Preparedness

Storms, outages, emergencies. Calm, practical readiness for the household, without the paranoia.

The BRO Survival & Preparedness GuideThe printable family manual: a kit and go-bag builder, water and food calculators, the core skills and a family emergency plan.Get ready, calmly

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The ski trip costs that aren't on the lift ticket

The ticket is the number everybody quotes and the one you can't do much about. The rest of the bill is where a ski trip gets won or lost.

GuideScience & SpaceDean ShawOct 17, 20266 min

Your GPS Is Really a Stopwatch, and Stopwatches Get Fooled

Your phone doesn't ask satellites where you are. It times their signals and does the math, and that's exactly why the blue dot sometimes wanders.

Ask BRO

Build me a revision plan that I will actually stick to

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GuideCivicsMarcus ValeOct 28, 20266 min

A blocked law isn't a dead law. Read the order to see why

A judge pauses a state law and the headline sounds final. It usually isn't. Here's how to read the actual order and know what happened.

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

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Media Literacy5 min read

Before you trust the study, find out who paid for it

The funding line sits in small type near the bottom of the paper. It takes two minutes to find, and it changes how you read everything above it.

Poll

How many days a week are you actually training?

GuideTravelDean ShawOct 17, 20266 min

Kids won't remember the dates. Give them something else.

A battlefield is a field until a kid has a reason to care about it. How to give them one, and what to pack so the day lasts.

GuideCivicsMarcus ValeOct 28, 20265 min

The people who set your tax rate meet in public, and almost nobody comes

Your county board decides more about your roads, taxes and neighborhood than anyone in Washington does. Here's who they are and how to get in the room.

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

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GuideScience & SpaceDean ShawOct 17, 20266 min

Concrete Is Designed to Crack. Engineers Just Pick the Spot.

Those lines every few feet in your sidewalk are cracks someone put there on purpose. Here's why concrete splits, and how engineers keep it from mattering.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

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

GuideMedia LiteracyMarcus ValeOct 17, 20265 min

Cross out the adjectives and see what's left of the headline

Loaded words in a headline don't tell you the story is false. They tell you what the outlet thinks you came for. Here's how to read them.

GuideTravelDean ShawOct 17, 20265 min

Check your truck's payload before you fall for a camper

A truck camper gets you where trailers can't. First you need one number from the sticker on your door, and most buyers learn it too late.

Ask BRO

What should I wear to this?

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GuideScience & SpaceDean ShawOct 17, 20266 min

Mud in, drinking water out: inside a water treatment plant

A river goes in brown and comes out clean in a few hours. The plant does it with gravity, a little chemistry, and sand. The last 50 feet are on you.

GermProof.com — An invisible germ barrier on your skin for hours

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GuideMedia LiteracyMarcus ValeOct 17, 20266 min

How to tell when a story is leaving out the other side

Bias rarely shows up in the adjectives. It shows up in who never got quoted. Here's how to spot the gap before you repeat the story.

Poll

How often do you see your closest friends?

StoryHistoryJosh HalloranOct 13, 20265 min

Eleven Minutes to Recognize Israel, and the Fight Behind Them

On May 14, 1948, Truman recognized Israel at 6:11 p.m. The decision took two years, a failed haberdasher and a shouting match with George Marshall.

GuideCivicsJosh HalloranOct 13, 20265 min

Who gets to define antisemitism, and why it matters in law

One definition is used by the State Department and written into state laws. It isn't law itself, and the fight over it's really a fight over speech.

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StorySurvival & Self-DefenseSam OrtizOct 11, 20265 min

Dad, Would You Know What To Do If We Got Lost?

My kids think I can survive anything with a pocketknife and a stern look. I can't. Here's what I've learned since, and what's actually worth knowing.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

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

History5 min

The Hardest Part of Hiding a Family Was the Groceries

Civics5 min

The Constitution never mentions schools, so who decides?

Ask BRO

Pressure-test my business idea

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ReviewSurvival & Self-DefenseDean ShawOct 11, 20266 min

Grandpa's New Truck Gadget Has a Crank, a Hammer and Opinions

His grandson put an emergency radio, flashlight and window hammer in the truck. Grandpa has questions. Some of them are right.

Dude.com — 16 AI advisers who listen, talk and are here with you

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History6 min read

The Nazis Wrote It Down, and That's How We Know

The Holocaust is the best-documented atrocity in history, and most of the proof came from the men who committed it. Here's how it was assembled, and why it matters.

Poll

When did you last ask for a raise?

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