Media Literacy

Read the news like an editor. Spot spin, check a claim, weigh a poll and teach your kids to do the same.

GuideRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20266 min

How to scam-proof your parents without insulting them

A callback rule, a family password, and the payment types no real agency ever asks for, plus how to bring it up without sounding condescending.

Talk About the News at Dinner Without Blowing Up the Table

A working method for checking a claim in real time, arguing about ideas instead of people, and still passing the potatoes afterward.

GuideCal Brennan23 Sept 20265 min

Teach Your Kid to Check It Before They Believe It

A five-minute drill that turns a screenshot, a clip or a poll into something your kid can verify without you in the room.

Ask BRO

Rehearse the raise conversation with me

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GuideDean Shaw23 Sept 20265 min

How to Tell When the Chatbot Is Making It Up

A confident answer isn't a checked one. Six moves that catch an invented citation before it ends up in your email, your brief or your kid's homework.

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

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6 min read

When an Anonymous Source Is Worth Believing, and When It Isn't

A working method for reading stories built on unnamed sources, from the sourcing line to the 72-hour rule.

Poll

What was your first ever job?

GuideMarcus Vale23 Sept 20266 min

Find the bill, the ruling or the study before you argue about it

Almost every document people fight about online is free, numbered and sitting on a government website. Here's how to pull it in under five minutes.

GuideRay Okonkwo23 Sept 20265 min

How to Tell When an Article Is Actually an Ad

Sponsored content is built to look like reporting. Five checks, ten seconds, and the disguise falls off every time.

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GuideCal Brennan23 Sept 20265 min

How to read a science headline without getting played

Five minutes and a few blunt questions will tell you whether that study actually says what the headline claims it says.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

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

GuideMarcus Vale23 Sept 20265 min

How to Build a News Diet That Survives an Argument

Every outlet has a thumb on the scale. Learn where the thumb goes, and you can read anybody and still come out with the facts.

GuideMarcus Vale23 Sept 20265 min

How to spot spin in a story you already agree with

Loaded words, buried qualifiers and headlines the article never supports — a ninety-second method for reading anything with your eyes open.

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Plan a cook for eight people

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GuideDean Shaw23 Sept 20266 min

How to Check a Photo in 60 Seconds With Reverse Image Search

Most viral photo hoaxes aren't fake pictures. They're real pictures with the wrong caption, and you can catch them before you hit share.

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

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GuideMarcus Vale23 Sept 20265 min

The four questions an editor asks before a story runs

Who's talking, what actually happened, how they know it, and what got left out. Run any story through those four and most of the spin falls off.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

GuideMarcus Vale23 Sept 20266 min

How to Spot a Number That's Lying to You

Averages, percentages and missing denominators are how honest-looking data gets used to sell you a conclusion. Five questions catch almost all of it.

GuideMarcus Vale23 Sept 20266 min

How to read a poll before you share it

Sample size, margin of error and who actually got asked - the four minutes of checking that separates a real finding from a headline.

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

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GuideDean Shaw23 Sept 20266 min

How to spot an AI image before you hit share

The hands-and-teeth tricks are dying. What still works is boring, fast, and takes about sixty seconds.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

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

5 min

Check a Viral Claim in Five Minutes Before You Hit Share

5 min

How Your Feed Decides What You See, and How to Take It Back

Ask BRO

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

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100 Things Every American Should Know About the Constitution

Four sheets of parchment, about 4,400 words, and it still runs the country. Everything you should be able to say from memory at the dinner table.

PartnerNames.com

Food6 min read

The turkey is easy, the clock is what gets you

Buy a smaller bird, salt it two days early, cook to temperature instead of time, and give yourself an oven you can actually use.

Poll

Where does your best time with your kids happen?

Older articles

Media Literacy

How to scam-proof your parents without insulting them

The Hang Up and Call Back Rule That Stops Most Scams

How to Tell Which Outlets Actually Own Their Mistakes

How to tell news from opinion before you share it

How to teach a teenager to spot a sales pitch

What Thirty Days Off the News Actually Teaches You

Talk About the News at Dinner Without Blowing Up the Table

Teach Your Kid to Check It Before They Believe It

How to Tell When the Chatbot Is Making It Up

When an Anonymous Source Is Worth Believing, and When It Isn't

Find the bill, the ruling or the study before you argue about it

How to Tell When an Article Is Actually an Ad

How to read a science headline without getting played

How to Build a News Diet That Survives an Argument

How to spot spin in a story you already agree with

How to Check a Photo in 60 Seconds With Reverse Image Search

The four questions an editor asks before a story runs

How to Spot a Number That's Lying to You

How to read a poll before you share it

How to spot an AI image before you hit share

Check a Viral Claim in Five Minutes Before You Hit Share

How Your Feed Decides What You See, and How to Take It Back

100 Things Every American Should Know About the Constitution

The turkey is easy, the clock is what gets you