The Highlight
A digital magazine unpacking the big ideas changing our present and shaping our future.
Lilly Singh, Issa Rae, and others have made the leap from online auteurs to bona fide TV personalities. What happens to others who hope to turn followers and views into mainstream careers? We talk to a few who tried.
The extreme diet phenomenon may offer clues on how nutrition can treat disease.
Tips from cooks and eaters in the coldest parts of the world.
The macabre bird serves as a gentle reminder that we all return to the earth someday.
Asylum seekers face competing miseries: violence at home, and a punitive detention system with a shard of hope for relief abroad.
The first step is to be honest about your lifestyle.
What does it really take to eat noodles for a living?
Proprioception is the body’s mysterious ability to locate our limbs, even in darkness. We’re just beginning to understand it.
A sampling of our very best original photography, illustration, animation, and design this year.
A decade of tectonic change. Plus: The moments that didn’t matter, the reversal on gay marriage, and the common language of the 2010s: memes.
The internet’s weird viral ephemera provided much-needed levity, stoked fears and hate, and gave us a common language.
The decade saw a seismic shift in how society views LGBTQ people.
Four moments from the 2010s that just didn’t matter.
From the first Instagram photo to the rise of strongmen, these were the era’s 23 defining moments.
How Prohibition lives on in counties across the nation.
These days, we roll our eyes at Cats. But from the moment it opened, it was a smash.
A comic about the cultural and scientific reasons we love making out.
The 2019 Science Nobel award winners are out. Where are the women?
A spate of lawsuits against giants from Google and Twitter to Nike and Goldman Sachs reveals the growing frustrations of women in pursuit of the C-suite.
Historical statues about runaway pigs, pinball machines and obscene bumper stickers are still occasionally enforced. Here’s why they stay on the books.
More people than ever say they’re feeling pressured to look and be the best. It’s taking a toll.
It’s okay to feel your feelings.
Step one: Ignore insidious competition culture.
In the era of disposability, some cling tightly to Walkmen, DVDs, and our fading love of stuff.
Greta Thunberg gave up flights to fight climate change. Should you?
We’ve never cycled through trends faster. Here’s why it feels inescapable.
What we might learn from other cultures, the explosion of positive psychology, why women are growing more unhappy, and how to spend to maximize joy.
The gender gap we’re not talking about.
A psychologist claims that learning “untranslatable words” from other cultures may be a key to being happy. I experimented on myself to see whether it’s true.
The field of positive psychology has captivated the world with its hopeful promises — and drawn critics for its moralizing, mysticism, and serious commercialization.
Simply having a lot of it won’t automatically increase your sense of well-being. “But using it well can,” says one expert.
Lunar samples are a time capsule. Scientists say we should go back for more.
A bizarre academic philosophy has transfixed the fringe. The goal? To collapse the government itself.
Ex-prisoners are getting their voting rights back. But the backlash has already started.
People are more likely to evacuate if they can find safe passage for their pets, too.
A comic on who you extend empathy to — and how that affects your worldview.
Hate the idea of capsule wardrobes and workday uniforms? Here’s how to look like yourself.
How a 5-year-old Cuban boy set off an international custody battle and media spectacle.
Some people avoid them at all costs. I seek them out — and I’m not alone.
Suicide deaths have been rising in recent years. Thoughtful treatment is necessary.