The Highlight
A digital magazine unpacking the big ideas changing our present and shaping our future.
There are practical, everyday ways to get out of your head and into community.
Author Eman Abdelhadi on imagining a better world.
Reconnecting with someone you’ve cut ties with isn’t easy — but it can be done.
A reader asks whether the latest developments in clean energy technology can help save the planet. We break it down.
In November’s edition of Ask a Book Critic, novels to scratch the surrealist itch, lesbian necromancers in space, and more.
Medicine shouldn’t be so hard to access — so the Four Thieves Vinegar Collective is helping people make their own.
Split-ticket voting, the Senate, down-ballot issues, and more.
How to take charge of your finances, according to two divorce professionals.
Most men are walking red flags, according to TikTok.
Divorced people deserve gifts and parties too.
The aggressively, brutally companionless divorced guy aesthetic.
Dr. Gregory Berns on his surprising research on the emotional lives of dogs and cows.
Plus short stories to dip into when life gets busy, and small-town longings.
Bacteria-eating viruses might be able to fight antibiotic resistance where new treatments are most needed.
Signing a new lease often comes with high upfront costs that some renters can’t afford. It doesn’t have to be this way.
The brine fly is in trouble. It could take the whole ecosystem down with it.
Why more Americans than ever are splitting up in their 50s and beyond.
Thomas Abt’s Bleeding Out has become foundational in tackling urban violence across the US.
Kids love to eat them. Parents love to fight about them.
From prebiotic sodas to collagen waters, beverages are trying to do the most. Consumers are drinking it up.
Factory-built housing, ADUs, and community land trusts — all at once.
Why the new luxury is flip phones and vinyl LPs
We buy stuff. We throw it away. There’s a system to stop this toxic cycle.
It’s all about getting them comfortable with the unfamiliar.
From hot honey to buffalo ranch, we really, really, really love to make our dry foods wet.
From granola bars to chips, more studies are revealing that UPFs are tied to diseases like cancer and depression.
How Ethan Mollick uses AI to help him write.
After FDA rejection, the industry is reconsidering its approach to approval.
We don’t need to pit dogs against humans.
You’ll never have life all figured out. That’s a good thing.
Gene editing could deliver a future of seedless fruit. Is that a good thing?
How the act of eating became mass spectacle.
How being labeled “gifted” can rearrange your life — for better and for worse.
Why getting “real” in the age of personal branding feels so hard.
Japan’s early-warning system shows a few extra seconds can save scores of lives.
Early warnings save lives. A recent quake provides a helpful case study.