Home & Garage

Fix it, build it, maintain it. The house is the biggest thing you own — act like it.

The BRO Code. What to do, what not to do, and a few laughs on the way.

How to teach your son to shave in one calm Saturday morning

Fuzz on his lip, a razor in your hand, and twenty minutes at the sink. Teach it once, teach it right, and he'll never learn it from a video.

GuideHow ToRay OkonkwoNov 4, 20266 min

How to set up a revocable living trust that actually works

Signing the trust is the easy part. Retitling your assets is what keeps your family out of probate court, and it's where most people stop short.

Ask BRO

Rehearse the raise conversation with me

Ask it

GuideBooksMarcus ValeNov 4, 20265 min

The founder memoirs that teach what business school skips

Four books by people who built something from nothing, plus one free on-ramp. Read them for the worst year, not the big win.

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

PartnerDelicious.com

Science & Space6 min read

The needle never lies. It just answers a different question.

A compass points where Earth's magnetic field points, which is close to north but not the same thing. Here's how it works and how to catch it being wrong.

Poll

What was your first ever job?

GuideTravelDean ShawNov 3, 20265 min

Book the permit before you buy the rod

A backcountry fishing trip is won or lost months before the first cast. Permits, seasons, gear, and the one day worth paying a guide for.

GuideMedia LiteracyMarcus ValeNov 2, 20265 min

Who should be in this story, and isn't?

The most useful question you can ask about a news story takes five seconds: who would actually know, and where are they?

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

PartnerNames.com

GuideScience & SpaceDean ShawNov 2, 20266 min

A 100,000-ton ship floats and a pebble sinks

Weight has nothing to do with it. What decides sink or float is how much matter each atom brings and how tightly it's packed.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

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

GuideTravelDean ShawNov 2, 20265 min

Teenagers don't want the plaque. Give them the field.

A fifteen-year-old will stand through a ranger talk if he's walking someone's actual steps. Here's how to build a battlefield trip around that.

GuideMedia LiteracyMarcus ValeNov 2, 20266 min

The headline says one thing. Paragraph nine says another.

Most readers stop after the headline. Here's a five-minute method for catching the ones the story itself doesn't support, whoever they favor.

Ask BRO

Plan a cook for eight people

Ask it

GuideScience & SpaceDean ShawNov 2, 20265 min

A dead battery isn't empty. It's finished falling.

Your battery never held a tank of electricity. It held chemistry that wanted to react, and a dead one is just a battery where the reaction ran out of road.

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

PartnerCancerDefying.com

GuideTravelDean ShawNov 2, 20266 min

Flying standby with a family is a seat-count problem

One open seat is easy. Four on the same flight is a different game. How to plan a standby trip so a full flight doesn't strand your family.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideMedia LiteracyMarcus ValeNov 2, 20265 min

What the source won't say is half the story

Every statement is a set of choices about what to leave out. Learn to read the gaps and you'll spot spin from any direction.

GuideScience & SpaceDean ShawNov 2, 20265 min

Why a Microwave Heats the Soup and Mostly Skips the Bowl

Run a mug of water for ninety seconds and the water's near boiling while the mug stays tame. The reason is a neat bit of physics, and it changes how you use the thing.