As someone who grew up mainly in the midwest, I didn’t know that air could have a taste. But walking onto my California college campus for the first time, I tasted the air. It tasted like citrus and salt, with a touch of smog. And, as my mom drove off, it tasted like freedom. Freedom meant I could jam-pack my schedule with things I enjoyed, like volleyball practices, games, late-night coffees, frozen yogurt dates, and adventures with friends. It also meant one day I had to face the reality that college isn’t meant to be all fun and games. The ugly curve of a “C” grade on more than one paper wasn’t anything I had seen before. Time Management and...
As the holidays quickly approach, you’re probably searching for the perfect gifts for your children. While toys are nice gifts for kids, having something that’s not just for playtime is even more meaningful for your children. How great it’d be to have a gift that your kids could learn something or experience something different with it! Here we have picked a list of meaningful non-toy gifts for kids that will keep them entertained and happy all season long. 30 Meaningful Non-Toy Gifts For Kids From books to clothes to art supplies, there’s something for every kid on this list. So don’t stress, and just pick one of these items; your child will love it! For Home 1. Kid-Sized Fox Plush...
Recently, I started a weekly ritual. I walk from my office to the movie theater, where I slip into a back row and slouch down in the darkness. Afterward, I walk the hour and a half home, mulling over the film and daydreaming on my way across the Brooklyn Bridge. I don’t need to formulate a coherent take—or tell anyone my thoughts at all. It’s just me and the occasional passerby and the skyline melting into the water. The night is a perfect bite of quasi-solitude: I get the quiet of my own mind but also the sputter of cars, the swell of the movie soundtrack, the energy of strangers. I’m part of the world, and I’m alone.I like to...
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.Fifty years ago this week, NASA launched the Apollo 17 mission. When that crew returned, President Richard Nixon said “this may be the last time in this century that men will walk on the moon”—and he was right. Now NASA is mounting its next mission to put humans (and not just men) on the lunar surface. The Atlantic’s space reporter, Marina Koren, caught me up on those plans, as well as the latest on the search for alien life, Elon Musk’s ambitions for Mars, and...
There will be a teddy bear. There always is. Stuffed animals are not simply ubiquitous — more than half of American adults still have their childhood teddy bears — but they’re ubiquitous for a reason. Scientists regularly find that so-called “transitional objects” like stuffed animals help children handle emotions and limit stress. In the aftermath of the 2012 school shooting in Newton, Connecticut, well-meaning donors sent 7,000 teddy bears to survivors and their families. This was an act of sentimentality, but it was also a practical psychological measure. Teddy bears can be meaningfully helpful.But not all of them are. Some teddy bears are just tchotchkes. So what’s the difference between those ones and the ones that help? And how does...
