Whether you dressed up as a Disney princess for Halloween or nerded out on European history in college or binge-watched The Crown or Downton Abbey or got up at some ungodly hour to watch the royal wedding, it’s hard to deny the allure of royalty. And like anything alluring, or aspirational, or, frankly, old, there’s an air of mystery around the whole institution: What do the titles actually mean? What’s better than the other? Why are some people called different things at different ti read more

Whether you dressed up as a Disney princess for Halloween or nerded out on European history in college or bing read more

It’s officially the end of the summer, which means it’s time to put away the out-of-office messages and bathing suits and ideally sit on a raised, outdoor surface that looks out over some sort of sentimental vista and brood. But is that brooding you’re doing happening on a balcony or terrace? Let’s find out. A terrace is a raised, flat, open space that can be either attached to a building or free-standing. It’s usually larger than a balcony and is accessible through multiple en read more

It’s officially the end of the summer, which means it’s time to put away the out-of-office messages and ba read more

Sometimes, it’s fun to eat things that challenge us: the almost-too-sour pickles that make our mouths pucker, the mapo tofu that makes our tongue and lips and cheeks tingle, the bowl of curry or chili that’s so spicy that it causes us physical pain but we can’t stop eating it because if we do the pain becomes slightly too unbearable, etc. And then sometimes, it’s nice to eat adult baby food. Enter the world of dried-and-ground corn, the stuff that when simmered with water or milk or stoc read more

Sometimes, it’s fun to eat things that challenge us: the almost-too-sour pickles that make our mouths pucker read more

Right now, as you read this, the Amazon rainforest is burning. Approximately one and a half soccer fields’ worth of rainforest is being destroyed every minute of every day. The amount of deforestation has increased by 80% since this time last year, and the number of fires has increased by 85%. But what is actually burning? What, exactly, is a rainforest? And what’s the difference between a rainforest and a jungle?  A jungle is an area that’s densely overgrown with trees and tang read more

Right now, as you read this, the Amazon rainforest is burning. Approximately one and a half soccer fields’ read more

We’re in the season of Peak Tomato, and the tomato sandwiches and capreses and just-barely-cooked sauces await. But let’s first take a slight detour from our guiding question to ask another one: Why are grocery-store tomatoes so bad? There are two major categories of tomatoes: heirlooms, which we’ll cover below, and hybrids. The tomatoes you’ll find year-round in the grocery store are hybrids, which means that humans have cultivated and bred them for specific characteristics. Not all read more

We’re in the season of Peak Tomato, and the tomato sandwiches and capreses and just-barely-cooked sauces awa read more

It’s August, which hopefully means you’re spending some time flopping about in the water, feeding on lobsters and crustaceans, and lounging lazily in the afternoon sun. But is your summertime personality more like that of a sea lion, or a seal? Let’s find out. Both sea lions and seals, along with walruses, are pinnipeds, which means “fin-footed” in Latin. All pinnipeds divide their time between the beach and the ocean. Sea lions are a part of the Otariidae family, which probably d read more

It’s August, which hopefully means you’re spending some time flopping about in the water, feeding on lobst read more

Whether you’re a current frat bro, aspiring frat bro, recovering frat bro, romantically involved with a frat bro, the parent of a frat bro, or friends with or enemies of or otherwise acquainted with a frat bro, you probably have some familiarity with a few beer-soaked drinking games. Chances are, one of those drinking games includes cups of beer, ping pong balls, and drunk people trying to get said ping pong balls into said cups of beer. But is that game beer pong, or Beirut? Were the frat sta read more

Whether you’re a current frat bro, aspiring frat bro, recovering frat bro, romantically involved with a frat read more

As the musician Johnny Nash once said, “I can see clearly now; the rain is gone.” But to get that 20/20 vision, did Cliff visit an ophthalmologist, optometrist, or optician? Let’s find out. An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor, or MD, who specializes in eye care. The title comes with eight whopping years of medical training: four years of medical school, plus an intern year and three years of residency. Ophthalmologists are licensed to diagnose and treat eye diseases, perform eye surger read more

As the musician Johnny Nash once said, “I can see clearly now; the rain is gone.” But to get that 20/20 vi read more

Unless you have a chicken coop in your backyard, or the access to and budget for farm-fresh eggs every day, you’re probably spending some time in the supermarket egg aisle. And if you’re spending time in the supermarket egg aisle, you’re probably familiar with the assault of qualifiers and descriptors—Cage-free! Hormone-Free! Free-range! Local!—that awaits you there. Here’s what they all mean, and how to navigate them efficiently—so you can get to the rest of your grocery list. Ca read more

Unless you have a chicken coop in your backyard, or the access to and budget for farm-fresh eggs every day, yo read more