Trades & Careers

Electrician, lineman, welder, plumber. How to get in, get certified and get paid what the work is worth.

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

The seventies variety hour your kids will actually sit through

Carol Burnett, the Muppets and a few other old shows were built for the whole couch. Here's how to watch them with kids, and what to skip.

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?

Ask BRO

Rehearse the raise conversation with me

Ask it

GuideHealthCal BrennanNov 2, 20265 min

Caffeine is a loan against sleep. Know your interest rate.

Four cups a day is fine for most healthy adults. Here's how the math works, when the debt comes due, and the one time coffee can't cover you.

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

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Movies & TV5 min read

Monster movies where the monster was really in the room

Before CGI, somebody had to build the beast. Six films where you can feel it, with plain notes on what's scary and what isn't.

Poll

What was your first ever job?

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.

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.

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

PartnerCoconut.com

GuideMovies & TVMarcus ValeNov 2, 20265 min

The baseball movies that teach you how the game works

Field of Dreams will make you cry. These six will explain the game, and most of them are clean enough for the whole family.

Quiz

Is your money actually in order?

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

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.

GuideHealthCal BrennanNov 2, 20266 min

The Knee That Aches on Stairs Isn't Done Yet

Stiff, sore joints without an arthritis diagnosis are a window, not a sentence. What slows them down is mostly unglamorous and mostly free.

Ask BRO

Plan a cook for eight people

Ask it

BRO TakeMovies & TVMarcus ValeNov 2, 20265 min

The Golden Age musicals a man can watch without apologizing

Barn brawls, con men, a Navy captain and a dad who learns to fly a kite. Start with the right one and the skeptic stays on the couch.

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

PartnerGermProof.com

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.

Poll

Where does your phone charge overnight?

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.

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.

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

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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.

Quiz

Does your wardrobe actually fit you?

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