100 Things Every...

The series. One hundred things every man, woman, dad, mom, young person and grandparent should know, do or own.

What Holds a Bridge Up and What Eventually Takes One Down

Every bridge ever built solves the same two problems. Learn to read them, and a boring commute turns into a rolling engineering lecture.

StoryHistoryMarcus ValeSep 23, 20267 min

Frozen Chosin and the War America Agreed to Forget

Five months after a beaten battalion tried to stop tanks with bad rockets, 30,000 men walked out of a Korean valley at 30 below. Most of them made it.

Ask BRO

Plan a cook for eight people

Ask it

GuideBooksMarcus ValeSep 23, 20266 min

Reading After Sixty Without Fighting the Page

Better light, bigger type, the right device, and seven books that pay back a lifetime of reading rather than wasting what's left of it.

CancerDefying.com — The research, protocols and reading in one place

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Science & Space6 min read

Why Your Phone Dies at 30 Percent and EV Batteries Don't

The same chemistry sits in your pocket and under an electric car, so why does one quit after two years and the other last a decade?

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

StoryHistoryDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

The Men Who Built Your Ordinary Tuesday

Edison sold a system, not a bulb. Ford sold a price, not a car. Both changed how Americans live, and both left a record worth reading whole.

GuideBooksMarcus ValeSep 23, 20266 min

War Memoirs From the Men Who Were Actually There

Ten first-person accounts of combat that beat any history book, plus honest warnings about which ones will knock the wind out of you.

Delicious.com — Nine thousand recipes and a plan for tonight

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GuideScience & SpaceDean ShawSep 23, 20266 min

The Night Sky Runs on a Schedule and You Can Learn It

Meteor showers repeat on the same dates every year, eclipses come in seasons, and almost everything you need costs nothing but a lawn chair.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

Five questions, honestly answered, and a plan for the next two weeks.

GuideHistorySam OrtizSep 23, 20266 min

How to Find Your Ancestors Without Paying for It

A burned warehouse in St. Louis, the 1950 census, and the county courthouse that still has your great-grandfather's signature on file.

GuideBooksMarcus ValeSep 23, 20266 min

Thrillers That Cost You Sleep and Not Your Conscience

Nine books that grab you on page one, with nothing in them you'd hide from your kids, plus honest flags on the ones that need them.

Ask BRO

Build me a 30-day training plan around two sessions a week

Ask it

GuideScience & SpaceCal BrennanSep 23, 20266 min

What Your Brain Is Actually Doing While You Sleep

Sleep isn't the body shutting off. It's a scheduled maintenance window, and there's a chemical clock deciding when it opens.

Names.com — The name is the first thing you sell

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StoryHistoryMarcus ValeSep 23, 20266 min

Easy Company From Currahee to the Eagle's Nest

They ran a Georgia mountain until they hated it, then jumped into Normandy in the dark. What happened to Easy Company, and what the legend leaves out.

Poll

How often do you see your closest friends?

GuideBooksNina CastellanSep 23, 20265 min

Books for Teenage Girls With Heroines Worth Copying

Ten novels and one memoir with girls at the center who are brave, stubborn, and good — plus what's in each one you should know about first.

GuideScience & SpaceWes DunbarSep 23, 20266 min

How Weather Forecasts Are Made and When to Stop Trusting Them

Balloons, supercomputers, and chaos theory go into the number on your phone. Knowing where the skill runs out is the useful part.

Coconut.com — Tell us when. We find where the sun is.

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StoryHistoryMarcus ValeSep 23, 20266 min

The Ten-Dollar Runaway and Other Presidents Who Had Nothing

A pawned watch, a canal-boat mule driver, and a tailor's apprentice with a bounty on his head. The log cabin story is a campaign prop, except when it isn't.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

Six questions. No email required, no sales pitch at the end.