan told podcaster Jake Stakes that he was trying to give people a “reason to believe” the character was real. He said going to real places was key to making Cyclops come to life.

“We used every trick in the book,” Nolan said.

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Sources:

• NBC News: “How They Made the Cyclops in The Odyssey”
• Huffington Post UK: “Christopher Nolan Opens Up About ‘Terrifying’ Task Of Creating The Odyssey’s Cyclops”
• Empire: “The Odyssey Cyclops Scene Used 60-Foot ‘Contraption’ On Set: ‘What Would This Be Like In Real Life?’”
• @jakestakes on Instagram

The post You Won’t Believe How They Made the Cyclops in <i>The Odyssey</i> (Hint: It Involved a 60-Foot Puppet) appeared first on Reader's Digest.

It sounds ridiculous, and it is a bit uncommon, but speed limits expressed in decimals definitely do exist. To explain what’s going on, Reader’s Digest reached out to Michael Knodler, PhD, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the director of the UMass Transportation Center. Read on to find out the purpose behind these unusual speed limits and whether they might soon appear on a road near you.

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How long have we had speed limits?

Speed restrictions date all the way back to the days of non-motorized transportation, though they were a little more loosely defined. As far back as 1652, officials in what was then known as New Amsterdam—now New York City—declared that no wagons, carts or sleighs “shall be run, rode or driven at a gallop,” according to History.com.

With the arrival and proliferation of the automobile in America in the late 19th century, formal speed limits soon followed. Connecticut is widely credited as the first state to enact an official automobile speed limit in May 1901, setting a maximum speed of 12 mph in cities and 15 mph on country roads. The most important provision? Drivers had to slow down or even stop when encountering horse-drawn vehicles so that they wouldn’t startle the horses.

Automobiles continued to improve and become faster as time wore on, but there were no official national speed limits in the United States until much later. In January 1974, President Richard Nixon, responding to the oil crisis and skyrocketing fuel costs, signed legislation that established 55 mph as the maximum speed allowed nationwide. That federal limit stood until 1995, when authority for setting speed limits was returned to states and local jurisdictions.

Today, speed limits vary from place to place. The Federal Highway Administration notes that some common limits include 25 mph in residential or school districts, 55 mph on rural highways and 65 to 70 mph on rural interstate highways. The highest posted speed limit in the country is 85 mph, found on a stretch of Texas State Highway 130.

Why do some speed limit signs have decimal points?

There are two main reasons jurisdictions or property owners might post odd speed limits like this, according to Knodler.

• It stands out. “Seeing a nonstandard limit captures your attention, given its uniqueness,” he says.
• It seems important. He also says adding a decimal place “implies a level of specificity that might make it appear really accurate or important.”

The idea gained attention when drivers in Appleton, Wisconsin, were recently greeted with a 17.3 mph speed limit at the Outagamie Country Recycling and Solid Waste Facility. According to a Facebook post introducing the new speed limit and sign to the public, safety was the No. 1 reason for the new eye-catching speed limit.

How effective has this been at lowering the number of accidents?

The effectiveness of these types of speed limits remains a bit of a question mark, according to Knodler.

Most research on unique speed limits hasn’t focused on those with decimal points, in part because they are not technically supposed to be used on public roads. “The evidence to date would be mostly anecdotal, but it would be easy enough to study if there was interest,” he says.

One thing that is clear, however: Any measure that encourages drivers to pay closer attention behind the wheel can be a positive step in the direction of creating safer roads.

Where are you likely to find these quirky signs?

Official statements about decimal speed limits are scarce, but signs with unusual speed limits are often found in semi-private residential developments, private properties and other areas where property owners may install their own traffic signs, even if they don’t necessarily comply with roadway standards.

“It’s really a bit of a gray area,” Knodler says, explaining that the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices is the federal standard and requires speed limits posted on roads that “are inviting of the public”—including some seemingly private areas such as condominium complexes—need to meet certain requirements. They must be based upon an engineering study, be in increments of 5 mph and be displayed on a white regulatory sign with black letters.

So why do these signs continue to appear in places when they don’t meet those requirements? “There are plenty of examples of noncompliant traffic control devices everywhere,” Knodler says. “I joke that I give my students an assignment every year to go out and find a noncompliant TCD, and it is the easiest assignment because they all get 100%.”

Are we going to see more of them across the country?

For now, these signs remain a curiosity more than anything. Official traffic signs are strictly regulated, and the likelihood of widespread adoption is slim. Still, says Knodler, “they are fun, and, as mentioned, attention grabbing.”

Sources:

• Michael Knodler, PhD, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, director of the UMass Transportation Center and director of New England University Transportation Center; email interview, July 2026
• History.com: “Connecticut Enacts First Speed-Limit Law”
• Federal Highway Administration: “Speed Limit Basics”
• Independent: “Decimal Point Added to Speed Limit Sign to Stop Drivers from Going into ‘Autopilot’”
• Facebook: “Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste New Speed Limit”

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The post No, You’re Not Hallucinating—There’s a Decimal Point on That Speed Limit Sign. Here’s Why appeared first on Reader's Digest.

Well, a man in Texas named Jake Perry appears to have discovered the secret to cat longevity. He came up with a special diet for his cats, along with some other quirky tricks we’ll get to in a minute, and two of them lived to be more than 30 years old. Most domestic cats only live to about 13 to 17 years of age, although some can live past 20 with good nutrition.

But over 30? It’s almost unheard of. And incredibly, not just one but two of Perry’s cats landed in the Guinness World Records.

The oldest cat in the world was named Creme Puff

The cat currently holding the Guinness age record was named Creme Puff. She was a mixed tabby born on Aug. 3, 1967, and she lived until Aug. 6, 2005, which made Creme Puff 38 years and three days old when she died.

There is some dispute over this title, as there was a Welsh cat named Lucky who supposedly lived to age 39. However, that cat’s age lacks documentation, so Guinness honors Creme Puff. Perry, a plumber, owned Creme Puff as well as the previous record holder, a cat named Granpa Rexs Allen, who lived to be 34.

Why did Perry’s cats live so long?

Looking for the secret to cat longevity, Atlas Obscura went to Perry’s home back in 2015 to find out why his cats enjoyed such long lives. Then 85, he attributed it to three main things:

• Diet: Perry fed his cats dry cat food, which he supplemented with eggs, turkey bacon and broccoli. He also, controversially, fed them small amounts of red wine and coffee with cream. He believed the wine would “circulate the arteries,” but the American College of Veterinary Pharmacists says caffeine can be toxic to cats and should be avoided. (Dairy products are also not recommended.)
• Habitat: Perry kept his cats in a garage where he constantly played nature documentaries for them. He even built them their own home theater with real seats!
• Love: Perry believed that his cats lived so long because he showered them with loving affection, remembering every single one of their birthdays.

We’re not saying that your cats will live as long as Creme Puff and Granpa (and we’re not endorsing their diets!), but we can definitely get behind showering your feline companions with love.

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Sources:

• Guinness World Records: “Oldest Cat Ever”
• Pet MD: “How Long Do Cats Live? Here’s What to Expect”
• Atlas Obscura: “How to Raise a 165-Year-Old Cat”
• American College of Veterinary Pharmacists: “Caffeine”
• Discover Magazine: “Faithful Companions: Meet the World’s Oldest Cats and Dogs Still Alive Today”

The post You Won’t Believe How Long the Oldest Cat in History Lived—And the Longevity Tricks His Owner Swore By appeared first on Reader's Digest.

Well, the countdown is officially on. Starbucks has announced when the pumpkin spice latte—and the rest of its fan-favorite fall lineup—will return this month. We’re not revealing the date just yet (where’s the fun in that?), but let’s just say your pumpkin cravings won’t have to wait much longer.

Keep reading to find out exactly when the PSL returns, what additional fall drinks will be on the menu and which other coffee chains are joining the pumpkin party this fall.

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What signifies the start of PSL season?

The short answer? Starbucks says so. For millions of coffee lovers (including me!), fall doesn’t officially begin when the leaves start changing or the weather finally cools off. It begins the second Starbucks announces the pumpkin spice latte is back.

PSL burst onto the scene in 2003, when Starbucks beverage developer Peter Dukes and his team created the now-iconic drink inside the company’s secretive Seattle “Liquid Lab.” Fun fact: It was tested under a different name—fall harvest latte—before the pumpkin spice latte won out. The drink debuted on Oct. 10, 2003, in just 100 stores, and the rest is pumpkin-spiced history.

Fast-forward to today, and Starbucks has sold more than 424 million PSLs worldwide since the drink’s inception. That little latte has also inspired pumpkin cold brews, chai drinks, bakery treats and more—some of it appearing way earlier in the season than you might think. And it’s not your imagination: Starbucks has steadily moved the release earlier over the years, from September to late August, fueling the unofficial “pumpkin season” race.

So when does PSL season officially start?

Starbucks officially confirmed that its 2026 fall menu, including the beloved pumpkin spice latte, returns on Tuesday, Aug. 25.

What else will be on the fall Starbucks menu?

The pumpkin spice latte may be the star of the show, but it’s far from the only fall favorite making a comeback. Starbucks is serving up an entire lineup of pumpkin-packed drinks—plus one beloved pecan pick—when the seasonal menu returns on Aug. 25. Here’s what to expect:

• Iced pumpkin cream shaken espresso (new): This fresh twist on the classic shaken espresso has a cozy pumpkin flavor.
• Pumpkin spice chai (new): Pumpkin spice meets chai for what could be this year’s breakout fall drink.
• Iced pumpkin cream matcha (new): Matcha lovers can finally get in on the pumpkin craze.
• Pumpkin cream cold brew (returning): This fan-favorite cold coffee is topped with silky pumpkin cream cold foam.
• Iced pumpkin cream chai (returning): This fall staple that combines spiced chai with pumpkin cream cold foam.
• Pumpkin spice frappuccino (returning): Consider this the blended version of the iconic PSL for those who like their pumpkin icy.
• Pecan crunch oatmilk latte (returning): Not feeling pumpkin? This nutty seasonal favorite is also back for another year.

Who else is getting into the PSL spirit, and when?

Of course, Starbucks isn’t the only chain preparing for PSL season. Here’s what to expect from other popular coffeehouses this fall.

• Dunkin’: Dunkin’s fall menu returns on Aug. 19, bringing back its signature pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin-flavored coffee and more.
• Peet’s Coffee: The chain usually launches its fall menu in late August, often with pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cold brews and pumpkin bakery treats.
• Dutch Bros: Dutch Bros typically rolls out its fall lineup in late August. You’ll want to try the caramel pumpkin brûlée breve.
• Caribou Coffee: This coffeehouse is known for its pumpkin latte, pumpkin white mocha and pumpkin baked goods that typically arrive in late August.
• 7 Brew: While the menu varies by location, its seasonal pumpkin drinks generally arrive in late August or early September.

Sources:

• Starbucks: “Starbucks Announces the Return of Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) Aug. 25, New Chaider and More Fall Favorites”
• CBS News: “The ‘Father’ of Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte Says ‘It Was the Flavor That Almost Wasn’t'”

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The post The Wait Is Almost Over! Here’s When Pumpkin Spice Season Officially Arrives at Starbucks appeared first on Reader's Digest.

In an exclusive interview with Reader’s Digest, Ciara opened up about the lessons she’s learned over the course of her two decades in the spotlight—from the confidence that comes with age to the everyday habits that help her feel her best. She also shared details about an exciting new partnership with a well-known off-price retailer, proving you don’t need a luxury budget to have fun with fashion.

And, of course, we had to revisit one of the most iconic eras of her career. Does she ever get tired of hearing “1, 2 Step”? Do her kids know the choreography? And what advice does she wish she could give her younger self? Read on for Ciara’s candid answers, a little behind-the-scenes nostalgia and a few surprises along the way.

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This interview took place on July 9, 2026, and has been edited for length and clarity.

Reader’s Digest: You recently partnered with Ross Dress for Less for their new creative campaign, Ross World, that’s all about celebrating style and self-expression. What made this collaboration feel like a natural fit for you?

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Ciara: Our family is a big fan of Ross. We proudly have our kid brand, 3BRAND, in Ross stores, so there was an organic connection already out the gate. I was super excited when I got together with the team to talk about the vision. It wasn’t a little cute, goofy idea. It was like, let’s be bold, let’s make some noise and let’s think outside the box.

Reader’s Digest: It’s great to be able to work with a brand that you can relate to. As you mentioned, Ross is very bold and expressive—qualities your style represents. What does your closet look like?

Ciara: My closet depends on the day. When organized, it’s like walking into a store because I like to be able to see all of the pieces and key pieces I need to grab—especially being a mom, because you’re always on the go.

I really do love organizing my shoes by category. There’s a section for my sneakers. There’s a section for my strappy heels, my platforms—like, there are sections that are specific to the actual item, which also helps me as well.

Reader’s Digest: When I think of your high-fashion looks, two that stand out to me the most are your 2026 Met Gala golden outfit and your iconic baby bump outfit at the Color Purple premiere in 2023. How has experiencing new seasons of your life changed the way you approach fashion, and which style choices have made you feel the most like yourself?

Ciara: The fun thing about fashion that I learned, especially when I entered motherhood, is that there’s no limitation to fashion. One of the best ways that we express ourselves in our everyday lives is through what we wear. It can tell a lot about your mood. It can tell a lot about the noise you want to make in the room or the noise you want to make on stage.

For me, that was such a fun challenge, entering motherhood. Just because you become a mom doesn’t mean that you’re older. It doesn’t mean that you have to dress a specific way. You can still be who you are through every chapter and phase of your life. Sometimes I’ll be really into oversized clothing, which I’m kind of always expecting. I’m a tomboy, you know? Or, I’d do more of a feminine silhouette, because [even though] I am a tomboy, I’m gonna challenge myself to soften it up a bit but still keep my edge.

Reader’s Digest: You’ve had an amazing career. When you look back at the younger Ciara who first entered the music industry, what would you say is the biggest way that you’ve changed, and what part of her do you think is exactly the same?

Ciara: When I first entered the industry, I think I was definitely fearless and confident, but there was also a part of me that was trying to take on as much as I could, as fast as I could, and trying to figure it all out. When you do that, there’s definitely a lot of trial and error. The beginning stages of things are sort of your best stages because you get to learn a lot about yourself, and you get to form wisdom over time through the good and the bad.

It’s been 22 years since my first album. I don’t feel quite as young, but I feel pretty close to my youthful-woman phases. I still love living young. Having my babies and my family helps. I’m also a cougar. My husband is younger than me. I have all these factors that help me live young, but also I’m able to use my wits at the same time. I like where I am mentally and holistically.

Reader’s Digest: One of your most iconic throwback songs of the 2000s, “1, 2 Step,” is still everywhere. It’s on TikTok. It’s definitely on people’s playlists. What’s it like to see people who weren’t even born when it came out still dancing to that song?

Ciara: I think it’s so motivating, and it makes me so proud to know that I have a catalog of songs that move with time. “1, 2 Step,” for me, is almost like my “All I Want for Christmas” by Mariah Carey. It’s a song the DJ will always play and sing. Same with my [other] songs like “Level Up,” which I’m proud of because that was my first independent release. It’s such a gift when people use your music—and when the younger generation uses it like it’s a new song all over again.

Reader’s Digest: Do your kids know the steps for “1, 2 Step” and “Level Up”?

Ciara: One of my daughters actually requested “Level Up” on the way to camp. She was telling her brother and sister to dance with her, and I thought that was so cute. It’s funny because I don’t play my music in the house like that. It’s so weird. Maybe I should start doing it a little bit more because my babies probably should know mommy’s music.

Reader’s Digest: It’s never too late! Do you have a favorite memory from when you and Missy mastered some of those moves?

Ciara: I think the special moment would be meeting Missy for the first time on set. We bonded, and ever since then, she’s been like a sister to me. When we started our scene together, on the set of the actual music video, I would start doing this step, and she would join right in with me.

It was really fun being in my hometown and shooting that video in Cascade Skating Rink. There was nostalgia for me because I came up dancing in the skating rinks, and to have an icon like Missy on set with me was really special. We’ve always been in sync with each other.

Reader’s Digest: It’s amazing to know that your friendship with Missy has been so long-lasting. When it comes to your past and most recent music, summer matches your energy. What’s a family tradition or summer activity that you and your family always look forward to?

Ciara: This summer’s been incredibly hot. But when it comes to summer traditions for my family and I, we travel some, which is always fun. We haven’t traveled as much this summer, which is kind of cool because just watching my kids run around, play in the backyard and just be kids is one of the sweetest things. Playing games like Uno is always fun too. It never gets old.

Reader’s Digest: What’s next for you, musically, creatively or personally?

Ciara: I’m super pumped about my latest release. The song is called “Yay,” and it’s such a good track produced by Thom Bridges and co-written by myself, Courtlin Jabrae, Rachel West and a few other amazing writers. I’m super pumped about this song because it’s super feel-good. It’s right on time for summer.

I’ll be traveling to Poland next month for the first time for the BitterSweet Festival. That should be really cool, and there are a couple of other fun things in my bag that I can’t quite share yet. That’s probably the overall theme: staying moving and trying to be my best at everything I do.

Rapid response with Ciara

Reader’s Digest: Let’s do some rapid-response questions. First up: Dogs or cats?

Ciara: Dogs.

Reader’s Digest: Mornings or nights?

Ciara: Nights.

Reader’s Digest: Aisle seat or window?

Ciara: Window.

Reader’s Digest: What’s your favorite book?

Ciara: I haven’t read this book in a long time, but I like The 48 Laws of Power.

*Editor’s note: Reader’s Digest does not endorse any specific products or services. 

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. For this interview with Ciara, Reader’s Digest Associate Editor Mariah Thomas tapped her experiences as a celebrity interviewer, writer and editor. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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The post EXCLUSIVE! Grammy Winner Ciara Talks Fashion, Her Favorite Throwback Song and Why She Loves “Living Young” appeared first on Reader's Digest.

Royal watchers are over the moon at the latest announcement from the palace. Yep, there’s a new baby in town, and wow, is she cute! Well, at least the part we can see is cute. In her first official photograph, the new arrival is clad in a pink onesie with just a peek of red cheek and cute little earlobe visible. But we’ll take it.

It’s been more than a year since we’ve had a royal baby gracing the palace grounds, when Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi welcomed baby Athena in January 2025. Read on to learn all about the latest royal family member, and join us as we say welcome to the world, baby girl!

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Which royals just welcomed a baby girl?

Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank. The newest member of the royal family was born on Aug. 3 at a hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, where her parents have split their time since 2022. The royal family shared on its official Instagram account that the baby arrived safely at 6:20 p.m. local time and weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces.

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What’s her name?

That’s a great question, and we’ll be the first to update you when we find out.

Hopefully, we won’t have to wait long. The typical wait for a royal baby name announcement runs anywhere from a couple of days (as with Kate and William’s children, George, Charlotte and Louis), to a week, like with Eugenie herself. Occasionally, though, the wait stretches longer: Back in 1948, the public had to wait more than a month to learn what Charles’s name would be!

Is this the couple’s first baby?

Nope, but it is their first girl. Eugenie and Jack also have two sons, August Philip Hawke Brooksbank (nicknamed Augie) and Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank. Augie is now 6 years old, and little Ernest is 3.

The two boys made the social media rounds in May when Eugenie announced her pregnancy. In a sweet photo, Augie and Ernest were seen holding an ultrasound picture of their now-arrived baby sister.

The new baby lands at 15th in the line of succession to the British throne. Her mother, Eugenie, is 12th, and her brothers are 13th and 14th. (Dad Jack is not included in the lineup.)

Why did this announcement come as a bit of a surprise?

Eugenie is the daughter of the disgraced former prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who have both seen their status fall in recent years after their involvement with Jeffrey Epstein came to light. Since the revelations, Eugenie and her family have mostly taken a backseat at royal engagements.

In June, Eugenie and her sister, Beatrice, were invited to Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips’s wedding, but royal insiders reported that William and Kate gave them the cold shoulder. The sisters also did not attend the royal Easter celebration this year, although the palace said at the time that they would likely be invited to future events.

New babies do have a way of bringing people together, so perhaps this latest announcement (which came on the official royal family Instagram account, after all) means a return to normalcy for the beleaguered royal sisters.

Sources:

• People: “All About Princess Eugenie’s 3 Kids: August, Ernest and Her Baby on the Way”
• Cosmopolitan: “Prince William and Kate Middleton Fully Avoided Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie at a Family Wedding”
• @theroyalfamily on Instagram
• People: “Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie Will Not Attend Royal Family’s Easter Outing Amid York Family Scandal”
• Time: “Here’s Why We Have to Wait to Find Out Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Royal Baby Boy’s Name”

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The post Royal Baby Alert! The Monarchy’s Newest Family Member Just Made Her Big Debut—And We Have All the Details appeared first on Reader's Digest.

The translator did have some good things to say about the film, and clearly the public is plowing ahead to the theater regardless. The Odyssey is the biggest hit of the summer, reviews are generally fantastic, and it’s grossed over $700 million globally in less than two weeks. But it brings up an interesting discussion about movies based on beloved works of art. Homer’s 3,000-year-old poem has inspired countless movies, TV shows and literary analyses, and every single one of them will speak to people differently.

Have you seen it? What did you think? If you were already familiar with the poem, do the changes and artistic license bother you? Ahead, I’m taking you through five differences between the epic poem and the epic movie that are being debated at proverbial water coolers everywhere. Read on to see what people are saying.

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Gods and goddesses are sidelined in the movie

In Homer’s epic, powerful and sometimes vengeful deities are front and center, casting judgment, deciding fates and punishing humans who dare to defy them. (Think of all those old Hollywood movies that portrayed Greek gods as toga-wearing judges sitting on Mount Olympus.) Nolan takes a different approach, telling a decidedly human-centered tale.

We do have Athena, played by Zendaya, whom Odysseus turns to throughout the film. But that’s basically it. Other gods, from Poseidon to Zeus, manifest themselves as the sea and the storms and other natural phenomena that plague Odysseus and his men—not to mention everyone else in the film—instead of as physical beings. And that’s by design.

“For me, what was important was that we view the gods the way that people at the time might have viewed them,” Nolan told Time. “So they’re seeing evidence of the gods in nature. They’re seeking and finding gods and the influence of gods in the people around them.”

The Trojan Horse is barely mentioned in Homer’s original tale

The story of the Trojan Horse is one of the most famous in all of Greek mythology, and it plays a huge role in the movie. Right at the outset, we see a giant wooden horse buried in the sand outside the castle walls of Troy, which the Greek army has been fruitlessly trying to invade for nearly 10 years.

As the movie continues its nonlinear narrative, we eventually get the entire story of the world’s most famous deception: Odysseus’s men hide inside the horse and trick the Trojans into dragging them into Troy, where they (surprise!) pop out and destroy the city. But the horse gets only three minor mentions in Homer’s poem. And it’s not in The Iliad, the other major Homeric poem from this time period, at all. It’s actually in Virgil’s Aeneid, which was written hundreds of years later.

Historians have long debated whether the Trojan War even happened, at least as described by these three epic poems. Current scholarship comes down on the side of yes, some kind of Trojan War (or several) did occur in the Late Bronze Age. And certainly the ancient Greeks believed in the story. So is the Trojan Horse faithful to the poem? No, but without Odysseus’s deceit, which sets the stage for his struggle to return home, we wouldn’t have much of a movie at all.

Nolan’s Cyclops didn’t get to hear Odysseus’s joke

Who knew Odysseus had a sense of humor? He’s pretty dour in the movie, which … of course he is. He’s responsible for the deaths of many of his men, and he’s been away from his home and family for 20 years. (He’s also plenty adrift metaphorically as well.)

But Homer’s Odysseus is a clever one, and there’s one very famous pun that didn’t make the final cut of the film. It happens when Odysseus and his men have a terrifying encounter with the Cyclops, a one-eyed giant shepherd who traps the group in his lair.

In the poem, Odysseus tells the Cyclops his name is Nobody. I think you can see where this is going: When Odysseus eventually gouges the Cyclops’s eye with a red-hot stake that Odysseus had been heating up over the fire, the monster’s fellow Cyclopes run over and ask him who is attacking him.

“Nobody!” the Cyclops screams. And since they’re not the smartest bunch of monsters, they leave. Nolan said he just couldn’t make the 3,000-year-old pun work, so it ended up on the cutting-room floor.

Circe has completely different motivations

In just 10 minutes, Samantha Morton runs away with this film, and I’d bet my house she’ll be giving plenty of speeches this awards season. She plays Circe, a sorceress who turns Odysseus’s men into pigs when they land on her island home after escaping from the cannibalistic Laestrygonians (more on them coming up).

In the poem, Circe is a seductress who toys with the men and their leader. Lonely and isolated, she sings and weaves at her loom in a parallel to Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, before drugging the whole lot. But when Odysseus doesn’t succumb to her potion (he had taken a protective antidote), she falls in love with him, and they all end up staying with her for a year. She then helps the men continue on their journey.

In the movie, Morton plays the role as more world-weary and self-preserving. And rather frightening, to be honest. She’s on screen for mere minutes, and I spent several of them with my eyes covered. Over the millennia, Circe has been described as both a dangerous femme fatale and a modern symbol of female empowerment. In this movie, she’s definitely more of the latter.

The movie reimagines the cannibals and sirens

Those cannibals that Odysseus and his men are running from when they meet up with Circe? In the poem, they are literal giants called the Laestrygonians (or Laestrygones), who hurl boulders at Odysseus’s ships, destroying 11 of them before dragging the sailors ashore and eating them. Only Odysseus’s ship is spared. In Nolan’s retelling, the cannibals are more like large knights with armor, giving off a militaristic energy that isn’t present in Book 10 of The Odyssey, where they appear.

The sirens, similarly, take on a new form in the movie. In Greek mythology, sirens lure sailors to their peril with their beautiful voices—hence the phrase “siren’s song.” Though Homer’s poem doesn’t actually go into what form the sirens take when Odysseus and his men sail through their rocky home, historically they are depicted as being kind of a bird-woman hybrid (the woman part is on top, of course).

In Nolan’s telling, the sirens are barely visible on the rocky bluffs as Odysseus, lashed to the mast of his ship to resist temptation, and his men, who have wax in their ears to block out the sound, navigate the rocky shoals. Wilson derisively calls them seal-ladies, and over the years, they have been portrayed as more mermaid-like than birdlike. Whether they look like traditional artistic renderings or take a new form, the end result is the same: The men make it through.

So how much does all of this matter?

Honestly? Not much. Audiences love the film, and art is always subject to interpretation and critique. The overarching themes of homecoming and the ancient Greek concept of xenia, aka hospitality, which Nolan’s film calls Zeus’s Law, are present and compelling. It’s also a gorgeous film, shot entirely on IMAX, and with so many big-name stars, it’s a great way for people who don’t know much about Greek mythology to tiptoe into the genre.

And people are doing more than tiptoeing (remember that $700 million haul so far). Reviews are overwhelmingly favorable, with the film snagging a 94% fresh critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And some big names in the literary world are taking issue with Wilson’s panning of the script.

Joyce Carol Oates, the Pulitzer Prize–nominated author, has stepped up to defend Nolan’s interpretation. “One would expect a translator, of all people, beholden to a text, in service to a text, to be just a wee bit more thoughtful & respectful of others who are acting in good faith just as (she would claim) she is,” Oates wrote on X.

I can’t pretend to be as knowledgeable as any of these scholars, filmmakers and authors, but I did like the movie and the fact that it’s introducing this type of literature and history to a whole new audience. And in the end, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Sources:

• New Yorker: “Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Leaves the Gods in the Outtakes”
• History: “What Inspired the Cyclops, Sirens and Other ‘Odyssey’ Monsters?”
• Time: “Christopher Nolan on Helen, Athena, and His New Ending for The Odyssey”
• Hollywood Reporter: “Why Christopher Nolan Cut a 3,000-Year-Old Joke from ‘The Odyssey’”
• NPR: “‘Odyssey’ translator Emily Wilson says Nolan shouldn’t have written the movie himself”
• Vanity Fair: “A Horse of a Different Color: Christopher Nolan’s 10 Biggest Odyssey Updates”
• Los Angeles Times: “8 ways that Christopher Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ changes Homer’s epic”
• Variety: “Samantha Morton on Her Electrifying Performance as Circe in Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’: ‘It Felt Like a Rebirth’”
• Decider: “Who Were the Giant Soldiers in ‘The Odyssey’? All About The Laestrygonians”
• Rotten Tomatoes: “The Odyssey”
• Los Angeles Times: “Joyce Carol Oates goes to battle for ‘Odyssey,’ takes aim at translator Emily Wilson’s viral review”

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The post Just How Different Is <i>The Odyssey</i> from Homer’s Epic? Here Are 5 Plot Points That People Are Calling Out appeared first on Reader's Digest.

• Why did the book go to the chiropractor?
  Someone cracked its spine.
• What did the thesaurus order at the bakery?
  A synonym roll.
• What’s a snake’s favorite genre?
  Hiss-torical fiction.
• What do books wear in the winter?
  Dust jackets.
• Why did the two books become best friends?
  They were always on the same page.
• What did the library book say when it was feeling frisky?
  “Talk Dewey to me.”
• What did the library book say to its anxious neighbor?
  “Get your shelf together!”
• What did the confident book say at the checkout desk?
  “Go ahead—judge me by my cover.”
• Why was the textbook nervous at the hospital?
  It was there to have its appendix removed.
• Why do novels make terrible secret keepers?
  Because they’re open books.
• Why did the cookbook get invited to every party?
  It really knew how to spice things up.
• What did the prologue say to the epilogue?
  “Long time, no see!”
• What’s a pirate’s favorite part of a book?
  The arrrr-c of the story.
• What’s a frog’s favorite kind of book?
  Anything with a hoppy ending.
• Why did the tomato blush in the middle of the novel?
  It got to the juicy part.
• What did the flirty book say to the guy she met in the library?
  “Check me out.”
• What do you call a book that brags all the time?
  Full of itshelf!

Library jokes

• What’s a librarian’s favorite dinner?
  Shhh-kabobs!
• Why did the burglar skip robbing the library?
  He knew they’d throw the book at him.
• Why did the librarian bring a ladder to work?
  To reach the higher education section.
• Why did the ghost haunt the library?
  It heard the place had the best boo-ks in town.
• Why did the skeleton get a library card?
  He wanted to bone up on his reading.
• What did the librarian say when the book was returned?
  “Tome sweet tome.”
• What’s the quietest pet in the library?
  A hush puppy.
• What section does a vampire visit first at the library?
  The one with the best circulation.
• Why did the wizard love the library?
  Every shelf was full of spellbinding reads.
• Why did the librarian turn down the invitation?
  Her schedule was totally booked.
• What did the sign say during the library renovation?
  “Pardon our dust jackets!”
• What did the library books say to the bookshelf?
  “Thanks for the support!”
• What did the librarian say to her BFF on girls’ night?
  “Prose before bros!”
• Why did the library cat get promoted?
  It was purr-fect at catching bookworms.
• Why don’t libraries host rock concerts?
  The books already have plenty of volumes.

Novel jokes

1. • Why couldn’t Captain Ahab ever relax?
     He always had a whale of a problem.
   • What’s Moby-Dick’s favorite dinner?
     Fish and ships.
   • What happened to the bookworm’s balloons on a windy day?
     One blew over the cuckoo’s nest.
   • Why did Odysseus owe the biggest late fee in history?
     His library book was 20 years overdue.
   • What’s Mr. Darcy’s favorite exercise?
     Swallowing his pride.
   • What’s Jay Gatsby’s favorite flower?
     A Daisy, old sport.
   • What is a Minion’s favorite book?
     Banana Karenina.
   • Why did Dorothy start a book club in Oz?
     To prove there’s no place like tome!
   • Why did the Old Man and the Sea never give up on his book?
     He was hooked on the ending.
   • Why did Dr. Jekyll carry two library cards?
     Mr. Hyde kept racking up late fees.
   • What did critics say about A Tale of Two Cities?
     It was the best of reads, it was the worst of reads.
   • What’s the Ghostbusters’ favorite Russian novel?
     Slime and Punishment.
   • What’s 1984‘s favorite singer?
     Boy George Orwell.
   • What’s a horror lover’s favorite crustacean?
     Steven King Crab.
   • What’s Alexandre Dumas’s favorite candy bar?
     Milky Way. (I bet you thought I was going to say Three Musketeers. He hates Three Musketeers!)

Reading jokes

• What did the reader order at the campfire?
  S’more chapters!
• Why did the bookworm feel sick?
  Something he read didn’t digest well.
• How did the speed reader win the race?
  She always skipped ahead.
• Why is a TBR pile like laundry?
  It multiplies every time you look away.
• What’s a bookworm’s favorite cuisine?
  Text-Mex.
• Why did the bookstore hire a barista?
  So customers could espresso their love of reading.
• What’s a reader’s cardio?
  Running out of shelf space.
• What kind of books do skunks read?
  Best-smellers!
• What kind of books do cows read?
  Moo-vels.
• What kind of books do owls read?
  Hoot-dunits.
• What kind of books do mountain climbers read?
  Cliff-hangers.
• How do readers stay healthy?
  They practice shelf-care.
• What did the tea lover say to the book lover?
  Read it and steep.

Why trust us

Reader’s Digest has been telling jokes for more than 100 years, curated and reviewed over the last 20 years by Senior Features Editor Andy Simmons, a humor editor formerly of National Lampoon and the author of Now That’s Funny. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our humor—including comical quips, pranks, puns, cartoons, one-liners, knock-knock jokes, riddles, memes, tweets and stories in laugh-out-loud magazine columns such as “Life in These United States,” “All in a Day’s Work,” “Laughter, the Best Medicine” and “Humor in Uniform,” as well as online collections such as short jokes, dad jokes and bad jokes so bad, they’re great. You can find a century of humor in our 2022 compendium, Reader’s Digest: Laughter, the Best Medicine. For this story on book jokes, Laura Beck tapped her 15-plus years of experience as a professional humor writer for TV shows and magazines. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

The post 60 Funny Book Jokes That Are Bound to Crack You Up   appeared first on Reader's Digest.

Hold on—some chains actually go the extra mile with fresh ingredients and made-to-order meals instead of relying on frozen or prepared foods? Apparently, they do! And once I heard that, I immediately launched an investigation to find these unicorns … and hopefully feel better about my fast-food faves.

Read on to find out which chains make their food from scratch, along with what they do with excess items at the end of the day. You’ll be surprised by who’s serving up fresher fare than you think.

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How do most fast-food restaurants make their food?

Most fast-food restaurants rely on frozen, precooked or preprepared ingredients that are cooked, reheated or assembled when you order. And while “frozen” might sound like a bad thing, it’s actually tightly regulated. Under the FDA’s Food Code, frozen foods must be kept at 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below, can’t be thawed on the counter (they have to thaw safely in a refrigerator, under cold running water or during cooking), and cooked foods can’t linger in the so-called “danger zone”—between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit—for more than two hours, where bacteria multiply the fastest.

On top of that, the USDA requires frozen or precooked poultry to be reheated to an internal temperature of 165 degrees before it’s served. That’s also why fast-food kitchens rely on calibrated fryers, grills and ovens with built-in timers and temperature controls: They help ensure every order is cooked consistently and safely.

Still, fresh generally trumps frozen, which is why you’re going to be intrigued by the list below.

Which fast-food chains make their food from scratch?

@nterdex McDonald’s you have 24 hours to respond. Not all fast food is created equal 👀 Some chains still keep it real by making their food fresh, not frozen. We’re talking hand-formed burgers, fresh-cut fries, and ingredients that actually taste like something 🔥 When food is made from scratch, you can taste the difference immediately — the flavor is richer, the texture hits better, and everything just feels more authentic. No shortcuts, no mystery ingredients… just real food done right. From juicy burgers to fresh bread and perfectly cooked sides, these spots prove fast food doesn’t have to mean low quality. If you care about flavor, freshness, and that made-to-order experience… you might want to rethink where you’re eating 🍔 @Five Guys Burgers & Fries @Panera Bread @In-N-Out Official😎 @SHAKE SHACK @Culver’s #Fas#FastFoodUpgraded#MadeFromScratcho#FoodTokFindsalFoodOnly ♬ original sound – Prod.G_Unknown

Not all fast-food kitchens are running on the same playbook. Here’s a look at the popular chains that put surprisingly old-school prep work into your meal, and what happens to the food they don’t end up serving.

Five Guys

Watching a Five Guys kitchen before the lunch rush is a little like watching a prep kitchen instead of a fast-food restaurant. Employees spend the morning hand-cutting potatoes for the chain’s famous fries. They slice the tomatoes, onions, lettuce, mushrooms and peppers, all while portioning fresh, never-frozen beef that’s cooked only after you order. (Fun fact: There aren’t even freezers in Five Guys restaurants—or microwaves, heat lamps or timers.)

That level of prep is pretty impressive considering the chain has grown to roughly 1,700 locations worldwide, with the majority of those in the U.S. It’s also why your burger might take a few extra minutes.

While Five Guys doesn’t publicly share a company-wide policy for what happens to every unused ingredient at the end of the day, many decisions are left to individual franchise owners. But the focus on prepping throughout the day avoids waste in the first place.

In-N-Out

In-N-Out’s menu is so small, you can practically memorize it in one drive-thru visit, and that’s exactly the point. Keeping burgers, fries and shakes at the center of the menu allows the chain to focus on freshness instead of juggling dozens of ingredients. Across its 400-plus locations, mostly in California and the western U.S., restaurants receive fresh, never-frozen beef, slice produce daily and turn whole potatoes into fries right in the kitchen. Burgers aren’t assembled until you order them, which helps explain why the line sometimes stretches around the block.

Panera Bread

Long before you’re debating between broccoli cheddar soup and a sandwich, Panera’s bakers have already been hard at work. Bread, bagels and pastries are baked fresh every day. Vegetables are chopped, and sandwiches, salads and soups are prepped throughout service. That daily baking routine happens across more than 2,200 Panera cafes, making it one of the country’s largest bakery chains, not just another sandwich shop.

But here’s the part most people don’t realize: Because the bread is baked fresh daily, Panera generally doesn’t sell it the following day. Instead, many locations participate in the company’s Day-End Dough-Nation program, donating unsold bread and baked goods to local food banks and nonprofits whenever possible. It’s one of the largest food donation efforts in the fast-casual industry.

Shake Shack

Shake Shack may have started as a tiny New York City hot dog cart, but today it has grown to nearly 600 locations around the world without abandoning its made-to-order approach. Burgers are smashed on the grill after you order, produce is prepped fresh daily, and the chain’s frozen custard is churned in small batches throughout the day instead of arriving as premade tubs. That slower, small-batch approach is part of why Shake Shack has developed such a loyal following despite charging a little more than traditional fast food.

The company also partners with local food-waste and food-recovery organizations, including 412 Food Rescue and Last Mile Food Rescue.

Culver’s

Culver’s has become a Midwest favorite for its ButterBurgers, Wisconsin cheese curds and, of course, frozen custard—but the word fresh actually means something here. Instead of making huge batches ahead of time, the custard is produced in small batches throughout the day, while burgers are cooked only after customers place an order using fresh, never-frozen beef. That’s a lot of made-from-scratch cooking happening across roughly 1,000 restaurants, most of them clustered throughout the Midwest. But as Culver’s puts it on their website, “It’s not the easiest way to do it, but we believe it’s the right way.”

Chipotle

If you’ve ever wondered why Chipotle employees always seem to be holding a knife, this is the reason! Before the first lunch customer even walks through the door, crews have already chopped onions, cilantro, peppers, lettuce and tomatoes by hand, mashed guacamole from whole avocados, grilled chicken and steak, and cooked rice that will keep being replenished throughout the day.

It’s a surprisingly old-school way to run a restaurant, especially considering Chipotle now has more than 4,000 locations. Fresh prep also comes with stricter food-safety rules: Many prepared ingredients have limited holding times and can’t simply be carried over indefinitely. Like some of the others on this list, Chipotle has expanded programs that donate eligible surplus food through local partners, including the Harvest Program and Local Harvest Program.

Chick-fil-A

The chicken sandwich that made Chick-fil-A famous doesn’t start as a frozen patty tossed into a fryer. Employees hand-bread chicken throughout the day inside each restaurant, while salads, fruit cups and many breakfast items are prepared fresh daily. Considering Chick-fil-A now operates more than 3,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada, that’s a pretty remarkable amount of scratch prep happening every morning.

The chain also stands out for what happens after closing. Through its Shared Table program, thousands of participating restaurants package eligible surplus food—including chicken, biscuits, salads and fruit—for local shelters and nonprofits instead of sending it to the trash. It’s one of the largest restaurant food donation programs in the country, helping provide millions of meals while cutting down on food waste.

Sources:

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “Are You Storing Food Safely?”
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart”
• Shake Shack: “Stand for Something Good”
• Chipotle: “Chipotle Sets New Goal to Drive Environmental Sustainability”
• Panera Bread: “Day-End Dough-Nation® Program”
• Instagram: @fiveguysbe
• Culver’s: “About Culver’s”
• Chick-Fil-A: “Chick-fil-A Shared Table”

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Just weeks after health officials warned consumers about a growing Cyclospora outbreak linked to fresh produce, another fruit has landed in the spotlight. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are investigating a multistate E. coli outbreak linked to recalled GreenWise organic frozen blueberries sold at Publix stores across the Southeast.

So if you recently stocked up on frozen fruit for smoothies or baking, now is a good time to check your freezer.

Which frozen berries have been recalled?

Publix has recalled all lots of four GreenWise frozen berry products over concerns they may be contaminated with E. coli:

• GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries (10-ounce)
• GreenWise Organic Whole Blueberries (48-ounce)
• GreenWise Organic Whole Mixed Berries (10-ounce)
• GreenWise Organic Whole Mixed Berries (48-ounce)

According to the FDA, the products were distributed to Publix locations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

The retailer had already removed the products from shelves in June, but customers who purchased them are being urged not to eat them. Instead, they should either throw them away or return them to Publix for a full refund.

The FDA is continuing to investigate the source of the contamination and noted that additional products could be added to the advisory.

The outbreak has already sickened 12 people

As of July 30, the FDA and CDC have identified 12 illnesses connected to the outbreak, including four hospitalizations. No deaths have been reported at this time.

The investigation has been traced to organic frozen blueberries produced by Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. in Chile. Following the agency’s inspection, the FDA also placed frozen blueberries from the company on an import alert, allowing future shipments to be detained while the investigation continues.

What is E. coli—and what are the symptoms?

E. coli is a type of bacteria that can cause foodborne illness, with symptoms typically appearing anywhere from a few days after eating contaminated food to as long as nine days later.

According to the FDA’s website, common symptoms include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting. While many people recover within a week, certain strains of E. coli can cause severe bloody diarrhea and lead to serious complications.

In extreme cases, the infection can trigger hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially life-threatening form of kidney failure. It may also lead to long-term health issues, including high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease.

Does freezing kill E. coli?

Unfortunately, no.

While freezing food can slow the growth of bacteria, it does not kill E. coli. Once contaminated food thaws, the bacteria can begin growing again, which is why health officials say recalled products should be thrown away or returned to the store—not simply frozen until later.

Washing produce also isn’t enough to eliminate E. coli. According to health experts, the only reliable way to kill the bacteria is by cooking food to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees. Because frozen berries are typically eaten raw in smoothies, yogurt or desserts, consumers won’t have that added layer of protection.

Stay safe out there!

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Sources:

• FDA: “Outbreak Investigation of E. coli”
• CBS News: “What Does and Doesn’t Kill E. coli?”

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My perfect summer day? Parked in the sand with a beach read, preferably Elin Hilderbrand. Hey, I’ve gotta know what those crazy kids in Nantucket are up to … until my Kobo dies. That’s when I go into the water. Just kidding—that’s when I switch to my iPhone and bust out the memes. Everyone else is dipping their toes in the water, and I’m cackling alone under my umbrella about my favorite pastime.

Because here’s the thing about being a reader: It isn’t a hobby; it’s a full-on lifestyle. It’s the already-too-big TBR pile you add to daily. It’s the Libby holds that all arrive at once like a surprise party you scheduled yourself. It’s celebrating fictional characters’ wins while forgetting to call your mom on her actual birthday. And nothing captures this beautiful bonkers lifestyle quite like book memes—those perfect little squares of “yep, that’s me.”

So put down your current read (just for a minute—the chapter will wait, I promise), and scroll through these memes about reading, books and the people who love them a completely normal amount. When you’re done, send them to your book club, the only humans who could possibly understand what it’s like to be you!

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Two totally different things

The unread books aren’t a backlog. They’re a collection. Oh, stop looking at me like that and help me open this new box from Bookshop, will you?

The biggest lie ever told

Sleep is temporary. Finding out what happens to Anna Karenina is forever.

Spoiler alert: We will never forgive you

There are crimes, and then there are crimes. Send this reading meme to the people in your life who have engaged in the ultimate betrayal.

Adult bedtime

New lighting equipment, same me.

The library holds always travel in packs

The library waitlist is the only lottery I consistently win.

Vacation-packing priorities

Eh, I can always buy some shampoo when I get there. But there’s no guarantee they’ll have the book I want!

The TBR pile sees everything

Those 47 unread books aren’t mad. They’re just disappointed.

No shelf-control whatsoever

Admitting you have a problem is the first step. Buying the sequel to that problem is the second.

The e-reader betrayal

“Battery low” is the saddest plot twist ever written.

The book hangover is real

It was the best series ever, and it’s over. OVER. I am lost now.

I have no shame

I know how I look, OK? And for the record, my friends are fictional, not imaginary.

The book was better

I’ve been talking for 20 minutes, and I’ll be talking for 20 more.

“I’m not really a reader”

I respect all lifestyles … except maybe yours.

Lending a book is an act of trust

I’m always watching. Remember that!

Bookstore math is not real math

Just browsing, I said. Not shopping, I said.

Fictional friends are real friends

It’s real. That’s all I can say. It’s so real.

The dog-ear discourse

Bookmarks are free. Receipts are free. Literally any scrap of paper is free. OOPS, AM I YELLING?

Beach day, by the book

The ocean will be there tomorrow. This Nantucket love triangle needs me now.

Comfort (re)reads

New books are a gamble. This one has never once let me down, and yes, I still cry at Chapter 14 every time.

Tell me everything

Wait, wait, wait—let me get comfortable!

Waiting for the next book in the series

Take your time! No pressure!!!

Audiobooks absolutely count

Yes. Next question.

The “favorite book” question from hell

Asking a reader to pick a favorite book is like asking a parent to pick a favorite child, except way harder because there are 400 children.

If you build it, they will come

I can barely hold a hammer, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

The plot-twist physical reaction

I’m sorry—WHAT?!?!

Ambitious bedtime reading

Books make the best face masks.

A fantasy reader’s delight

This journey will be long, confusing and absolutely worth the flipping back and forth 363 times.

The DNF guilt

It’s not you—it’s me.

Special-edition logic

Is it the same words? Yes. Is it the same book? Nope!

Rainy-day forecast: 100% chance of reading

Sunshine is for people with plans.

Book club, technically

Did we all finish the book? No. Did we all finish several bottles of Chardonnay? Yes.

Do not interrupt

You’re killing me, smalls!

The Goodreads goal spiral

Nothing brings a reader alive like a self-imposed deadline with zero consequences. You know you feel this reading meme in your bones—don’t even try to deny it.

My plan is complete

Come on, you know you love it.

Why trust us

Reader’s Digest has been telling jokes for more than 100 years, curated and reviewed over the last 20 years by Senior Features Editor Andy Simmons, a humor editor formerly of National Lampoon and the author of Now That’s Funny. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our humor—including comical quips, pranks, puns, cartoons, one-liners, knock-knock jokes, riddles, memes, tweets and stories in laugh-out-loud magazine columns such as “Life in These United States,” “All in a Day’s Work,” “Laughter, the Best Medicine” and “Humor in Uniform,” as well as online collections such as short jokes, dad jokes and bad jokes so bad, they’re great. You can find a century of humor in our 2022 compendium, Reader’s Digest: Laughter, the Best Medicine. For this story on reading memes, Laura Beck tapped her 15-plus years of experience as a professional humor writer for TV shows and magazines. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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You know the one: that spicy, dusky, stale perfume that rises up the second you crack open a paperback older than you. There’s even a word for this specific breed of book love: bibliosmia. It was coined in 2014 by Oliver Tearle, an English professor who mashed together the Greek words for book and smell to describe the particular joy of sniffing old pages. If you’ve ever caught yourself burying your nose in a used paperback at a garage sale, congratulations—you’re a bibliosmiac, and you’re in excellent company. In fact, so many of us love this smell that one perfumery sells both an “Old Book” and a “Paperback” scent, so you can smell like the inside of a library 24/7 if that’s the life you want to live. (No judgment. I’d wear it.)

But what is about “old book smell“—and “new book smell,” for that matter—that makes us lose our minds? I spoke with Rab Nawaz Khan, MD, who is both a board-certified neurologist and devoted book lover, to find out. Yes, it’s a real phenomenon, and the answer is delightfully nerdy.

Read on to find out exactly what’s going on inside that smell, as well as whether it’s actually OK to keep shoving your face into 100-year-old novels. (Spoiler: Mostly yes. Mostly.)

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What do books smell like, exactly?

If you ask a room full of readers to describe “old book smell,” it’s like going to a wine tasting. People reach for the same kind of language sommeliers use—notes, layers, top and base—and it turns out that’s a pretty accurate way to talk about it. And everyone’s answer is unique.

“I would describe it as warm, woody, slightly sweet, dusty and sometimes faintly vanilla-like, with an underlying mustiness,” Dr. Khan says. “The exact smell varies with the paper, ink, binding, storage conditions and age.”

Cheyenne Williams, a bookmaker and the co-founder of the dark-fantasy subscription box Everlore Hollow, is so into how her books smell that she creates a unique scent for every box her company sends out, so she thinks about this in even more detail. To her, it comes in layers. “At first, there’s a dry, papery sweetness that reminds me a little of hay,” she says. “Then you get the warmer part: vanilla and almond. Underneath all of that is a soft, dusty musk with a faint earthiness to it.”

That base note—the musky, earthy one—is what everyone’s really chasing when they say they want something to smell “old.” It’s also the hardest note to get right. “Too much and it smells like mildew or men’s cologne,” Williams says. “When it’s balanced by the sweeter notes, though, it becomes soft and comforting.”

New books, meanwhile, smell almost nothing like this. Crack open a brand-new hardcover—maybe one of this summer’s best beach reads—and what you’re smelling is closer to fresh paint than a library: crisp, a little chemical, occasionally downright sharp. That’s not a flaw. It’s just an entirely different set of ingredients, which we’ll get into shortly.

Why do we love “old book smell” so much?

Whatever “old book smell” is made of, molecule for molecule, doesn’t fully explain why so many of us go a little weak in the knees over it. There are a number of reasons why people love that distinctive smell. Let’s start by looking at what’s happening in your brain, not just your nose.

It’s mostly about memory

“An old-book scent may instantly bring back libraries, school, family homes or quiet reading, so part of the pleasure comes from nostalgia and emotional association,” Dr. Khan says.

Williams agrees: “Memory is a huge part of it. A scent can bring you back to a place before you’ve even consciously identified it.” For a lot of people, she adds, old books are tied to “childhood libraries, a grandparent’s bookshelf or simply the feeling of being somewhere quiet and safe.”

And it isn’t just a vibe. Nostalgia is powerful medicine.

There’s real brain chemistry behind it too

Loving the smell of an old book isn’t just a personality quirk—it’s chemistry. “Smell has unusually strong links with brain networks involved in emotion and autobiographical memory,” says Dr. Khan, who has studied how smell works in the brain. He explains that smell is unique among the senses in that it has a fairly direct line to the parts of the brain that handle emotion, while sight and sound get routed through more processing first. That shortcut is part of why a scent can trigger a feeling before you’ve even consciously identified what you’re smelling.

It’s not only nostalgia, though. Williams points out that the specific notes in old book smell—vanilla, almond, wood—are ones our brains are already primed to enjoy. “Vanilla and almond remind us of baking and warmth,” she says, “while the paper, wood and soft musk make the fragrance feel specific to books.”

There’s a reason food smells hit differently than other odors. A brain-imaging study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that food-associated scents—like the vanilla and almond notes people pick up in old books—activate the brain’s dopamine-driven reward circuitry in a way that nonfood smells generally don’t. So part of what you’re falling for really is pure nostalgia, and part of it is your brain quietly rewarding you for smelling something that, honestly, reminds you of warm chocolate chip cookies.

“Old book smell” has basically rigged the game in its own favor.

So what actually makes books smell the way they do?

All right, it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. What is actually happening, chemically, to make a 40-year-old paperback smell like a bakery had a baby with a campfire?

Old books

Here’s the first fun fact you need to know: “As paper ages, cellulose (wood fiber) and lignin slowly break down and release volatile organic compounds, or VOCs,” Dr. Khan says. That’s what you’re smelling.

Pine, spruce and eucalyptus are the most common woods used in making paper, and lignin is a natural compound found in the wood pulp that most paper is made from. Williams explains why this matters so much: “Lignin, which is found in wood-pulp paper, produces a sweet smell as it ages. That’s where some of the vanilla-like character comes from. It’s also why books made from cheap wood-pulp paper can have a stronger smell than books made from rag paper.”

Rag paper is exactly what it sounds like: paper made from cotton or linen fibers—literally old cloth rags—instead of from trees. It was the standard paper used in Europe and North America before the 19th century, and it’s still prized today for fine-art prints and archival documents. Because it comes from cotton or linen rather than wood, rag paper starts out with little to no lignin in it, which is why it barely yellows or develops that classic musty smell, no matter how many decades it sits on a shelf.

Paper books develop that signature smell as lignin breaks down, and there are four main naturally occurring molecules that provide the smells:

• Vanillin, the same compound that gives real vanilla beans their scent and why books kind of smell like cookies.
• Benzaldehyde, which provides the faint almond note, adding to the cookie smell.
• Furfural, which is described as smelling like toasted bread. It also has a practical purpose: A University College London study on the chemistry of old books used furfural as a marker to measure how degraded a piece of paper actually is, essentially “diagnosing” a book’s condition by its smell alone.
• Guaiacol, which adds a faint smoky or spicy note. It’s the same compound largely responsible for the smoky notes in whiskey, roasted coffee and campfire smoke, which is exactly why a well-aged book can carry a faint whiff of fireplace along with its vanilla.

And it’s not only what’s inside the paper. “Ink, glue, leather and cloth bindings all age differently and contribute their own scents,” Williams says. “Then there’s everything a book picks up from its environment over the years: dust, humidity and, sometimes, mold or mildew.” (More on that mold business shortly.)

New books

New books don’t have that slow decomposition yet. Instead of decades of chemical breakdown, what you’re smelling is the fresh by-product of the manufacturing process itself: solvents from the ink, chemicals used to treat and bleach the paper, and the adhesives holding the binding together, according to the Science History Institute. It’s the literary version of new-car smell—pleasant, a little sharp and gone within a few years as the book settles into its slower, mustier retirement.

All of the ink solvents, paper treatments, glue and other things used in book manufacturing have compounds that fall under one big umbrella: volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. VOCs are carbon-based chemicals that evaporate easily into the air at room temperature. New books tend to release the highest concentration of them, simply because they’re fresh off the press, but as both experts note, aging books produce their own VOCs too, just through decades of slow decay instead of fresh manufacturing.

Hold on—are those things OK to breathe in?

Fair question, especially since chemical compounds and mold showed up in the same paragraph above. Most of us only know VOCs as the bad guys—they’re the same family of chemicals behind the noxious off-gassing smell of fresh paint, new carpet, new furniture and that brand-new-car scent, which the Environmental Protection Agency notes can cause headaches, dizziness, and eye, nose or throat irritation at high enough concentrations. But it turns out that only some VOCs are harmful, and those generally aren’t the ones found in books.

The good news: “Normal aged-paper odor from a clean, dry book is unlikely to be harmful during ordinary handling,” Dr. Khan says. The VOCs that an average book gives off simply aren’t concentrated enough to pose a real health risk to most people.

Environmental irritants are a different story, though. “Dust and mold are different because particles and spores can irritate the nose, eyes, throat and lungs,” Dr. Khan says. “People with asthma, mold allergy, chronic lung disease or weakened immunity should avoid deliberately sniffing visibly moldy or heavily musty books and should not clean contaminated collections without appropriate protection.”

So your everyday secondhand paperback is almost certainly fine to sniff to your heart’s content, as is that new book you just bought. It’s the genuinely damp, moldy stuff you want to watch out for.

How will you know if your “old book smell” has crossed a line?

You can tell the difference between wonderfully musty and actual problem by the book itself. Dr. Khan recommends watching out for “a strong damp, basement-like odor, visible fuzzy or powdery growth, wet or warped pages, staining, or pages sticking together.”

You also should pay attention to what your body is telling you, he adds, so note any “coughing, wheezing, itchy eyes and congestion while handling the book.” If a book is showing those signs of mold, Dr. Khan suggests isolating it from the rest of your collection and either getting rid of it or having it assessed by a conservator, rather than continuing to handle or brush it off yourself.

Williams puts it more simply: “My very unscientific rule of thumb is: warm, sweet and dry is the beautiful chemistry of aging. Sharp, funky and wet means handle with care.”

I’m choosing to take that as permission to keep pressing my nose into every book-filled shelf I pass, so long as nothing’s fuzzy. See you at the library!

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. For this piece on “old book smell,” Charlotte Hilton Andersen tapped her experience as a longtime journalist who frequently writes about common curiosities for Reader’s Digest. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Rab Nawaz Khan, MD, board-certified neurologist and partner with MyMigraineTeam; interviewed, July 21, 2026
• Cheyenne Williams, co-founder of Everlore Hollow; interviewed, July 22, 2026
• Science History Institute: “What’s That Smell You’re Reading?”
• Frontiers in Human Neuroscience: “Food-Related Odors Activate Dopaminergic Brain Areas”
• Analytical Chemistry: “Material Degradomics: On the Smell of Old Books”
• Demeter Fragrance Library: “Old Book” and “Paperback” fragrance collections

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August is peak harvest season, so farms are overflowing with sweet corn, juicy peaches, ripe tomatoes, berries and just about every other summer favorite. Pair that with warm weather and outdoor festival season, and you’ve got one of the busiest months of the year for food festivals. The only downside? Unless you somehow have unlimited vacation days (and a stomach of steel), you can’t possibly hit them all. So we narrowed it down to the best of the best—and to make planning easier, we split them up by region.

Read on for some of the best August food festivals of the year. (I’d also recommend wearing pants with a little stretch. Trust me.)

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Northeast

Smorgasburg in New York City

When it runs: April 2–Oct. 25

One of my personal favorites, Smorgasburg isn’t just a food market—it’s a weekend tradition and one of the best ways to eat your way through New York City. Running from spring through fall, this open-air food festival pops up in multiple neighborhoods, giving you the perfect excuse to explore different corners of the city. In 2026, you can visit the World Trade Center location on Fridays, Williamsburg on Saturdays and Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Sundays, with each location featuring dozens of rotating vendors and its own unique neighborhood vibe.

You’ll find everything from Colombian arepas and grilled meats to Korean BBQ bowls, Tibetan momos, fried soup dumplings, truffle fries and more—not to mention artisanal ice cream sandwiches, Korean bingsoo and other over-the-top desserts.

Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland, Maine

When it runs: July 29–Aug. 2

If seafood is your love language, this free-to-enter August food festival belongs at the top of your summer bucket list. (But hurry, because it only runs through the first weekend of the month!) Held on Maine’s picturesque coast, the Maine Lobster Festival serves up fresh lobster every way imaginable—from classic steamed lobster and buttery lobster rolls to creamy lobster mac and cheese. Beyond the food, you’ll find cooking contests, live music, parades, family-friendly activities and waterfront views that make lingering all day feel like the obvious choice. Come hungry because you’ll probably leave wondering why you don’t eat lobster more often.

National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, New York

When it runs: Aug. 29–Aug. 30

There may be no better place to celebrate chicken wings than the city that invented them. The National Buffalo Wing Festival brings together dozens of wing vendors serving everything from classic Buffalo-style wings to creative flavors you probably never imagined. Pair your wings with live music, plenty of cold drinks and the chance to finally settle the age-old debate over who really makes Buffalo’s best wings. Beyond the food, the festival is packed with crowd-pleasing traditions, including the U.S. Chicken Wing Eating Championship, the fiery XXX Hot Wing Eating Challenge and the hilariously messy blue cheese bobbing contest that has become one of the event’s signature attractions.

Midwest

Sweet Corn Festival in Adel, Iowa

When it runs: Aug. 8

If you’ve never eaten Iowa sweet corn straight from the cob, prepare to be spoiled. This free one-day August celebration is all about freshly harvested corn served hot with butter, proving that it’s a-maize-ing what a little butter can do. Add local food vendors, craft booths, community events and classic fair treats, and you’ve got a day that’s equal parts hometown celebration and food festival.

The festivities actually kick off the night before with the community corn-shucking tradition, when volunteers prepare thousands of ears for the next day’s giveaway, setting the stage for the main event. Festival day brings a lively downtown parade, a 5K, free sweet corn while supplies last, live entertainment, kids activities, a car show and a street party with live music.

Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis, Indiana

When it runs: Aug. 7–Aug. 23

Yes, it’s a state fair—but food lovers know that’s exactly why you should go. Alongside deep-fried favorites, you’ll find pork tenderloin sandwiches, grilled corn, dairy treats, homemade pies and nearly 50 brand-new food and drink creations making their debut, plus plenty of budget-friendly bites on the fair’s popular $5 value menu. Beyond the food, you can catch live concerts, explore agricultural exhibits and hop aboard the narrated State Fair Train for a relaxing ride around the fairgrounds.

New attractions include Always a Hit, an interactive baseball-themed experience celebrating Indiana’s rich baseball history with the Indianapolis Indians, as well as Rewind: A VHS Revival, a nostalgic trip back to the video-store era complete with rare collectibles and retro vibes. Families can also cool off under the air-conditioned Big-Top Circus, where aerialists and clowns perform daily, making it easy to fill an entire day between great food and even better entertainment. General admission is $18, but buying early online is $14.

Chicagoland Halal Fest in St. Charles, Illinois

When it runs: Aug. 8–Aug. 9

This is one August food festival where your biggest challenge will be deciding what to eat first. Held at the Kane County Fairgrounds, the Chicagoland Halal Fest brings together more than 30 halal food vendors, local restaurants and dessert makers for a weekend celebrating flavors from around the world. With your $40 admission ticket, you can sample everything from authentic Persian kebabs, shawarma and falafel to South Asian street food, Uzbek specialties, Thai favorites, halal smash burgers, loaded fries and plenty of sweet treats. Beyond the incredible eats, expect live entertainment, products from local vendors and a lively, family-friendly atmosphere that makes this one of the Midwest’s most flavorful summer festivals.

South

The FoodieLand Food Festival in Nashville, Tennessee

When it runs: Aug. 2–Aug. 30

If your dream August food festival involves tasting your way around the world in a single weekend, the FoodieLand Food Festival in Nashville is the one for you. This traveling food festival rolls into the Nashville Superspeedway in nearby Lebanon with more than 250 food vendors serving everything from Asian street food and grilled skewers to over-the-top desserts and local favorites. Between bites, you can browse artisan vendors selling handmade goods, enjoy live DJs and games, and soak up the lively outdoor festival atmosphere.

Even better? If you can’t make the Tennessee stop, FoodieLand travels to cities across the country—including Portland, Memphis, Charlotte and Atlanta—so it’s worth checking the schedule to see when it’s coming to a destination near you. Admission is under $15, and tickets allow you to enter at any time.

Houston Restaurant Weeks in Houston, Texas

When it runs: Aug. 1–Sept. 7

Think of this as the ultimate excuse to eat your way across one of America’s best food cities. Hundreds of restaurants offer prix-fixe menus showcasing Houston’s incredible diversity. This includes Texas barbecue, Gulf Coast seafood, authentic Mexican and modern Southern cuisine. Better yet, every meal helps raise money for the Houston Food Bank, so your dinner does some good too.

Tontitown Grape Festival in Tontitown, Arkansas

When it runs: Aug. 4–Aug.8

Italian heritage meets Southern hospitality at this beloved Arkansas tradition. Expect homemade spaghetti dinners, grape ice cream, fried ravioli, meatballs, local wines and, of course, plenty of juicy grapes. It’s part food festival, part community celebration—and one that’s been drawing visitors for generations. One of the festival’s most beloved traditions is the lively grape stomp, where visitors can literally jump in feet-first and embrace the event’s winemaking roots.

Later in the week, the famous community-made spaghetti dinners take center stage, serving the recipes that have become a hallmark of the festival for decades. Throughout the free week, the carnival midway keeps the energy high with rides and games, while an arts-and-crafts fair offers handmade goods from local vendors. If you’re feeling active, you can even kick off Saturday with the Run for the Grapes 5K before rewarding yourself with a plate of spaghetti—and maybe a scoop of grape ice cream afterward.

West

Palisade Peach Festival in Palisade, Colorado

When it runs: Aug. 21–Aug. 22

Georgia may get all the peach attention, but Colorado locals know Palisade peaches are something special. This cheerful festival celebrates the region’s famous fruit with peach pies, peach cobbler, peach salsa, peach ice cream and orchard-fresh peaches you can take home. Throw in chef demonstrations, live music and vineyard views, and you’ve got one delicious weekend. The festivities kick off Friday with live performances, local DJs and an evening drone show lighting up the Western Colorado sky, while Saturday keeps the energy going with even more live music and plenty of opportunities to sample peach-inspired dishes from local chefs and food vendors.

Of course, no visit is complete without taking on the classic peach-eating contest—or leaving with a box of freshly picked Palisade peaches to enjoy long after the festival ends. You can purchase specific day or weekend packages, with pre-purchased Friday adult admission tickets going for less than $25.

Elephant Garlic Festival in North Plains, Oregon

When it runs: Aug. 7–Aug. 9

Garlic fries? Garlic bread? Garlic ice cream? If it can be infused with garlic, you’ll probably find it here. Oregon’s famous (and free!) Elephant Garlic Festival celebrates the state’s giant, mild garlic with food vendors, cooking demonstrations, local produce and family-friendly entertainment. It’s wonderfully weird—in the best possible way. Adventurous eaters can sample the festival’s famous garlic ice cream before diving into buttery garlic bread, overflowing baskets of garlic fries and burgers, chicken dishes and other savory favorites loaded with roasted elephant garlic.

Local food trucks put their own garlicky spin on fair classics, while the beer, wine and cider garden offers the perfect way to balance all those bold flavors. Before you head home, don’t forget to pick up a few fresh elephant garlic bulbs from area farmers so you can recreate a little festival magic in your own kitchen.

Joyce Daze Wild Blackberry Festival in Joyce,Washington

When it runs: Aug. 1

Small-town charm is on full display at the Joyce Daze Wild Blackberry Festival, a beloved August food festival that’s been bringing the community together for more than four decades. Held in the tiny town of Joyce on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, the free one-day celebration is famous for its homemade blackberry pies, which go on sale in the morning and tend to disappear quickly. Come hungry for a hearty pancake breakfast or the popular salmon bake, then stick around for the grand parade, local craft vendors and one of the festival’s quirkiest traditions: the always-entertaining extreme slug races.

Admission is free, with food, pies and other activities available for purchase, making it an easy and affordable summer day trip.

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That’s where things tend to go off the rails. When we’re in our own kitchens, we tend to get a little complacent. We clean regularly, we wipe up spills promptly—what’s the big deal if a grape rolls into the sink? Usually, everything’s fine, but germs don’t care about the five-second rule, or how clean your kitchen looks. Even if you’re diligent, you might be doing things completely wrong by following outdated safety advice or faddish trends making the rounds on social media.

Ahead, I talk to Amy Johnston, the statewide food safety educator with the University of Minnesota Extension, and Steve Wagner, the co-founder and managing partner of Wagner Reese, an Indiana-based law firm that specializes in foodborne illness litigation, to cut through the bad advice and give you solid, science-backed ways to improve your chances of not getting sick when preparing fresh fruits and vegetables. Read on, and dig in.

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Before you start: Here’s what to know

Your first step to clean produce is clean tools: cutting boards, knives, dishes and hands. The FDA recommends washing hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after cleaning any produce. Next, “always take a moment to clean and sanitize the sink, including the faucet, the drain and any kind of surrounding counter space,” Johnston says. Always use sanitizers that are labeled food safe, she says.

The next hard-and-fast rule is to use cool, running water only. “Warm or hot water can cause certain produce to go through a shock,” Johnston says. “So if there is anything on the outside of that produce, it can get sucked in through the skin or peel into the fleshy part that you’re going to eat.” Wagner says the same goes for soap: “Never use any soaps or detergents, and certainly no bleach, as your produce can absorb the residue.”

Use a produce brush to scrub produce that can handle it (the list is coming up). “Those bristles can really help get into the nooks and crannies that can trap different kinds of contaminants and dirt,” Johnston says.

Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that no cleaning protocol will eliminate all risk. These safe practices are proven to reduce the presence of microorganisms, not get rid of them entirely.

What about the Cyclospora parasite?

“Unfortunately, with Cyclospora, the only way to get rid of it is to cook the produce to at least 158 degrees Fahrenheit,” Johnston says, which is not ideal for produce that’s usually eaten raw. “People think washing it handles the problem, though it’s a bit more detailed, since a rinse can get rid of surface bacteria, but a parasite needs heat to be completely neutralized,” Wagner adds.

“As for E. coli or Salmonella, just running water with friction applied to the surfaces, and keeping it refrigerated below 40 degrees, is usually enough when there’s not an outbreak like this going on,” Wagner says. “During an outbreak, as we currently have, just stay informed of what’s being announced by government agencies, which might, in some cases, be to skip a certain product entirely for the time being.”

That’s great advice right now, especially when it comes to bagged lettuce and other produce implicated in current outbreaks. Normally, food-safety experts do not recommend re-washing bagged produce due to cross-contamination concerns. But the CDC now advises washing all produce, no matter what. Buying whole heads of lettuce, from local farmers if possible, can also bring peace of mind.

Here’s how to clean eight major groups of fruits and vegetables.

Leafy vegetables

For years I filled up my sink and soaked bunches of spinach, lettuce and kale to remove grit. What I didn’t realize is that this could actually introduce more germs than I was removing. “If there were any contaminants on that produce, they could absorb them if you’re letting them soak,” Johnston says. That’s because the delicate leaves are porous (yes, even hearty kale) and can take up contaminants as they sit in the water.

Instead, discard the exterior leaves and rinse the rest under cool running water. If the bunches came from your garden or the farmers market and you’re worried about grit, you can do a “plunge,” Johnston says. Put the leafy greens in a large colander, then dunk them repeatedly into a large bowl or clean sink filled with cool water. Drain and rinse with fresh running water.

Apples and firm veggies like squashes and cucumbers

“Firm produce should be scrubbed under running water with a produce brush or even your clean hands to remove any pathogens,” Wagner says. But don’t do it when you get home from the store; wait until right before you eat or prepare them. This promotes a longer shelf life and reduces the chance of early spoilage (this is true of all produce). If you have to rinse early, like if the produce is visibly dirty and you don’t want that in your fridge, make sure to dry the produce well with a clean paper towel.

What about the waxy coating on apples? Johnston says you do not have to try to remove this. Apples actually produce their own natural wax as protection against bacteria and to retain moisture, but field washing after harvest strips it away. To keep the fruit from spoiling, producers add a food-safe wax before shipping to stores. “As long as producers are following FDA requirements, then those coatings are safe to eat,” Johnston says.

Berries and soft-skinned fruit

Strawberries, raspberries and other fruits with soft skin bruise easily, so skip the scrub brush here. Cut off bruised areas or throw away suspect individual berries so they don’t spoil the whole bunch. Then place berries in a colander and rinse under cool running water, ideally with a kitchen sprayer. (You can also do the dunking method like with spinach and other leafy veggies.)

Tomatoes, ripe peaches and anything with delicate skin also fall into this category.

Root vegetables, melons and produce you peel

For hearty root veggies, melons and tropical fruits like papaya, get out the produce brush and give them a good scrub under cool running water. This goes for things with edible peels, like potatoes and carrots, as well as produce where the peel gets discarded. Why wash a peel you plan to throw out? Because with every slice of the knife, dirt and germs on the outside will get transferred to the inside.

“When you’re done washing produce, clean and sanitize that scrub brush,” Johnston says. “If you have one that’s dishwasher safe, that’s great.” Just throw it in the dishwasher so it’s ready the next time you use it.

Herbs

For bunches of herbs, wait until you are about to use them, then place them in a colander and rinse under cool running water. Give them a good shake and turn them with your hands as you rinse. You can also do the plunge as described above.

Cilantro and parsley were recently suspected in a Cyclospora outbreak, so follow Wagner’s advice and stay alert to recalls and guidance from government agencies to stay safe.

Grapes and cherries

There are lots of nooks and crannies in small, clustered fruits like grapes and cherries, so you might think you need to soak them to get them clean. Nope. “It’s easy to think that more time in water will make produce cleaner, but it’s the total opposite,” Wagner says. “Only moving water running out of the tap is the safest way to clean these foods.”

Clean grapes and cherries right before you plan to eat them, not before. De-stem the fruit and place it in a colander. Spray them with a kitchen sprayer if possible, or hold them under cool running water. Use your clean hands to gently massage the fruits between your fingers, and give the colander a good shake after doing the final rinse.

Mushrooms

For years, the guidance around mushrooms was to just wipe them with a damp paper towel to remove surface dirt. But, like other moisture- and nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables, mushrooms provide an ideal environment for microbial growth, according to a 2026 study published in Frontiers in Microbiology.

So go ahead and follow the Mushroom Council’s advice and rinse mushrooms under cool running water. Do this right before using them, not before. A sprayer works great here, as does rubbing the mushrooms with your fingers to remove clinging dirt. I’ve been rinsing mushrooms for years and haven’t noticed any problems with texture or water retention, but pat them dry with a clean paper towel for best results.

Broccoli and cauliflower

Guidance from the FDA and food safety experts on cruciferous vegetables sounds familiar: Rinse with cool running water. I like to hold the head upside down as the water runs through all the crevices and give it a good shake, then rinse it in a colander.

If you have broccoli or cauliflower fresh from the garden, the Colorado State University Extension says you can encourage bugs to leave the heads by soaking them for a few minutes in salt water (4 tablespoons salt to 1 gallon of water). Make sure to rinse well.

What about using baking soda, vinegar and produce washes?

“None of those have been shown to be more effective than just washing and scrubbing under cool running water,” Johnston says, at least when it comes to bacteria and other microorganisms. She adds that produce washes and home remedies are not sanitizers anyway. “So you really don’t have to spend your money on those other things,” Johnston says.

“Baking soda is backed by recent research showing better removal of pesticides on the surface compared to just water or other solutions,” Wagner says. “The key here is that it’s just ideal for surface pesticides, as anything that has penetrated the skin is harder to remove even with soaking in baking soda.” Research is evolving on this front, and government agencies and scientific experts continue to stress the use of cool running water only.

Sources:

• Amy Johnston, statewide food safety educator with the University of Minnesota extension; phone interview, July 27, 2026
• Steve Wagner, co-founder and managing partner at Wagner Reese LLP; email interview, July 27, 2026
• University of Minnesota Extension: “Washing fresh fruits and vegetables safely”
• FDA: “Selecting and Serving Produce Safely”
• CDC: “Cyclospora Outbreak Linked to Iceberg Lettuce in 9 States”
• Washington Post: “Yes, you need to wash fresh mushrooms. Here’s how.”
• Mushroom Council: “Mushroom 101: FAQs”
• University of Minnesota Extension: “Sanitizing equipment and food contact surfaces”
• Colorado State University: “How to use broccoli”
• Frontiers in Microbiology: “Microbial contamination and microbiome composition of fresh edible mushrooms: a critical review”

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Even the most calm, cheerful and mild-mannered among us might notice their mood worsens on extremely hot days. And they’re right: The heat can make us feel cranky, irritable or downright angry—and there’s a scientific reason for it.

I talked to Brynna Connor, MD, a family medicine physician and health-care ambassador at Northwest Pharmacy, and Rachel Marquez, MD, a family medicine doctor and regional medical director of external affairs at Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic, to find out why the heat affects our mood. I also dug into the latest research about this sweltering phenomenon, so keep reading to learn what you can do to stay cool out there.

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How bad can things get when it’s ridiculously hot out?

Pretty bad, which is especially concerning now, given that we’re experiencing more heat stress days more often—up to 50 more days per year in some places, according to the latest research. Nights are getting hotter and staying hotter too.

A 2026 study published in the Nature Portfolio journal Communications Sustainability found a link between even short-term spikes in temperature and greater incidence of violence, both interpersonal and self-inflicted. Researchers found that as the temperature rose, the number of violence-related hospital visits increased, particularly in the first two days of high heat. Another study discovered that when temperatures exceeded a mild 70 degrees, there were more violent crimes in Los Angeles.

In 2023, researchers in South Korea came to the same conclusion: The risk of deaths by assault increased as temperatures rose, especially among males, teenagers and those with less education. In prisons, which often lack adequate air-conditioning and ventilation, the probability of violence rose when temperatures climbed above 80 degrees.

This phenomenon is called the temperature-aggression or heat-aggression hypothesis, and it can even affect our interpretations of conversations and people’s tone. And researchers have been keying in on this for decades: A 2000 study found that when we’re uncomfortably hot, we perceive other people and other interactions as being more hostile.

What happens to your body in extreme heat?

Extreme heat triggers the body’s stress response as it fights to keep cool. Part of that response is the release of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which “increase the feeling of restlessness and being on edge,” says Dr. Marquez.

The body has a limited amount of energy available to it at any given time, explains Dr. Connor. On extremely hot days, the body expends a lot of that energy keeping our core body temperature at normal levels (between 97 and 99 degrees). “This leaves less energy available for things like concentration and emotional regulation,” she says.

In order to keep the body cool, Dr. Connor says, the “blood vessels in the skin enlarge to release heat, your heart pumps more rapidly to bring the blood to the skin, and you sweat more to cool yourself through evaporation.”

Hot days can also stress out our brains, which must also stay within an optimal temperature range to function properly. “When body temperature rises, your attention span decreases, reaction time slows and decision-making becomes more difficult,” Dr. Connor says.

Why does this make us so grumpy—or even outright angry?

The body perceives extreme heat as more than just discomfort. “The reason we get more irritable and grumpy when the weather is really hot is that our bodies are experiencing real physiological stress, which changes how both the brain and body function,” Dr. Connor says. The brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for impulse control, judgment and emotional regulation, doesn’t work as efficiently and effectively in extreme heat. But the emotional centers of our brains do stay active. This combination can translate to anger and impulsivity.

“Little triggers can feel larger or more significant, since the body is already under stress,” Dr. Connor says. “Heat can lower the threshold for aggressive or irritable responses as it becomes more difficult for the brain to regulate emotions.”

Because we’re sweating more to cool down, it’s easier to become dehydrated. “Sweating causes you to lose both water and electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium,” Dr. Connor says. “Even mild dehydration can result in symptoms like headache, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability and slower cognitive processing.”

Heat also makes sleeping practically impossible—and we all know we’re not our best selves after a night of bad sleep. “Sleep is one of the best tools we have for keeping our emotions balanced,” Dr. Marquez says. Our core body temperature has to drop to fall and stay asleep, and that is really tricky in sweltering heat.

Does grumpiness or anger in extreme heat signal a more serious health issue?

Irritability is a normal response to the heat, Dr. Marquez says, but it’s also one of the recognized symptoms of heat exhaustion, along with headache, nausea, dizziness and cold, clammy skin.

“Watch for the change from irritable to confused or agitated, since that can mean that heat exhaustion could be progressing toward heatstroke, which is a medical emergency,” Dr. Marquez says. “If you or someone with you is experiencing confusion, a seizure, hot, dry skin or loss of consciousness, call 911 right away. Grumpy is normal. Confused is not.”

High temperatures can pose serious—and potentially deadly—health risks. “Extreme heat is a community-wide health concern,” Dr. Marquez says. “Check in on the people around you, especially those who live alone. Older adults, young children and people managing chronic health conditions can be particularly vulnerable to heat-related illness.”

How can we keep our cool in the heat?

If the heat is starting to make your blood boil, here are some tips for managing your mood and cooling off.

Stay hydrated

If you’re feeling grumpy, foggy or generally out of sorts, drink a glass of water (or two). More heat means more sweating, which means faster dehydration. Even slight dehydration can cause headaches and irritability.

“Drink water throughout the day instead of waiting until you’re thirsty,” Dr. Connor says. “If you’ve been sweating heavily for several hours, you may also need drinks with electrolytes to replace what’s been lost.”

Shift your outdoor routines

Physical activity and spending time outdoors are normally two of the best ways to relieve stress and boost your mood, but doing those things when it’s really hot isn’t the best idea. Tweak your routine a bit.

“If your routine typically includes outdoor exercise, yard work or other time outside, consider moving those activities indoors, rescheduling them for cooler parts of the day or taking more frequent breaks from the heat,” Dr. Marquez says.

Try running on the treadmill at the gym instead of outside. Move your usual post-lunch walk to early morning or evening to avoid the midday sun. Even light stretching or yoga can help you feel better.

Socialize with others

When it’s really hot, we might want to hunker down inside with the AC. But getting out and spending time with friends or family can improve your mood. Catch up with a friend over an iced coffee or chilled cocktail (though don’t overdo it, as coffee and alcohol can increase dehydration). Take it from kids: Water can cheer most anyone up, so gather some people to hang out at a local pool, lake or stream.

Make sure you’re eating enough

We often don’t feel like eating much when it’s extremely hot, but a grumbling stomach can quickly turn into “hanger.” Plus, the body is working overtime to regulate our body temperatures and needs those calories for fuel.

Dr. Connor recommends keeping meals light. “Eating cold foods, fruits, vegetables, yogurt or salads can help you feel more comfortable on hot days,” she says. “Large or heavy meals can increase heat production due to digestion.”

Dress smart

Some colors and fabrics can trap heat and moisture, making us feel even hotter and more uncomfortable. Skip heavy denim, dark colors, form-fitting outfits and synthetic fabrics. Even your jewelry might need an overhaul. Gold and silver jewelry are conductors and will trap heat close to the body.

“Wear lightweight, loose-fitting fabrics, ideally in light colors, in breathable materials such as cotton, linen or other moisture-wicking fabrics,” Dr. Connor says.

How can you lower your body temperature quickly if there’s no AC in sight?

Even if you live or work somewhere without air-conditioning, there are still steps you can take to cool down. Here’s what the experts suggest:

• Keep window blinds, shades or curtains closed during the hottest hours of the day, typically between 3 and 6 p.m. Open them back up at night, when the temperature cools down.
• Apply a cool, damp towel or splash cold water on parts of the body where large blood vessels are close to the skin: neck, wrists, forearms and behind the knees. Immersing your hands in cold water for a few minutes will also bring your temperature down.
• Take a cool shower, drench your shirt in water or mist yourself with a cooling spray or cold water.
• Try to find some AC. If you can get access to any air-conditioning, like a single window unit in a bedroom or at a public place like a library, sit in that space long enough for your core temperature to come down, not just your skin, Dr. Connor says. “Typically this occurs within 30 to 60 minutes, but in instances of heat stress or heat exhaustion, it could take up to 24 to 48 hours, plus fluid replenishment,” she says.

Sources:

• Brynna Connor, MD, family medicine physician and health-care ambassador at Northwest Pharmacy; email interview, July 21, 2026
• Rachel Marquez, MD, family medicine doctor and regional medical director of External Affairs at Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic; email interview, July 22, 2026
• Guardian: “Why does hot weather put me in such a bad mood?”
• Nature Climate Change: “Global heat stress intensification and its expanding footprint on the human population”
• Community Sustainability: “Higher temperatures are associated with increased interpersonal and self-inflicted violence-related Medicaid hospital visits in the United States”
• ScienceNews: “How extreme heat from climate change distorts human behavior”
• Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine: “Positive Association of Aggression with Ambient Temperature”
• Advances in Experimental Social Psychology: “Temperature and aggression”
• Anxiety and Depression Association of America: “Physical Activity: An Evidence-Based Way to Reduce Stress”
• American Heart Association: “Spending Time in Nature to Reduce Stress and Anxiety”

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The post There’s a Scientific Reason Why You Feel Grumpier When It’s Insanely Hot Outside—And Also Something You Can Do About It appeared first on Reader's Digest.

It was her CEO. On Teams. With a question.

Oh, it wasn’t an emergency, like “the building is on fire and you alone know where we keep the extinguisher.” It was just a regular question—the kind that could have waited until January, or frankly, until the heat death of the universe. And her first thought was not: What a flexible, modern leader! Her first thought was: Am I in trouble? On Christmas?!

She is still not over it. And when she told me this story, I nodded sympathetically, made an appropriately outraged noise and then had a small internal crisis. Because reader, I am the villain of this story. Not that specific story—I’ve never Teams-bombed anyone’s Christmas—but I am a person who sends work emails at 10:47 p.m. with the serenity of someone who has never once considered the recipient’s nervous system.

My defense, which I have never had to say out loud until now, is this: Email is asynchronous communication. That’s its whole personality. That’s why we like it. So I assume that if you’re not ready to look at your inbox, you simply won’t look at it. And if something were actually on fire, I’d never email—I’d text or call or send a carrier pigeon.

I’m going to give this defense a name, because I’ve been using it for 20 years and so has everyone I know: the async alibi. It’s the belief that because a message can wait, it does wait—and that whatever happens in the recipient’s evening is therefore none of your business. It sounds airtight. It’s the most reasonable thing I’ve ever believed. It’s also, I’ve come to accept, mostly nonsense.

This etiquette question is trickier than I first thought. Let’s get into it.

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The case for sending a message whenever you want

I will propose that “work hours” stopped being a shared reality some time ago. If you’re a caregiver who does real thinking after bedtime, or you’re in Denver, like me, emailing a team in Dublin, or your brain simply boots up at 9 p.m., then “after hours” is just … hours. Plus, I often work on East Coast time (because everything in media is in New York or L.A.), which means that my very early 6 a.m. email hits my New York City editor’s inbox at a reasonable 8 a.m. her time. Let’s not talk about what my 6 a.m. email does to my West Coast editor.

Microsoft’s own data suggests this isn’t a fringe lifestyle. In its 2025 analysis of Microsoft 365 activity, the company found that by 10 p.m., nearly 29% of active workers are back in their inboxes, and 40% of the people online at 6 a.m. are already reviewing email. Meetings starting after 8 p.m. rose 16% year over year. More interesting: Microsoft Research found that remote workers often experience evening hours as a productive window for quiet catch-up, while hybrid workers are more likely to find those same hours stressful. Same clock. Completely different feelings about it.

(Do I think this says good things about our health as a society? No, it’s a problem—but solving work-life balance will have to wait for its own etiquette column, along with sourcing the Big Bang and understanding why my grandma sent me underwear from garage sales as a gift. ~Life’s mysteries~)

I would like to emphasize, as both an email user and a former college professor of IT, that nothing about an email demands immediacy. It was designed that way. If a message required your attention right now, it would be a phone call. The recipient has options—notifications off, badge hidden, phone in a drawer, phone in the ocean. Somewhere in the long list of email etiquette rules we’ve all silently agreed to, there’s a part about the reader having some responsibility too.

And it turns out that readers are probably more stressed than the situation calls for. Researchers at London Business School and Cornell identified something they call the “email urgency bias.” Across eight preregistered studies with more than 4,000 participants, they found that receivers consistently overestimate how quickly senders expect a response to non-urgent emails sent outside normal work hours. So the poor co-worker spiraling over my 10:47 p.m. message is spiraling about a deadline I never set. (Also, I’ve never been anyone’s boss.) Vindication!

Well. Sort of.

The case for keeping your thumbs to yourself

However, that same research found the bias was linked to genuine stress and lower well-being. “They’re overreacting” is a weak defense when you’re the one who handed them the thing to overreact to. No, I didn’t set a deadline, but I still installed one in someone’s head and went to bed.

There’s older research backing this up too. A foundational study out of Lehigh, Virginia Tech and Colorado State found that it isn’t the time spent on after-hours email that wears people down—it’s the expectation of it, which creates what the researchers call anticipatory stress. Even when no emails actually arrive, they found that the mere norm of availability keeps people from mentally clocking out. So the damage isn’t done by my one Saturday email. It’s done by my one Saturday email teaching everyone that Saturday emails happen here.

And now here’s the part where my whole theory falls apart, which I would like the record to show I discovered myself, thank you.

When one of my editors emails me at 9 p.m., I look. Every time. Not because I plan to work—I just need to know whether it’s urgent. Which means the entire “they simply won’t check it” premise I’ve been running on for years describes exactly nobody, including me. Here’s the rub: You can decline to respond. You cannot decline to know. And knowing is the part that ruins the movie you were watching.

Some countries have decided this isn’t a personal quirk at all. Australia’s right-to-disconnect law took effect in August 2024 and expanded to small businesses in August 2025, giving employees the right to refuse to monitor, read or reply to contact outside their working hours, unless that refusal is unreasonable. Notably, it doesn’t make after-hours contact illegal. It just makes ignoring you legal—which is either reassuring or humbling, depending on how much you enjoy being answered.

What actually decides it

Whether a night or weekend email is rude almost never depends on the clock. Almost all of this debate comes down to three things: who you are to the person, what you’re asking and what business you’re in.

Your position

Peer to peer, a night email is a nonevent. From a boss to a direct report, it isn’t an email—it’s a norm with a subject line. This is why I’ve been grading myself on a generous curve: because I’m nobody’s boss. My async theory works beautifully for me, and yet it would be actively harmful in the hands of someone who signs paychecks. If you have authority over anyone’s schedule, salary or performance review, you don’t get to say “I’m just working when I work.” You’re setting the office standards, whether you mean to or not.

And I can tell you from personal experience that emailing a freelancer or contractor is its own trap: You’ve purchased a deliverable, not a Friday night. When you’re emailing someone at another company entirely, you have no idea what their culture demands. Be conservative. You’re a guest in a workplace whose rules you’ve never read.

The topic

A question is fine. A task is pushy. Criticism is a crime. Anything on a major holiday is a hard no. Nobody in recorded history has read “Can we talk tomorrow?” at 10 p.m. and then slept peacefully. And if it’s genuinely urgent, don’t email at all—text or call. Email is a terrible tool for emergencies, which is what made that Christmas Teams ping so absurd. If it wasn’t worth a phone call, then it wasn’t worth the interruption.

Your field

For fields like media, hospitality, health care, live events, politics or anything with a “breaking” tag, night isn’t after hours—night is the job. For some fields, this may depend on the season (accounting in April, right before tax day, is not the same as accounting in July), but know that “we’re all hustling” describes a season, not a permanent license. Know the culture of your field and your particular company.

And no, the sunrise workaround doesn’t save you. A 6 a.m. email is a 6 a.m. email. Sending at dawn instead of midnight doesn’t make you considerate; it makes you someone who decided other people’s mornings were a softer target.

The fixes are embarrassingly easy

“Schedule send” exists. The solution is right there. It’s been right there for years, waiting patiently for us to notice it, like a golden retriever.

And if you can’t be bothered—hi, it’s me—then just add: “No response needed until Monday.” The urgency-bias researchers found that one small clarifying note from the sender about response expectations meaningfully reduced the anxiety. Just don’t write “No rush!” and then follow up at 8 a.m. on Sunday, because now you’re not merely rude, you’re a liar.

Also, set an actual out-of-office message when you’re actually off, and make it a funny one, since it’s the last impression you’ll leave for a week.

So … is it really rude?

Sending a work email at night or on the weekend is not rude. Sending it badly is.

Rude is sending it with an implied deadline, sending it to someone who can’t afford to ignore you, or sending criticism at 11 p.m. and then sleeping soundly. Rude is having a schedule-send button and refusing to press it because, deep down, you’d like a little credit for the time stamp. Meanwhile, your co-worker is staring at the ceiling trying not to spiral.

However, as an email receiver, you should take responsibility for your time. It is OK to draw boundaries with work and let everyone know you won’t be checking email between certain hours.

So the onus is shared—but it isn’t split evenly. The recipient owes you nothing until Monday. The sender owes them one sentence of clarity. And whoever has more power owes more, which is the entire reason a CEO’s Christmas morning “quick question” is a war crime and my 10:47 p.m. story pitch is just a Tuesday.

I’m still going to send them. The async alibi isn’t wrong, exactly—it’s just incomplete, and one sentence completes it. “No response needed until Monday” is the thing that turns an alibi into an actual courtesy, and it costs four words. I’ve seen what my inbox does to me at 9 p.m., and it turns out the ceiling-starer was me all along.

Sources:

• Microsoft WorkLab, Work Trend Index Special Report: “Breaking down the infinite workday”
• Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes: “You don’t need to answer right away! Receivers overestimate how quickly senders expect responses to non-urgent work emails”
• Cornell Chronicle: “Set expectations to reduce email stress”
• Virginia Tech News: “Expectations for employees to check email after hours can cause burnout, new study finds”
• Australian Government, Fair Work Ombudsman: “Right to disconnect”
• Australian Government, Fair Work Ombudsman: “Small business employees now have the right to disconnect”

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My husband, on the other hand, prefers the aisle, because he has a serious medical condition called “ants in his pants” and cannot go an hour without getting up to “stretch his legs.” (Translation: wander the galley making small talk with strangers.)

We’ve been married a long time and have never once resolved this. Turns out, we may not need to! According to flight attendants, we were basically doomed to pick these seats from the start. And, apparently, we’re not even the weird ones—it’s shockingly common for couples to sit slightly apart, on purpose, for reasons we’ll get into later.

Your seat choice really can say a lot about you, so I called up a couple of flight attendant friends to ask what they’ve noticed about passengers and their seating habits over the years. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint. It turns out where you plant yourself on a plane is a surprisingly reliable window (sorry) into who you are, how you cope with stress and even how your marriage operates at 500 miles an hour.

So what does your go-to seat actually reveal? Buckle up and read on.

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Is a person’s seat choice really that revealing?

According to the folks I talked to, things like how you speak and your footwear reveal more about your personality, but seat choice can tell you something real—with one important caveat: Many of us aren’t picking our seats. On a packed flight or last-minute booking, people end up wherever there’s an open seat, not necessarily where they’d choose. But when passengers do have options, patterns emerge fast, and flight attendants notice them because they watch thousands of strangers make this exact decision, week after week.

Sydney A., a flight attendant who has worked for more than 20 years for all four major U.S. carriers, says the patterns are consistent enough that she can often guess, just from a quick scan of who’s boarding, roughly where someone is headed to sit. “I don’t know how to explain it, but like, personality-wise, I know who’s going to be sitting where,” she told me. She’s also noticed that business travelers gravitate toward one particular spot (more on that below), and that entire families tend to cluster in one general area, seemingly by instinct rather than any airline policy.

Loretta H., a flight attendant for Jet Blue, points out that money plays a role too. Passengers who pay extra for upgraded seats also tend to be the ones who spend more once they’re airborne. “It appears that people who sit in more expensive seats spend money freely and buy things off of the cart when I come through,” she says. “People in the back usually don’t buy food or extras.” It’s a good reminder that seat choice isn’t purely psychological—it’s also practical.

It’s not just flight attendants who have opinions here, either. When Reader’s Digest polled our Instagram followers on aisle-versus-window, the comments section turned into exactly the kind of good-natured argument you’d expect—and the reasoning people gave lined up almost perfectly with what the flight attendants told me. Of course, all this insider knowledge isn’t just cocktail-party trivia for cabin crew. It actually helps them do their jobs better, which we’ll get into a little further down. But first, the fun part.

What does your seat choice reveal about you?

Whether you’re an aisle person, a window person or someone who’s resigned themselves to the middle, your preferred perch says something about your priorities, your stress levels or, in some cases, just your inseam. Here’s what flight attendants have picked up on.

The aisle seat

Aisle-sitters tend to be people who value efficiency and access over coziness. Sydney says this crowd skews heavily toward business travelers who want to work uninterrupted. “Businessmen and -women I’ve noticed usually sit in the aisle because it’s easier to have their laptop out and get up and do things if they need to,” she says. It also helps them get to meetings and connections more quickly, as they can get off the plane faster.

Choosing the aisle may also mean that you don’t like to inconvenience others … and may be a bit of a control freak. Sydney counts herself in that camp: “I want to be able to get up when I need to and not have to ask the people next to me to keep moving.”

Our Instagram followers added that they choose the aisle for the same reason my husband does: mobility. “Aisle, every time. We can get up and walk every now and then,” wrote one commenter. Another put it more bluntly: “Aisle … and I board last so I don’t get bumped by all the passengers.” One follower summed up the whole control angle in a single line: “I want to be able to stand up without waking up or saying excuse me to anyone.”

The window seat

If you’re a window person, congratulations: You’re probably either a napper, a flying enthusiast or both. “For people who like to sleep, they do like window seats,” Sydney says, since there’s a wall to lean on and no one climbing over you mid-doze. And if you wake up? That window is right there with a gorgeous view of the planet spread out beneath you.

Window seats are also good for people with health anxiety, as they keep you farther from high-traffic aisles, which is part of why germaphobes and anxious flyers often request them too.

There is also a different aspect of control here. “Window, so I can control the shade … I want to look out at the landscape as we fly over,” one commenter told us. And it’s true, window sitters get to decide how light or dark it is for everyone around them. This appeals to people who like to feel like they’re steering their own experience, even when someone else is flying the plane.

The window loyalists in our Instagram comments made their case just as passionately as the aisle crowd did. “Window! Built-in headrest for naps!” one commenter wrote. A few frequent flyers admitted their preference shifts with the length of the trip: “Short flights: window. Long haul flights: aisle,” as one follower put it—proof that even die-hard window people might defect for a long-haul flight.

The middle seat

Nobody dreams of the middle seat, and flight attendants confirm it: This is usually the seat of last resort rather than a personality statement. But how a middle seat gets filled can say plenty about the people around it. Sydney has noticed one particularly sweet pattern with couples: “The male will offer his wife the aisle or window seat, to be nice,” she says. “I see that a lot.” She adds that younger couples almost always book seats together, even knowing that one of them must sit in the middle.

Less charming is what happens with some older couples, who book the aisle and window seats in the same row and let a total stranger get sandwiched in the middle. “It makes the person in the middle super uncomfortable,” Sydney says. “It’s awkward.” If you’ve ever wondered why you landed in the middle seat between two people who clearly know each other but haven’t said a word to you, well, now you know. They’ve probably been married for 30 years and just need a little space, OK? In my husband’s and my defense, we never try to make anyone else feel awkward. The dream is that we end up with an empty middle seat so we can have extra space.

However, if you are the person who intentionally chooses the middle seat, you may be a sociopath. Just kidding! But you may be very conflict avoidant—say, letting someone sit in your window seat while you choose the middle seat to avoid a fight—or you may just love talking with strangers, and the aisle seat gives you two opportunities to chat someone up.

The exit row or extra-legroom seat

This one’s less about personality and more about anatomy and budget. “Tall people are the people I see the most that care about where they’re sitting,” Sydney says, and they’ll often pay for the extra room regardless of whether it’s an exit row or another upgraded legroom option. Loretta agrees that height plays a bigger role than any deep psychological need for control: She’s seen tall people (as well as people who just have a few extra bucks) pay for JetBlue’s Even More Space seats.

As for who tends to sit in the actual exit row specifically, Loretta says there’s no strong pattern beyond that: It’s largely just people who want the legroom and are willing to pay for it. Exit row seats have their own trade-offs too, since federal rules require anyone sitting there to be able to physically and mentally assist in an emergency.

The bulkhead seat

Families with small kids and travelers who want to be first off the plane both tend to eye the bulkhead, since it offers a little extra floor space up front. It’s worth knowing, though, that not every “roomy-looking” seat lives up to the hype—bulkhead seats often have tray tables built into the armrests, meaning you lose the ability to lift the armrest for extra wiggle room.

Front of the plane vs. back of the plane

If you’re the type who picks the front of the cabin, you might just be a planner who wants a quick, no-drama exit. Or, Sydney adds, you might have some flying anxiety and prefer to be closer to the pilot and flight attendants. Passengers toward the back, meanwhile, tend to be more laid-back about the whole flying process—or they’re traveling with kids and want to be near the galley and lavatories.

Sitting with your kids (or very deliberately not)

Families don’t always sit shoulder to shoulder, and it’s not because they don’t love each other. Yes, your suspicion is true: Some parents purposely seat their kids in a separate row so they can have some peace and space on the ride. While that’s a terrible idea for little ones, as a mom, I can attest that teens often prefer that arrangement as much as their parents.

But here’s something that surprised me: Sydney says whole families do tend to cluster together in one section of the plane. “At Southwest, we get more of the families in the middle,” she says. “I don’t really know why, but they tend to just kind of flock to the middle of the airplane.”

What else are flight attendants on the lookout for?

Beyond the obvious aisle-versus-window divide, flight attendants have a lot of secrets and are quietly clocking a handful of other seating-adjacent behaviors throughout the flight. For instance, bare feet propped up on the seat, the tray table or the armrest between the seats in front (ew!) says that you don’t care about other people’s comfort and may be socially oblivious. (Thankfully, Sydney says she’s seen less of that in recent years.)

She’s also tuned in to how people react when they end up in the wrong seat entirely, whether by mistake or on purpose, hoping nobody will notice. There are some terrible people who will be assigned a middle seat but claim the window seat, put on headphones and ignore the true seat owner—hoping that they’ll be too afraid of making a scene to claim their spot. “Yes, that happens,” she confirms. “But more often it is an accident when someone is in the wrong seat.”

Her advice is to not be shy about speaking up when something’s bothering you—crew members would honestly rather help sort it out than have you stew in silence for the whole flight.

What do flight attendants do with all this information?

Mostly, this people-watching helps flight attendants be better at their jobs by anticipating needs before passengers even have to ask, which makes the whole flight smoother for everyone. If crew members can predict that the exit row will need an extra safety briefing, that the family in the middle section will need help wrangling a toddler, or that the guy in seat 14C is going to want his laptop out the second the seatbelt sign turns off, they can plan their service accordingly.

There’s a financial angle too. Understanding who tends to spend money on board, and where, helps crew anticipate service needs during the flight. And honestly, even without the practical benefits, it’s clear these flight attendants get a genuine kick out of the sociological experiment happening in their cabin every single day. As someone who spends an unreasonable amount of time analyzing why my own family behaves the way it does on road trips, I respect that immensely.

So the next time you board a flight, just remember: Somebody in a Southwest polo is quietly taking notes, and you are, in fact, an open book.

Sources:

• Sydney A., flight attendant; personal interview, July 13, 2026
• Loretta H., flight attendant; personal interview, July 12, 2026
• Reader’s Digest on Instagram: “Which airplane seat are you choosing?”

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Wait, Travis Scott is in The Odyssey? The rapper from Houston who burst onto the scene in 2019 with “Sicko Mode” and used to date Kylie Jenner? That Travis Scott? Yes, that is indeed the Travis Scott I am talking about, and he is fantastic in this movie. And thank goodness, because he bookends the entire epic. He’s the first person you hear in the film, he later has a major callback scene and he sings on (and co-wrote) the end-credits song.

I saw the movie on opening day, and I was blown away by his performance. Read on to learn why Nolan cast the rapper and why Scott’s role and portrayal are critical to this modern retelling of The Odyssey.

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What role does Travis Scott play in The Odyssey?

Scott plays the bard Phemius, and his opening monologue sets the stage for the entire movie. He stands on a table in the royal palace, surrounded by more than 100 unruly suitors who are vying for the hand of Penelope, the queen of Ithaca and Odysseus’s wife. As we see the crowd, we hear Scott’s bard pound a wooden staff on the table and cry out:

“A face, a fleet, a war, a man, a thought, a trick—a trick to break the walls of Troy and burn it screaming to the ground!” Between every short phrase, we hear the rhythmic drumming of the staff on the table as the camera moves past the chaotic scene and out over the gorgeous Greek landscape.

The trick he is talking about is the famous Trojan Horse, which Odysseus and his men use to, well, (spoiler alert) do exactly as Phemius says. Later, near the film’s end, we hear Phemius and his staff again, bringing us back to the original poetry that began Odysseus’s journey.

What’s so significant about how Travis Scott delivers his lines?

It has to do with the meter of the original poem. Meters establish the rhythm of a poem and—this is critical—help audiences remember them. This was especially true back before the majority of people could read and write, but even today, we respond to the repetitive, lyrical nature of the sound.

This sparked a lot of conversation about its connection to the original Greek epic. Was Scott pounding the table in the same tempo, dactylic hexameter, as Homer’s 3,000-year-old masterpiece? Reviewers at the Guardian and Variety say yes. Others aren’t so sure, or say no. Emily Wilson, whose 2017 The Odyssey translation Nolan says was an inspiration, used a different meter, one that you’ll recall from high school English: iambic pentameter.

So it’s not clear Nolan was going for a specific rhythm, but what is 100% verifiable is that he saw Scott’s role as the ancient storyteller critical to the audience’s understanding of the film. The cadence and delivery were clear callbacks to the original poem, even if it’s not exactly the same tempo.

Why did Homer use this technique?

It makes perfect sense if you remember (or are learning for the first time) that Homer’s epic wasn’t written down for hundreds of years. Instead, traveling poets spoke, sang and performed the words now attributed to the blind bard—with a heavy emphasis on performed.

The poets of ancient Greece were like modern deejays in a way, taking requests and enthralling sometimes rowdy crowds (like the 100 suitors in Penelope’s palace) with tales of heroism and faraway battles. So they were already using cadence and rhythm to enrapture ancient audiences. Homer (if he existed—more on that coming up) just put it all together.

Why did Christopher Nolan insist on casting a rapper in this role?

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“I cast him because I wanted to nod towards the idea that this story has been handed down as oral poetry,” Nolan told Time. And who are today’s spoken-word geniuses, able to transfix crowds with modern tales of heroism, identity and struggle? Rappers.

“I wanted somebody on screen who would be reciting words and holding attention in the room in a very credible way, that we can relate to in today’s world,” Nolan told Variety. “So that we would understand the drama and the emotion that comes from storytelling through poetry.”

Scholars to this day debate whether there was a single “Homer” who wrote The Odyssey. But no one disputes the role the spoken word played in ancient Greece, or the beauty of the rhythmic drumbeat that accompanies Odysseus’s epic battles and philosophical musings on life and death. Scott fills that role here well.

Sources:

• Texas Monthly: “Why Is Travis Scott in ‘The Odyssey’? A Texas Monthly Investigation”
• Variety: “Travis Scott’s Hollywood Odyssey: The Rapper on Acting for Christopher Nolan, His New Paramount Deal and Never Winning a Grammy”
• Guardian: “The Odyssey: jaw-dropping action, dark magic and dolphin cameos”
• LA Review of Books: “Emily Wilson on Porous Boundaries and the World of Homer”
• Pitchfork: “James Blake and Travis Scott Duet on The Odyssey End Credits Song ‘When I’m Home'”
• British Museum: “Who was Homer?”
• Cambridge University Press: “The Cambridge Guide to Homer”
• Time: “Christopher Nolan on Helen, Athena, and His New Ending for The Odyssey”
• Esquire: “How One Woman Conquered The Odyssey”

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But then she saw the price for floor seats: $600 Canadian ($435 U.S.). “I felt devastated,” Christie says. “That’s out of reach. A college student doesn’t have 600 bucks. Single moms, single dads, they can’t afford that. It’s a disconnect. Some of your biggest fans are broke!”

Christie is an actor and musician, picking up coffee shop shifts between acting jobs. She knows as well as anyone that artists need to make a living and that touring is expensive. Gas, food, hotels. But … $600? To see … Gorillaz? Even the cheap seats were $250 or more. Christie now sees crazy ticket prices like that all the time. They leave fans like her feeling left out. “If you come from money, you can be kind of out of touch,” she says. “Like, ‘Oh, it’s only $400.’ $400! That’s my rent!”

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The cost of inflation

In 2026, Christie’s brand of concert-ticket sticker shock is not uncommon. The prices for shows, be they concerts, sports or other live entertainment, have outpaced inflation by a wide margin. According to Pollstar, an average concert ticket in 1996 was just under $26. Taking inflation into account, ticket prices should now average about $54. Instead, the average ticket price in 2025 was $133. For the biggest names, premium prices can get positively absurd. Want good seats for Beyoncé? Be prepared to shell out $5,000.

“Tickets are far more expensive than they were 30 years ago. They’re more expensive than they were 10 years ago,” says Andrew Mall, an ethno­musicologist at Northeastern University. “A concert that you might have paid $20 for in the 1990s now is going to be 100 to 500 bucks.”

So what’s going on? Simply put: a lot. Every aspect of concert production is now more expensive. Travel and insurance cost more. Fans expect shows to be ever bigger and glitzier: dancers, video, pyrotechnics, light-up wristbands. Concertgoers now include lots of older fans who can outspend the younger crowd.

And, critically, concert revenues are more important to artists than ever. “In the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, concerts were loss leaders. They existed to promote the records,” says Mall. “Most artists made the majority of their revenue off selling records, and that’s no longer true.” Today, record sales produce precious little cash, in large part because of streaming. Likewise, streaming ­revenue can be negligible; Spotify pays as little as $0.003 per stream, meaning that a song that plays a million times may net the artist just $3,000.

But perhaps the single biggest change in the concert industry is the rise of the online marketplace. Here, pecking away on their phones and computers, fans compete with armies of automated ticket-buying bots that can gobble up face-value seats at lightning speed, to resell wherever they’ll fetch the highest price.

“The bots are able to buy a bunch of tickets and drive up prices,” says David Lowery, a musician whose alternative rock bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker found success in the ’80s and ’90s and still perform today. “You’ll get on Ticketmaster, and there will be 80,000 people in front of you. You know that they’re not all people.”

Gone are the days when fans lined up at ticket windows overnight. Most tickets today are sold in a digital frenzy, dominated in the United States by Ticketmaster, which controls official sales at an estimated 86% of all major venues. Beyond Ticketmaster lies a dark forest of resale sites, the so-called secondary market that includes StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats and other, less savory players.

“When we used to camp out before the box office opened, if somebody in front of us wanted to buy 20 tickets, there were very few ways to stop that,” says Mall. “What we have today is that, but at scale.”

In this Wild West free-for-all, fans, artists and industry experts alike worry that concerts are evolving into a luxury item. “They’re taking music away from everybody and making it for the elites,” says Peter Wroblewski, a lifelong bluegrass fan and concert promoter from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. “When I was younger, I went to Grateful Dead shows for seven bucks. I worked three hours at a minimum wage job, and that was enough to see Aerosmith.”

But if the new digital markets drive up prices, they also give any fan anywhere a shot at a seat. You don’t need to take a day off work to wait in line for a piece of paper. You just need a credit card and an internet connection. “I have a whole drawer full of hard tickets,” says Jonathan Bricker, an assistant professor of music business at Berklee College of Music in Boston. “I mourn those days, but I definitely love the convenience.”

I know it’s only rock ’n’ roll, but I like it

One thing that hasn’t changed: Fans love shows, and artists want to deliver. When Lowery was cranking out catchy tunes for college students, the way you built an audience was with tours. They rarely turned a profit, and they didn’t always need to.

“We were hoping for enough to buy dinner and sleep in a hotel. The idea was that we’d generate sales of albums and cassettes,” says Lowery. “We’d get back home and find a check from the [record] distributor. A few years ago, I found an old tax return from 1987. I had made something like $40,000. It was kind of surprising that we were making money.”

These days, Lowery’s band Cracker usually plays theater-size venues for $80 to $100 a seat. But Lowery is also a senior lecturer at the University of Georgia, teaching music-business students how to navigate what has always been a cutthroat industry loaded with opportunistic middlemen.

“This is the way it has always been. It’s a battle between the artists and the free riders,” Lowery says. He remembers, back in the day, scalpers plying their trade in the parking lot. What the bots and online resale markets bring today is a new level of competition. Back then, scalpers and brokers “couldn’t buy all the tickets,” says Lowery. “The bots can corner the market.”

But the bots on their own can’t fill the seats. They need fans to pay—and some do. “I’ve got a buddy who went on the secondary market and got a ticket to see the Rolling Stones for $1,000, and he felt like he got a great deal,” Wroblewski says. “Close enough to see the folds of skin on Mick Jagger’s face, and he’s going, ‘This is great!’ ”

Nothing captured the intensity of today’s ticket market like Taylor Swift’s now-legendary “The Eras Tour”: 21 months, 149 shows, 10 million seats, netting just over $2 billion in revenue. Before ending in 2024, it brought the singer-songwriter’s massive show to 51 cities on five continents.

It also brought an unprecedented battle for tickets, driving prices into the stratosphere and leaving fans feeling, as Swift herself put it, “like they went through several bear attacks.”

Ultimately, it’s that demand that drives crazy prices. “These are top-tier acts,” Bricker says. “These stadiums are still filled. People want those tickets.”

“I needed to go”

Nicole McGuire, from Long Island, New York, was one of those people. She was 15 when the Eras tour launched. A massive Swiftie, she didn’t just want to go to the show. “I needed to go,” she says. “When I found out I was going, I was thrilled. So excited.”

Getting a ticket for the show in MetLife Stadium, outside New York City, wasn’t easy. But was it worth it? Oh my, yes. “It was probably the best concert I ever went to. The energy was amazing. Everyone was dressed up, trading bracelets, singing songs,” says Nicole. “I had my outfit all picked out. I wore a sequined tube top and a sparkling glitter skirt. It’s still in my closet.”

So how did she do it? It took an all-hands-on-deck effort. Everyone in her family, including her parents and brother, used their Ticketmaster accounts to enter what amounted to a ticket lottery. And they were not alone. “Everybody I knew who had a daughter was trying to buy tickets,” says Nicole’s mother, Laura Silver McGuire, a clinical psychologist. “And everybody was trying to buy as many as possible.”

The McGuires scanned the nation and the globe for available seats. They even considered flying to Vienna, where some resale floor seats were “only $600,” Nicole recalls—more than most face-value seats at U.S. venues, but a fraction of the resale prices at StubHub, where Slate reported that one Jersey City mother resold her $800 VIP tickets for $6,275 each.

It seemed crazy, but Laura understood. As a teen in the ’80s, she’d waited in long lines for acts like U2 and Billy Joel. So, in 2023, she was ready to check in daily on Ticketmaster and resale sites, looking for the right deal for Nicole. The family struck out, but some friends got lucky. “They sold us two tickets at face value—$55. Behind the stage,” Laura says. “Terrible seats. But it’s an experience.”

Just how valuable the experience was to fans—and brokers—became clear as the concert approached. Even after scoring the face-value tickets, Laura tracked the resale market, looking for chances to upgrade. Even behind the stage, ticket prices hovered right around $3,000, she recalls. She could never shake the feeling that something fishy was going on. “The thing about the bots is, they’re buying as many tickets as they can, to resell them for as much as they can,” she says.

Still, the McGuires are getting used to navigating the online markets now standard for all kinds of live entertainment, including concerts, sports and Broadway shows. Last fall, the family used multiple accounts in an effort to buy face-value World Cup tickets. But their coordinated campaign came up empty: “We used five different accounts to register, and we didn’t get any,” Laura says.

That effectively put those matches out of the family’s reach. For the 2026 FIFA World Cup final in July, face-value tickets that officially sold for $3,450 were listed for resale as early as February for as much as $143,750—more than 40 times the face-value price. For Laura, this is a long way from sleeping on a sidewalk to pay $19 for a U2 ticket. “Camping out, we were cold and it was on concrete, but it was fun,” she says. “This stuff is frustrating and lonely.”

Fans vs. bots vs. artists

The bot armies are just one of the forces behind high prices. Outrageous fees are another. Triggered in part by the frenzy for Taylor Swift tickets, a coalition of more than 30 states jointly sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation (which owns Ticketmaster) in May 2024, alleging that the company has created a monopoly whose industry dominance has allowed it to tack on costs that inflate ticket prices in a price hike that doesn’t benefit artists, only the company.

During the trial, internal Slack messages revealed that two Live Nation ticketing employees had “bragged about charging fans excessive fees for parking and VIP upgrades. One of the men joked he was ‘robbing them blind, baby,’ ” reported the New York Times.

“We have laws against cornering the market on corn or wheat or other commodities because we recognize that it’s not beneficial to the health of the markets,” says Lowery. “I’ll see ticketing fees of like 30%!” These are fees that might not exist, he says, if there were robust competition.

Another driver of high prices: The artists and venues themselves not only control a large portion of the fees but also now deploy an array of techniques to stimulate demand and maximize revenue. That includes carefully calibrated release dates that dribble out tickets in tiers, along with pricey exclusive seating and tantalizing VIP packages. “The most shocking thing I saw was from Shawn Mendes,” says Christie. “I love his music, especially his earlier work. Then I looked online and saw he was selling VIP packages for thousands of dollars, prices that just felt so absurd. One package even came with a guitar!”

Artists and promoters also increasingly opt to use dynamic pricing, the same technique used by airlines and rideshare companies, where prices rise and fall in response to customer demand. Sometimes called surge pricing, the method means the price of a hot ticket can easily double from one day to the next. In one infamous case, Bruce Springsteen used dynamic pricing for his 2023 tour. Tickets that would have typically gone for a few hundred dollars shot up to $5,000 or more. (On the flip side, if demand flags, prices can drop, and fans can score last-minute bargains.)

With dynamic pricing plus the proliferation of fees, fans today often don’t know exactly how much a ticket actually costs until they’re at the very end of a long process. By that point they’re already feeling committed. It’s a frustrating but increasingly familiar experience.

Fans are being heard … sort of

So what’s next for music fans? Will prices come down anytime soon? Don’t bet the farm on it. From the biggest stadium to the smallest club, artists and promoters face steadily rising expenses, and ticket prices reflect that. In Doylestown, Wroblewski runs a popular series of bluegrass concerts on the grounds of a local museum and historic tile factory. He’s got no Ticketmaster, no dynamic pricing and no resale market, but keeping prices where he’d like them has proven impossible.

“I’m putting up a stage, I’m putting up a tent, getting a sound guy, getting some nice food backstage for the band, and it’s a $40 ticket. I’d like to charge $20, and I can’t do it!” Wroblewski says. “I’m trying to bring the best musicians I can to Doylestown, and the artists want to get paid.”

Likewise, at the very top of the industry, reforming the digital marketplace is proving a tough nut to crack. In March, the U.S. Department of Justice settled the antitrust case from the 30-plus states against Live Nation/Ticketmaster, in return for Live Nation agreeing on a 15% cap on ticketing service fees for certain amphitheater venues, giving up ticketing at 13 venues and establishing a $280 million settlement fund to settle claims or pay civil penalties to states.

That amount may sound like a lot, but consider this: Last year, Live Nation reported earning $25 billion in revenue, $3.1 billion of that from Ticketmaster. That’s how lucrative live entertainment has become. A bipartisan group of attorneys general from states including New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Michigan and California refused to sign the settlement, continuing the lawsuit and alleging that the concert-promotion powerhouse uses unfair business practices to prevent other companies from offering cheaper ticket-sale systems.

In April, a federal jury agreed with the states that Live Nation/Ticketmaster was operating as a monopoly in violation of federal and state antitrust laws. In a separate phase of the trial that likely won’t begin until February 2027, a Manhattan federal judge will consider whether to break up the behemoth.

For its part, Live Nation denies it’s a monopoly. “It’s frustrating,” Dan Wall, executive vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs at Live Nation, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “I think it’s pretty clear that the states who brought the case along with the federal government asked for a jury trial because it’s a lot easier to win a jury trial than it is a [judge-alone] trial in a case like this, particularly against a big corporation.”

One way or the other, the audience experience should improve.

“There have been a lot of strides that a company like Ticketmaster has taken to verify buyers and resellers,” Berklee’s Jonathan Bricker says, such as watching for suspiciously large numbers of high-speed transactions and updating its CAPTCHA systems that prove you’re a human. “But we also know that bots and scalpers are sophisticated and adapt.”

Artists can adapt too. Performers such as Taylor Swift, Yungblud, Olivia Dean and Noah Kahan are among many who are experimenting with various policies to keep prices manageable: resale price limits, transfer restrictions and “all-in pricing” that reveals fees. “As an artist, I’d like to see ­all-in pricing,” says Lowery. “It’s not healthy for anyone in the system to be making money off all these little side charges. I feel like everybody in the business knows that the system doesn’t work. I’m kind of hopeful that we’ll work this out.”

That would be good news for fans like Nicole McGuire. “The average American doesn’t have $400 or $500 to spend on a show,” she says. If fans feel exploited, “artists will lose some support, and they’ll lose respect if they can’t speak out against it.” And should that happen, so be it, because one band’s too-pricey ticket is another band’s chance for a new fan, says Lowery. “I like to think like an economist,” he says. “And an economist would say that these high prices represent an opportunity for younger bands.”

Bricker says the challenge for his students is to get off social media and into clubs and small venues: “Students are sometimes almost scared to go out and find a show. Here in Boston, any night of the week you can still find shows for $15 or less. Discovery is not expensive.”
Mall agrees. “Harry Styles or Beyoncé aren’t the only people performing,” he says. “There’s lots of live music. As much as you can, listen locally.”

That’s what Jennifer-Lynn Christie is doing: shopping around, looking for places to dance and have fun that she can afford. She may have been priced out of Gorillaz, but that doesn’t mean she’s priced out of everything. “I saw Aidan Bissett, and his ticket was only $26! I was shocked. I thought it would be like $200,” she says. “And it was great. You never regret going to a show.”

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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We at Reader’s Digest think not, and here’s why: Our abilities to innovate, empathize, improvise, exercise judgment and juggle competing demands are what truly make us smart. And these skills are only becoming more important as we automate other facets of modern life.

For Reader’s Digest‘s August/September 2026 print cover story, “The New Genius,” we’ve compiled the leading thinking and top tips to help you stay sharp—and face the future with confidence. Read on for all the details.

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• This Is the Secret to Boosting Your Creativity—And Why It’s So Important: AI can generate ideas in a matter of seconds, but the most creative people know that originality comes from curiosity and seeing connections others miss. In this piece, we share advice on how to sharpen your creative instincts, along with the genius habits you can use to turn ordinary thoughts into extraordinary ideas.
• Here’s How to Build Empathy and Form Deeper Connections: In a world filled with technology, understanding people has become a superpower. See how people with empathy listen better, read emotions and build deeper connections with those around them.
• How to Cultivate Your Resourcefulness So You Can Handle Anything Life Throws at You: The ability to figure things out may be the ultimate skill of the future. We spoke with Rosa L. Antonini, a software engineer and “resourcefulness architect,” to uncover expert strategies for adapting quickly and making the most of whatever resources are available.
• Wish You Had Better Judgment? It’s a Learned Skill—Here’s How to Develop It: With endless data at our fingertips, knowing what truly matters is more valuable than ever. This story explores how you can develop strong judgment, avoid common mistakes and make better choices when the pressure is on.
• Time to Focus! Here’s How to Increase Your Attention Span Right Now: In an era of constant notifications and distractions, focus has become a competitive advantage. We share some of the most powerful ways you can protect your attention and train your mind to stay locked in on what matters most.
• These Are the Modern Skills That Will Make You a Genius, According to 3 of the Smartest People We Know: How do today’s most successful people sharpen the skills that make them unstoppable? We spoke with comedian Stephen Fry, Emmy-nominated television host Carmen de la Paz and musician Damian Kulash to find out. They share the genius tips they use to stay ahead—and how you can too.

These are just a few of the incredible stories waiting for you inside Reader’s Digest’s August/September 2026 issue, out now. Dive into the issue now and see what everyone is talking about.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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What would you do if you realized you didn’t have a key ingredient for the recipe you had already started making? What about if you were heading home from unfamiliar territory and your GPS suddenly conked out?

There’s no definitive right way to tackle these (or other) obstacles. But there is a word we use for someone who manages to overcome them: resourceful. Beyond sheer smarts, resourcefulness is “our natural ability to adapt, change direction and move forward when things shift,” says Rosa L. Antonini, a software engineer and “resourcefulness architect” who coaches people on developing the skill.

“Think about it this way,” Antonini writes in her new book, Resourcefulness: The Hidden Power Smarter Than Talent, IQ and Technology. “Intelligence is like having a powerful engine, but ­resourcefulness is the fuel. Without fuel, even the strongest engine sits idle.” These days, we’re never far from some of those strongest engines: sites like Google, virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, and AI chatbots like ChatGPT. No doubt these are helpful resources—powerful ones, at that—but they shouldn’t be the only tools in your belt. Otherwise, when your phone dies, your problem-solving skills die with it.

“The more ways you know how to get things done, the more options you have when your usual approach hits a wall,” Alice Boyes, PhD, writes in a piece published earlier this year on the Psychology Today website. “Resourcefulness can give you a greater sense of security in your life and more trust in yourself.”

Here are some strategies to build up your own.

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Take stock

Knowing what you have at your disposal helps you tap into exactly what you need when you need it—and you likely have more than you realize. Take a few minutes to list out everything (and everyone) in your corner, from the skills you’ve acquired to the people you’ve met along the way. (Don’t forget to include their skills in your list.) “This practice shifts your focus from scarcity to abundance,” Antonini writes, “showing you that you’re already more equipped than you think.”

Become alifelong learner

There’s no shortage of opportunities to acquire new skills. And whether you enroll in a class or watch free videos online, tackling new challenges boosts your brain’s ability to adapt and grow through a process called neuro­plasticity. That’s why learning has such a powerful return, Antonini writes: “It pays you back with sharper thinking, quicker problem-solving and the confidence that you can adapt, no matter what life throws your way.”

Simplify where you can

If you’re quick to outsource problem-solving to AI, could it be because you simply have too much on your plate? Our energy is a finite resource, so we need to pay attention to where we spend it. “History is full of leaders who understood this principle. Steve Jobs famously wore the same black turtle­neck and jeans every day. Barack Obama stuck to two suit colors,” writes Antonini. “They weren’t obsessed with fashion minimalism—they were resource-managing.” Her advice: “Remove low-value decisions to conserve energy for high-value ones.”

Ask for help

No one knows everything, but “lots of people have hidden pockets of knowledge,” writes Boyes. And being social is a form of being resourceful. “Tap into the microskills the people around you are happy to share and show off.”

Have patience

You’re not going to master new skills overnight. Developing your resourcefulness can take a lot of trial and error. But the payoff is worth it, according to Boyes, who writes, “Resourcefulness underlies resilience.”

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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“Like other preemies, he looked so impossibly fragile, so vulnerable as he lay in his crib in the hospital’s intensive care unit, hooked up to all those tubes and monitors,” remembers Nicole as she sits with Kyle in their modest suburban home in Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania. “He was so tiny. He was our little peanut!”

Kyle, a burly, 6-foot-tall steamfitter and part-time high school football coach, laughs and adds, “He weighed just 4 pounds, if that! But something about him—I’m still not sure what—told me he was a fighter, a strong baby.”

Based on what he would soon be going through, the newest member of the Muldoon family would need every ounce of that strength.

When the Muldoons found out that Nicole was pregnant in early 2024, they decided that this would be the last child they’d be adding to their happy, growing household. They already had Nicole’s son, Sean, 12, whom Kyle had lovingly helped raise ever since he and Nicole had married about a decade earlier, and the two daughters they’d had together: Carson, who was 3, and Kennedy, 1-1/2.

“Truth be told, when Nicole got pregnant again, I was hoping—kinda ­praying—that we’d have a boy,” says Kyle. “I’d always wanted a son of my own, and some of my union buddies at work had kidded me that I could only make girls. I’ve been blessed to have Sean, and I dreamed of having another son. I imagined watching the Philadelphia Eagles—my favorites—with him, and as he grew older, teaching him to play all the sports I loved.” On Aug. 1, Kyle was working on a job in downtown Philadelphia when he got an urgent call from Nicole. “Honey, it’s time!” she told him. “We gotta go to the hospital! Now!”

Although Nicole wasn’t due to give birth for five more weeks, she’d been having complications and contractions. Kyle dropped everything, drove home, picked up Nicole and rushed her to the hospital. Six hours later, she gave birth to a baby boy.

As Kyle stood over his brand-new son’s crib, tears filled his eyes. Such a beautiful child, a dream come true, he thought. The couple decided to name him KJ, short for Kyle Junior. That evening, the proud father ordered a tiny Philadelphia Eagles football jersey for his newborn son.

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A life-threatening discovery

Two days later, on Saturday morning, as Nicole and Kyle were watching KJ sleep in the hospital’s neonatal ICU, a neonatal doctor approached. KJ was sleeping more than was normal, wasn’t eating enough and was struggling to maintain his temperature, he said. The news got worse from there. “We checked your son’s blood ammonia level, which can be a marker for metabolic diseases, and it was high. Extremely high,” the doctor said. “Your son is very sick.”

Nicole and Kyle looked at each other, first confused and then terrified. Both struggled to make sense of what the neonatologist was telling them. Then the doctor said, “The good news is that the best place for your child to be treated for what we suspect he has is literally next door, right across the street at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which has well-known experts in this field.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. After being transferred to the children’s hospital, little KJ underwent an array of tests. Heading his medical team was Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, MD, PhD, an internationally known metabolic physician, geneticist and scientist. Among her specialties is taking care of children, including infants such as KJ, with rare inherited disorders that affect the way their tiny bodies’ biochemistry works.

One of the first things Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas and her team did was to place KJ on dialysis to filter the excess ammonia out of his blood and stabilize him. The doctors told Kyle and Nicole that KJ’s ammonia levels were so high that, left unchecked, they would cause brain damage, a coma or worse.

“It broke our hearts to see that little guy hooked up to a feeding tube, so many wires, IVs, monitors and a massive dialysis machine, but we knew he was in such good hands,” Nicole says. “We were in the right place with an expert medical team.” Adds Kyle, “We were now watching KJ fighting for his life.”

Once his ammonia levels fell, KJ was ready for further testing. Using a test developed by Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas and her team that analyzes some 3,500 genes, virtually all of KJ’s medically relevant DNA, it was discovered that he had carbamoyl-phosphate ­synthetase 1 (CPS1) deficiency.

The condition is exceedingly rare, affecting about one in 1.3 million babies. It is caused by a mutation in the CPS1 gene that impairs the body’s ability to process protein, which in turn leads to dangerously high levels of ammonia in the blood. This condition, hyper­ammonemia, can damage the liver and the brain, and if left untreated, it can be fatal. Frighteningly, 50% of infants born with CPS1 deficiency die in their first week; survivors often suffer severe neuro­developmental challenges, and many receive a liver transplant, which can lead to complications caused by a lifetime of immunosuppressant drugs.

Now, as Kyle and Nicole watched their tiny, blue-eyed, days-old son sleep in the ICU, they both had the same thought: His life was hanging in the balance. Later that day, still confused by KJ’s diagnosis, Nicole and Kyle typed “CPS1 deficiency” into Google. They were shocked to read about the condition’s high death rates and to see terms such as “severely disabled” and details about end-of-life care.

“It was devastating and confusing,” Kyle remembers. “I didn’t tell Nicole, but I wondered if KJ would ever wear the Philadelphia Eagles jersey I had bought for him.”

The couple quickly recovered from their shock and set about learning everything they could about CPS1 deficiency. They joined Facebook support groups, reached out to other parents online who were facing the same medical issue, and became a nearly constant presence, along with KJ’s siblings, at his hospital bedside—talking to him, singing to him and caressing him.

Meanwhile, his doctors put him on a severely protein-restricted diet, took him off dialysis and administered glycerol phenylbutyrate, which helped keep his blood ammonia levels down. KJ was also added to the liver transplant list and would be eligible for a transplant once he reached his 1st birthday. But he was always at risk—an illness or infection could send his ammonia levels skyrocketing and cause irreversible brain damage. Or death.

An untested treatment

While the medical team at Children’s Hospital continued to treat KJ, Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas reached out to longtime genetic research associates, including Kiran Musunuru, MD, PhD, MPH, a cardiologist, geneticist and expert in gene editing at the University of Pennsylvania.

Sitting in her expansive lab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas remembers the aha moment when she felt they might be able to help KJ. “By coincidence, we’d been working for a couple of years on a gene-editing process, a personalized treatment tailored for just one specific patient,” she says.

The idea was to formulate a drug that would act as a gene editor, locating and repairing a patient’s faulty or “broken” gene responsible for the disease, like correcting a misspelled word in a sentence. But there was a catch. Early attempts by Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas, Dr. Musunuru and their associates to create tailored gene-editing therapies for CPS1 deficiency had taken more than a year to complete—too long to help babies at risk of dying in the weeks and months after they were born. But the team kept at it and, during more than two years of experimentation, had shaved months off their production schedule.

This type of gene-editing treatment had never been used on a patient, but now, with KJ in imminent danger, the team knew they had to act quickly. “The clock was ticking, and the race was on,” says Dr. Musunuru. Adds Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas, “We thought KJ just might be the right patient in the right place at the right time to receive this procedure. But there were a lot of ifs.”

The research, which involved cooperation from almost a dozen partners—­universities, research labs and private ­companies—­throughout the United States and Canada, would need funding and FDA approval, and it would have to be done fast. And the team needed Kyle and Nicole’s permission before administering the newly developed drug to their son.

With 2-month-old KJ attached to a ventilator in the nearby ICU, Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas met with Kyle in the hospital to explain the gene-editing approach. “I want to let you know that we don’t have any guarantees that our team can produce this gene therapy in time to save KJ,” she told him. “This gene-editing process has never been done before. KJ would be making history if this works.” She added, “Kyle, I really don’t want to give you any false hopes—”

Kyle cut her off. “Dr. Rebecca, my hopes are on me. If this all goes sideways and my world comes crashing down—if this doesn’t work—that’s on me to pick up the pieces. You just do your best, and if this comes, we will be ready.”

At a later meeting with KJ’s team of doctors, Nicole and Kyle asked a slew of questions and eventually gave their permission to proceed with the treatment. “They said even if the gene therapy procedure wasn’t ready in time to help KJ, they wanted to use this opportunity to help research gene editing in the hope that it could someday help another child,” remembers Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas. “That almost made me cry.”

Working with KJ’s specific mutation, which had been identified just days after his birth, researchers grew cells in petri dishes that contained his genetic sequence. Next, they used the cells to target and correct his mutation with a gene-editing delivery system called CRISPR, developed years earlier. Then, the newly developed drug, designed specifically for KJ, would be tested on animals.

Formulating the plan

Danaher, a life sciences company in Iowa, helped produce part of the drug and dubbed it kayjayguran, after KJ. To gauge the therapy’s reliability, it was tested on mice and monkeys in separate labs. Aldevron, a biotech company in North Dakota and a stand-alone operating company and brand within Danaher, was tasked with assembling the elements of the drug into a single treatment. All the companies involved agreed to charge just for the raw materials they used, keeping costs to a minimum. Even the FDA fast-tracked approval of the treatment for KJ, granting a rare emergency exemption to the review process usually required before starting research on human subjects.

Professor Fyodor Urnov, PhD, with the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, worked on the gene-editing program. “I can’t think of a better example of the adage ‘It takes a village’ than the cooperation that produced this treatment,” he says. “Everyone involved was burning the midnight oil to get this done. I’ve been in this field for 26 years, and I have never seen anything like this. It speaks to the goodness of the human heart.”

Dr. Musunuru agrees: “This should have taken almost a year to complete. But it was completed in just under seven months. I’d call that a miracle.” Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas had briefed the Muldoons regularly during the months it took to develop the gene-editing treatment for KJ. But when it came time to let them know that the team was ready to administer the approved drug, she admits that she was beside herself. “I was terrified and excited at the same time,” she remembers. “This had never been done before, so we didn’t know if it would work or if there might be serious medical side effects.”

She met the couple in the hospital that had become a home away from home for them, and as 6-month-old KJ slept blissfully unaware, she repeated, “I am sorry, but there are no guarantees.”

Kyle says he and Nicole understood what was at stake. “Our child was sick, very sick. He either had to have a liver transplant or receive this new ­medicine—this science fiction stuff—that had never been given to anybody before. It was a difficult choice for us. But we felt this was the best possible scenario for a life that we didn’t, at that point, know if he would be able to have.”

A true miracle

On Feb. 25, 2025—which Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas describes as “one of the most exciting and terrifying days of my life”—staffers prepared to inject a low dose of the newly minted drug into tiny KJ’s IV line over the course of two hours to help prevent any adverse reactions. The drug was made up of two components: a “guide RNA,” often described as molecular GPS, that would guide the gene-editing mechanism to the exact part of KJ’s genome that needed to be fixed; and a “base editor” that would then correct the “misspelling” in that specific gene by chemically converting one DNA letter into another.

Kyle and Nicole, the medical team and a large crowd of hospital staffers—who had come to love KJ and his persistent smile during his 209 days in the hospital—were gathered in the ICU. More stood in the hallway outside the unit, smiling at Kyle and Nicole and giving them a thumbs-up. This was the day everyone had been waiting and working for. When the doctors began the infusion, “You could hear a pin drop,” remembers Kyle. To everyone’s amazement, KJ, the first person in history to receive a personalized gene-editing drug, slept soundly throughout the entire procedure.

A few days after the infusion, the color returned to KJ’s cheeks. He began putting on weight, and even though he had been taken off glycerol phenyl­butyrate, he showed no signs of increased ammonia levels. The medical team eventually gave him two higher doses of the infusion. He still showed no ill effects and continued to grow and thrive. “He soon got the chubby cheeks we love so much,” Nicole says.

Across the country, Urnov of the Berkeley genomics institute was driving home after dropping his 8-year-old daughter off at school when he found out that, after receiving his first infusion, KJ had started to gain weight. Overwhelmed, Urnov had to pull his car over.

“My primary emotion was anxiety—How is the child doing? Did we do everything right? So when I heard the news, I started to cry,” says Urnov. “I was a very small particle in this story, but it was undoubtedly the most meaningful moment of my entire profession. I know that every one of the 200-plus people who were associated would probably say something similar.”

Others agree. “This is an important first step toward an entirely new type of personalized medicine,” Dr. Musunuru says. “I think it’s going to completely transform the way we practice medicine, particularly in the area of rare diseases for which there are few treatments. I don’t think it’s exaggerating to say that this is the future of medicine.”

Says Dr. Ahrens-Nicklas, “I really hope that 10 years from now, targeted personalized therapies are available for most of my patients. That would be the dream.”

On Tuesday, June 3, 2025, after spending the first 307 days of his life at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, KJ Muldoon was ready to go home. To mark the occasion, Nicole dressed him in a baby-blue cap and gown to mark his “graduation” from the hospital.

When she, Kyle, Sean, Kennedy and Carson accompanied KJ out of his room, they were met by scores of hospital employees clapping, hooting, hollering and blowing kisses to the little boy they had cared for. “I broke down in tears of joy,” remembers Nicole. Once outside the hospital, the family was escorted home by a motorcycle unit of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Last December, a week before Christmas, KJ took his first steps at home. And he continues to get stronger. He’s put on so much weight that Kyle had to buy him a larger Philadelphia Eagles jersey. Says the proud father, “He’s our very own, living miracle baby.”

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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Some people collect sneakers. We collect brilliant advice. So when we started thinking about the skills that matter most today—the ones that help you think smarter, adapt faster and navigate a world that’s changing by the minute—we knew exactly who to call. For Reader’s Digest’s August/September 2026 print cover story, “The New Genius,” we asked a few of the sharpest minds (and most delightfully opinionated people) we know to weigh in, and they delivered.

Below, Stephen Fry, Carmen De La Paz and Damian Kulash share their takes on the modern essentials—and, frankly, remind us why listening to smart people is one of the most underrated life skills of all. And we have a bonus for you! As promised in the print edition, we are sharing their full, unedited responses here.

Read on for their smart takes on the skills that can help you thrive.

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Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry is a comedian, actor, TV presenter and author of many books, including The Mythos series, his retelling of the Greek myths. (His latest is Odyssey.) He hosted the popular British quiz show QI for 13 seasons and was knighted last year in recognition of his contributions to mental health awareness and charity.

Reader’s Digest: What makes someone super smart to you?

Stephen Fry: Someone who puts their human intelligence (empathy, understanding, imagination, kindness) before their “intellect” (sharpness, rational insight, knowledge). It’s surprising how many brainy people there are in the world who seem to have no interest in their fellow human beings.

Reader’s Digest: Who inspires you to be more well-rounded?

Stephen Fry: An obvious pick, but David Attenborough is such a good example of the well-rounded mind. It may not be well known, but he is a passionate lover of the arts, as well as of the natural world. He has collected paintings and befriended artists with a really superb and appreciative eye, and he has a stunningly profound knowledge of music too. Scientists who love and cherish the arts, and artists who love and cherish science, have such rich and full ways of looking at the world we were all born into.

Reader’s Digest: Which life skill or soft skill do you wish more people had?

Stephen Fry: The ability to put themselves into the shoes of others. To imagine what it is like to be someone else. People sometimes confuse imagination with fantasy. It may be fun to dream up fantastic worlds and stories, but that’s not the great power of imagination that artists and poets celebrate. Real imagination is about feeling what it is to be someone else, imagining their appetites, aspirations, hopes and fears.

Reader’s Digest: What do you do to make sure you’re not overly reliant on AI, the internet or your phone?

Stephen Fry: I wish I had the courage to buy one of those lockboxes that some friends of mine have. They’re such a good idea. But I do deliberately leave my phone in other rooms and beat down my shameful desire to go and fetch it every five minutes.

Reader’s Digest: Finish this sentence: Computers will never be better than us at _______.

Stephen Fry: Laughing, crying and dreaming of lunch.

Carmen De La Paz

Carmen De La Paz is an Emmy-nominated television host, most recently for the Spanish version of Ask This Old House. She is featured in HGTV shows such as Hammer Heads, Design Star and All American Handyman, and is on the staff of Family Handyman magazine. Her DIY skills span carpentry, masonry, welding and more. She also plays nine instruments and has appeared on Broadway.

Reader’s Digest: What makes someone super smart to you?

Carmen De La Paz: Super smart to me is a combination of street smart and book smart with an autodidactic essence. Autodidactic meaning self-learning, figuring it out without being instructed. Creatives/artists/makers are usually autodidactic.

People often ask me, “How did you learn all the things you do?” I respond with, “I am autodidactic, self-taught and always willing to try anything once to know how it works.” Most still look at me a little confused, and that is OK.

Reader’s Digest: Who inspires you to be more well-rounded?

Carmen De La Paz: My mom! She is, by far, one of the few people, I know who does it all—with compassion and empathy. An educator, lifelong community activist and organizer, she fights for the underdog and usually wins. She can run a business, and she’s an amazing cook, cake decorator, and gardener. A creative soul on steroids. She’s 85 years old and the best salsa dancer I know. Whenever I need advice or ideas, I go to my mom first.

Reader’s Digest: Which life skill or soft skill do you wish more people knew?

Carmen De La Paz: I wish people were more empathetic and compassionate when dealing with others. Human nature has become so judgmental without knowing or understanding what challenges a particular life experience may be fraught with. Really looking someone in the eye when speaking has become a rarity, yet that single action can impart both characteristics above.

Reader’s Digest: What do you do to make sure you’re not overly reliant on AI, the internet or your phone?

Carmen De La Paz: I refuse to use AI to design anything. If I am the one making it, why would I let AI design it? It is important to me to feel good about my creativity being mine. Truth is, as a creative who makes things, I feel using AI is a form of cheating. How many wood carvings on Pinterest are AI and not handcrafted? More than you think, yet people don’t realize this. It is so sad to see how AI has the world convinced fake things are real. When it comes to art, I often find myself bursting a bubble by saying, “You know that is AI, right?” and they didn’t realize it. Wow!

As far as my phone, I am OK with missing a phone call when I am lost in my projects for hours on end. I purposefully turn off the volume and refuse to be interrupted until I am ready to stop my process. Phones and computers are welcome and useful in my world—they just can’t dominate it.

Reader’s Digest: Finish this sentence: Computers will never be better than us at _______.

Carmen De La Paz: Showing true love and making one-of-a-kind, handcrafted passion projects.

Damian Kulash

Damian Kulash is the front man of the Grammy-winning rock band OK Go. He also directs its signature single-take, elaborately choreographed music videos, which have won multiple awards, including a YouTube Most Creative award and a Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award.

Reader’s Digest: What makes someone super smart to you?

Damian Kulash: A sense of humor. When someone is funny, they’re showing at least two kinds of intelligence that I admire. The first is fairly traditional “smartness”: quick lateral thinking—making unexpected connections across different bodies of knowledge. But the second is even more important: They prioritize human connection. Because “funny” only exists as a vector between them and someone else; at its essence, it’s the intellect creating joyful surprises for other people. And I’ve never met someone with a quick wit who wasn’t also overflowing with curiosity, which I think is the raw material of intelligence itself.

Reader’s Digest: Who or what inspires your creativity?

Damian Kulash: I don’t really know. There are reliable sources I go to for wonder—my children, or the music I grew up with—but ideas and inspiration almost never come to me when I’m trying specifically to find them. What works is keeping a low hum of curiosity going while I do the dishes, or go to the gym, or take a long drive. The muse tends to visit more when I’m not chasing her.

Reader’s Digest: Which life skill or soft skill do you wish more people knew?

Damian Kulash: Being present. Valuing life as it actually happens—not as it will be, or might be, or should be.

Full disclosure: This is me projecting my own shortcomings onto the world. I tend to feel most alive when I’m chasing some elusive future project, sacrificing the present for what’s just over the horizon. I’m working on it. Human brains may not be wired for presence, but I’ve met people who’ve genuinely gotten there, and they seem like they’re living on a different, better frequency.

Reader’s Digest: What do you do to make sure you’re not overly reliant on AI, the internet or your phone?

Damian Kulash: In art and music, there’s a classic tension between process and product: Do you make something because of the value it will have for others or because the making itself is meaningful to you? AI has forced my hand on this. For me, making art is now definitionally about the process—about taking a personal journey with an idea and pushing it until the pushing itself resonates.

When the product can exist without a process, it doesn’t express anything. Or if it does, I have no part in whatever it’s doing, which means AI has actually made me less interested in shortcuts. When I’m writing music or making videos, there’s less temptation to reach for new tools—because whereas they used to tantalizingly speed up the process, now they just skip it altogether.

Reader’s Digest: Finish this sentence: Computers will never be better than us at _______.

Damian Kulash: Feeling. Loving, hurting, bursting with joy, spinning in confusion. Whatever else they take, subjectivity stays with us.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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In our social media–centric society, having good judgment is more important than ever. Now that anyone with a smartphone can share their (often polarizing) thoughts on pretty much any subject, it’s getting harder to distinguish fact from opinion. Sprinkle AI-generated text and images into that mix, and it gets even more problematic.

Teaching others how to develop better judgment is an essential component of my job as a college instructor of fact-checking and media literacy. Good decision-making—whether it’s about stopping the spread of misinformation or making informed choices about your family, health or career—is a skill that can be learned. And while it’s sometimes harder in the digital age, it’s not a genetic gift, nor do you need to be wise beyond your years to become better at it.

I tell my students that the training starts by trusting your gut. If a bit of information, an idea or an opportunity you encounter smells fishy to you, it often is. Listening to your inner voice can help filter out poor decisions, but research shows that it can go only so far. It’s the choices you make after you originally identify a problem that help build good judgment over time.

Not sure where to start? Here are some key science-backed concepts that can help you develop better critical-thinking skills and learn how to improve your judgment.

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Take a beat

Slowing down your thinking, a concept known as cognitive reflection, gives you time to expose any blind spots that prevent you from seeing the big picture. A recent paper in the Journal of Business and Psychology found that people who have better cognitive reflection skills make better decisions, since the process of pausing and reflecting helps filter out weak evidence.

So before you buy into a timeshare, order supplements you saw advertised online or download a dubious app, take a break before taking any action. And don’t assume that every online inter­action you have is with a real person who has your best interest at heart.

Hone your common sense

While some people do instinctively make better decisions than others, common sense can also be cultivated. According to research from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, social perceptiveness—the ability to read people—is a significant factor in a person’s level of common sense. To boost your social intelligence, start by reflecting on your own emotions, working on active listening and practicing patience. These skills can guide your brain toward better “reading the room” to evaluate information more effectively.

Reflect on your past decisions

Judgment improves when you’ve seen many situations play out—both good and bad. According to a study in the journal Judgment and Decision Making, people who analyzed past problems, evaluated their own choices and identified what worked and what didn’t were able to boost their decision-making skills.

And if you haven’t always made the right call, here’s a bit of good news: This effect was strongest in those who previously had made bad decisions.

Learn from others’ mistakes

Your own judgment is only one piece of the puzzle; the rest come from other people. Learning from them can help you gain wisdom without the price of making your own mistakes. One study from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University found that watching others can help reduce bias and improve judgment. In other words, paying attention to someone else’s decision-making process helps you spot errors in their reasoning, which then improves yours. So don’t put pressure on yourself to make decisions in a vacuum. Learn from others’ mistakes. It may help you sidestep your own.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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As an inherently social species, we have relied on our ability to empathize—to understand and share in each other’s feelings—since the dawn of human history. This quality has been a key to our survival and success, helping us better communicate and cooperate. But does empathy still have a purpose in the modern age? The answer is a resounding yes.

Sure, chatbots imitate empathy. But they can’t feel the emotion, and that will forever be a limitation. Participants in a study published in the journal Communications Psychology in January compared empathetic responses from a chatbot and a person. Even though the participants rated the AI’s performance higher than the human’s, they still preferred receiving comfort from actual people, the study results found.

So even when we don’t get it 100% right, our efforts still mean more than a machine’s. “People are hungry for emotional connection,” says psychiatrist Judith Orloff, MD, author of The Genius of Empathy. “Looking at screens all day can leave people feeling empty, numb and emotionally disconnected. Being with an empathic person makes you feel seen, heard and valued.”

In the workplace, empathy is most visible among those in “helping” professions such as teachers, therapists and health-care workers. But many other fields benefit too. Even lawyers—often the butt of the joke for being coldhearted sharks—advocate based on empathy. Family law attorney Elizabeth Burke says, “It’s really important my clients feel seen and understood by me, and that takes empathy. My job involves helping people with their most precious assets: their kids. When you’re dealing with people’s children, you have to have empathy.” The best advice, legal and otherwise, derives from appreciating where others are coming from.

It’s also important to direct these feelings of compassion and understanding back at ourselves, which helps us acknowledge our own imperfections while giving ourselves grace. By living with authenticity and humility, we’re better able to pour ourselves into our relationships with other people. “Take a break from your own head and all its swirling thoughts and worries, and focus on giving empathy, which spreads kindness and caring and boosts your mood,” Dr. Orloff says. “Helping others will also help yourself.”

Read on for some strategies to foster empathy in your own life.

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Start small

Sometimes, all it takes are a few kind words. “Co-workers may seem as if they’re in their own world,” Dr. Orloff says, “but a simple ‘How are you today?’ or ‘Good to see you!’ brings a sense of warmth and acknowledgment.”

Get moving

Physical activity and team sports requiring cooperation and collaboration can boost empathy. A 2025 study found that middle school students who participated in a 12-week basketball program expressed an increase in ­empathy compared to a group who attended regular physical education classes.

Mindfulness practices such as meditation and tai chi can also be beneficial because they foster the mind/body connection, helping reduce stress, regulate emotions and nurture a sense of connectedness.

Mind your own feelings too

On the extreme end of the spectrum, empaths feel so much that they often endure others’ suffering, which can affect their own emotional health. So in developing your empathy, “don’t become an emotional sponge who takes on the stress of the world,” says Dr. Orloff. “Healthy empathy means learning how to set firm but kind boundaries.”

Put down the phone

To be fully present with others, you need to give them your undivided attention. “Listen to someone when they’re sharing an experience with you. Don’t keep looking at your phone,” says Dr. Orloff.

Silencing your device or putting it face down are great ways to show someone you want to hear what they have to say, and it benefits both of you, she says: “Someone listening to you and valuing who you are is medicine for your soul, and theirs.”

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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This feature is part of Reader’s Digest’s August/September 2026 print cover story, “The New Genius,” where we share tips on how to master valuable skills in an AI-driven world. 

For those who wish they were more creative, it can be tempting to ask ChatGPT to come up with a new bedtime story for the kids or suggest a way to redecorate the living room. But true creativity can’t be outsourced to tech tools; it needs the human touch.

“There are many myths about creativity: that you need to be a genius, or that it only applies to the arts,” says James C. Kaufman, who researches creativity at the University of Connecticut. “That’s not true. You can be creative in anything—gardening, training animals, decorating. It’s about trying something new, even in small ways.”

The payoffs for doing so? How about being happier and healthier? Research published in Nature Communications last year suggests that creative pursuits slow the aging of our minds. Even better: This effect is not tied to talent. The more the study participants challenged themselves creatively, the younger their brains appeared. Combine this with the stress-reducing, mood-boosting effects of engaging in a creative pursuit, and you can see why Psychology Today called creativity “one of the most underrated mental health tools we have.”

However, these benefits are lost when we take technological shortcuts. And while the answers that AI spits out sometimes seem imaginative, they’re only ever imitative. Take Shy Girl, the novel that Hachette Book Group canned in March after speculation emerged that the story was partially written by AI. Even before early readers sounded the alarm, a Publishers Weekly review stated that the book “doesn’t have much new to say” and “reads as a simplified blend” of two other popular novels. AI relies solely on existing information. But the human mind can push further, Kaufman says, going beyond what we already know to reach something entirely new.

One way we achieve this is by connecting unrelated information, which can lead to wholly original concepts. As an example, Kaufman cites Lars and the Real Girl, a 2007 Oscar-nominated film about an awkward man whose social skills improve when his “girlfriend,” a humanlike doll that he treats as real, is around. Noting the difference the doll makes, the man’s family, too, starts pretending she’s real. “It’s this moving drama that makes no sense,” Kaufman says, “and yet it works.”

Even if AI could eventually match us on true creativity, there may be little appetite for its output, anyway. A Columbia University study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology this January found we’re less moved by art and poetry that we know is computer-generated. Why? Because there’s no empathizing or searching for meaning in the choices the artist or writer made—because a person didn’t make them. “That’s what really evokes awe,” explains Rebecca Ponce de Leon, one of the Columbia researchers. “And those processes are dampened when we look at AI art.”

Kaufman adds, “If we continue down this path where we outsource thinking, we won’t get this big creative genius like Shakespeare or Mozart.”

But the bar for brain-boosting creativity isn’t penning Hamlet or composing The Marriage of Figaro. Read on for some ways to get the creative juices flowing.

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Start with what you love

“Think about your passions,” says Kaufman. “Is there a way of shifting that from something you consume to something you produce?” That doesn’t mean music lovers suddenly need to take up the saxophone (though it’d certainly count!). But they could simply turn their passive listening into something like thoughtful playlist curation.

Try something new

For dinner tonight, cook something you’ve never made before. Use a recipe if you must, but tinker with it. Maybe you love chasing that sandwich at the diner with a pickle so much that it inspires you to mix a bit of brine into your next batch of tuna salad.

Take baby steps

Change something you routinely do, even if only a little bit. Find a new way home from work that GPS didn’t map, Kaufman suggests. Or use the knowledge you gained from doing a fitness routine during the week to build your own new workout for the weekend.

Practice, practice, practice!

If only it were as simple as painting your walls green. “So much of how to be creative is boring and not what anyone wants to hear,” says Kaufman. “It’s almost the opposite of AI, which is used to spend the least amount of effort. Creativity requires spending a lot of effort.” But that effort ultimately makes us more content and keeps us cognitively fit for longer.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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If you feel as if your attention span is going down the drain, you’re not alone. Nor are you wrong: In 2004, researchers at the University of California, Irvine, found that most of us could concentrate for two and a half minutes straight. By 2012, that had dropped to an average of 75 seconds. And in recent years, it’s down to just 47 seconds. With the ubiquity of screens that deliver nonstop notifications, plus the rise of short-form video that trains us to focus in ever-shrinking bursts, it’s no wonder our attention is significantly shorter today than it was a couple of decades ago.

When’s the last time you watched an entire movie without sneaking a peek at your phone? Even film students are unable to sit through a full-length feature, said both professors and pupils in a recent article from the Atlantic. Office workers can’t carry a task to completion without tending to dozens of emails and Slack messages along the way. And the rest of us are so distracted by our phones that Netflix insiders say some shows are designed for “second screen” viewers—folks who let shows run in the background while they read emails or scroll social media.

“Simply put, our use of personal technologies affects our ability to pay attention,” Gloria Mark, PhD, co-author of the UC Irvine studies, wrote in her book Attention Span: A Ground­breaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity. This isn’t just a matter of interruption overload; the technology trains us to interrupt ourselves, further chipping away at our already-reduced attention spans.

Not only do constant shifts in focus make individual tasks take longer, but distractions also lead to more mistakes. “My favorite study that shows this is one done with physicians,” Mark says. “At periods of higher interruptions and faster attention shifting, they made more prescribing errors.”

Not all of us are doctors, but most everyone encounters AI slop on the internet. And we’re far more likely to fall for it—along with scams—when we can’t maintain focus for a full minute. “When people confront misinformation,” Mark says, “they consume it really fast. They’re not reflecting. They’re not being skeptical. Generally, when people are switching their attention, they don’t put in that kind of thought process.”

Now for the good news: You can retrain your brain and start building back your ability to focus. Mark began working on her own attention span in the early 2000s when she first noticed that her personal experience was lining up with her research. Read on for some of the simple strategies she suggests for boosting concentration.

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Be intentional

Evaluate incoming distractions and ask yourself whether they truly demand a shift in your attention at that moment. From there, you can come up with a plan. “The plan for me might be: ‘I’m going to work until the end of this chapter. When I get there, I’m going to reward myself by taking a break and doing something else,’ ” Mark says.

Pick up a book

“Books are an excellent way to retrain the mind,” says Mark. “When you’re immersed in something, you’re losing track of the world around you, and it’s a great way to get our attention back.” (Of course Reader’s Digest is telling you to read, but it really is a superpower! In fact, books can boost not just your attention but also all the skills highlighted in our cover story.)

Get enough sleep

When we’re fatigued, we have a harder time focusing. So be sure to get enough shut-eye each night. That way, you’ll wake up with a full tank of what Mark calls attentional capacity.

Take breaks

When you’re cognitively spent, everything becomes a distraction. The next time you find your attention waning, go for a walk. Not only does it force a break by separating you from the work, but it might spark ideas too. “We know that being in nature improves what’s called divergent thinking, which is brainstorming,” Mark says.

Decide what’s meaningful

The things we pay attention to matter. A barrage of TikTok videos will shape your attention span in a different way than a deep conversation or a good book will. As Mark puts it, “We are the sum total of all the things we pay attention to.”

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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From a couple who somehow scored an entire row to themselves on a flight to someone who realized they could watch Amazon Prime movies and shows for practically free, these stories are packed with clever loopholes, happy accidents and “I can’t believe that actually worked” moments. Some will make you laugh, and others might have you wondering why you never thought of it yourself.

Read on for the funniest, smartest and most unexpectedly brilliant ways our readers managed to beat the system.

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You are now free toroam about the row

I try to book a window seat and an aisle seat when my husband and I fly together. About half the time, we get the whole row to ourselves because nobody wants to book the middle seat. But if they do, they’re more than happy to swap so we can sit together. Someone even bought us a drink once for giving them the window seat. —Margaret Smith, Front Royal, Virginia

Credit where credit is due

Lots of shows and movies on Prime Video require a rental fee, even for subscribers. And when you place an Amazon shopping order, you can sometimes select a later delivery date in exchange for a digital reward credit. It’s usually only $1, but it adds up if you routinely shop on Amazon. I ­haven’t paid a rental fee in months. Plus, it made me realize I’d become spoiled, always selecting the fastest delivery whether I needed it or not. —Patricia Nixon, Hackensack, New Jersey

Sad dog, new trick

Our goldendoodle, Tucker, is very attached to my mom and won’t get out of bed or socialize if she’s not home. Last time my parents went away, he wouldn’t even leave her room to go outside. I tried treats, dangling his leash, opening the garage door, a FaceTime with my mom. Our phones have an app that notifies us when a member of the family arrives home, and Tucker knows the sound—so I Googled it and played it. He came running to the door to greet my mom, and I got him outside.I felt bad for tricking him, but it worked (twice!) and was better for everyone. —Luke Murray,Manorville, New York

Outside the lines

Kids get into trouble while waiting in long lines—perching on railings, touching gross stuff, invading personal space—it’s just what they do. To keep mine entertained and orderly while we wait in line for rides at amusement parks, we play guessing games, like the Heads Up! app on my phone. Or we’ll eat lunch as we stand in line (rather than settling at a picnic table) to maximize our time—strong stomachs ­required for that one. —Sandra Correia, Norco, California

Upgrade a cheap seat

For concerts and sporting events, I buy the least expensive tickets available. Once I’m inside the venue, I check resale sites to see who still has tickets listed for sale, which probably means people couldn’t make it at the last second and the seats are empty. I’ve made use of great seats this way that would have otherwise gone to waste. —Holly Shaw,Norcross, Georgia

Press your luck

When an automated answering system asks me to press 1for English and 2 for Spanish, I always press 2, even though I don’t speak the language. It usually gets me through much faster. Representatives laugh it off and are happy to get me the help I need. —Judy Brinkman, Syracuse, Nebraska

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

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