Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Photos: The Top Ten Most Meaningful Brands

Nina Lincoff
By Nina LincoffNov 16, 2011
Nina Lincoff
See Full Bio

Nobody gives a damn about most of the brands in the world, according to a new global survey. This slideshow showcases the winners—the brands that people find meaningful—but read on for more about why people are suspicious of brands and how companies can turn their image around.

The Latest

Actor Kevin Bacon
Culture

Kyra Sedgwick reveals the hilariously cringe pickup line Kevin Bacon once tried out on her

Jerry Parkin and his chair
Heroes

Minnesota Burger King workers bring a heartwarming gift to 91-year-old customer's funeral

Why do police tap your tail light when you're pulled over?
Ideas

Why do police tap your tail light when you're pulled over?

More For You

Woman chewing on pencil

Research is showing that chewing on your wooden pencil could help your memory when studying.

Photo credit: Canva

Study shows chewing on wood might be better for your brain than chewing gum

If you’re looking to improve your brain’s health, Korean university research is showing after dinner you should pass on chewing gum and start gnawing on your toothpick. Researchers at Kyungpook National University have found in a published study that the act of chewing increases blood flow and influences brain activity, along with finding that chewing wood could specifically improve your memory.

Previous studies concluded that chewing helped the brain given that it increases blood flow, allowing the brain to get more oxygen and nutrients quicker to help it function. However, the brain over time suffers through oxidative stress from reactive oxygen species, harmful molecules that damage brain cells. One way the brain protects itself from this stress is releasing antioxidants, which includes glutathione. Glutathione neutralizes these reactive oxygen species.

Keep ReadingShow less
Photos of a hand opening a ring box and a small dog

A guy proposed to his now-fiancée and also included a ring for her dog.

Photo credit: Canva

Guy's marriage proposal includes two rings: one for his fiancée and one for their dog

When you propose to a human, you’re also essentially proposing to that person’s pets. Marriage is kind of a package deal, right? Given that logic, it’s perfectly valid—and quite sweet—that someone popping "the big question" would extend that courtesy to their beloved's pooch.

Posting these dual proposals has become an Internet trend, and one TikTok user has gone viral for sharing their delightful footage. The clip, overlaid with the caption, "When he knows how important your dog is to you and proposes to her too," focuses solely on the canine portion of that life-changing moment: A well-dressed gentleman walks up to an excited little pup, bends down to one knee, and opens a red box to reveal a comically oversized engagement ring toy.

Keep ReadingShow less
older woman in hoodie smiling with group of women behind her at a lake

Susan Baur of Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage

AARP Video

85-year-old woman forms kickass squad "Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage" to clean up Cape Cod ponds

Susan Baur, an 85-year-old retired psychologist, was fed up with all the trash in a Cape Cod pond where she loved to swim. She shares in an interview with AARP Online, "I started the 'Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage' (OLAUG) because I was sick and tired of swimming through trash."

How did it begin?

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Keep ReadingShow less
Chefs Norma Listman and Saqib Keval

Masala y Maíz Chefs Saqib Keval and Norma Listman

Courtesy Masala y Maíz

Mexico City chef Norma Listman honors International Women’s Day march by creating a safe haven for protestors

When Chefs Norma Listman and Saqib Keval opened their restaurant Masala y Maíz in Mexico City, the plan was not just to honor their cultural, culinary backgrounds but to create a new kind of hospitality. They’d have good food and a good restaurant, of course, but they also wanted to show having a life, valuing their staff, giving credit where it’s due, and creating community were not mutually exclusive. Listman and Keval have been able to realize their vision, creating dishes that draw from Mexico, East Africa, and South Asian cultural traditions. It’s a mestizaje, “an organic blending of cultures over generations often in response to colonization & displacement,” they write. Their restaurant has since become lauded the world over, named one of the world’s 100 greatest places, the subject of Netflix’s most recent Chef’s Table season, and so much more.

Listman and Keval always wanted to decolonize what a restaurant could be from traditional Eurocentric ideals. It also became clear they wanted Masala y Maíz to be a feminist restaurant. “Decolonization and feminism go hand-in-hand. I don't think you can have one without the other,” Listman says. “You cannot have a feminist fight without fighting racism and systemic oppression.” Listman, who was born in Mexico but moved to the U.S. to work for many years, returned home in 2016 and came face to face with Mexico’s powerful feminist movement partly in the form of their large-scale International Women’s Day march. Last year, for example, 180,000 women took part to stand up for their rights, protesting violence against women. Masala y Maíz had been open on March 8th, the day of the march, to celebrate the day with special meals, but Listman realized she wanted to be at the march herself. So instead, for the last three years, Masala y Maíz has shut down on March 8th to become a safe haven for protestors. This year, they will also be celebrating the day before by hosting a dinner run by lauded female chefs Isabel Coss, Ana Castro, and Catalina Londoño Ciro.

Keep ReadingShow less
Views of the pyramids from space

Astronaut Terry Virts captures incredible images of the pyramids

Representative images via Wikicommons/NASA

Astronaut made the most of his last day on ISS by capturing a stunning shot of the pyramids

Astronauts have the privilege of exploring space - an experience available to limited humans. While most of us may have seen images of celestial objects captured by NASA, the visuals of how man-made wonders look from space are rare. Astronaut Terry Virts got the opportunity to fly around in space, and during his time at the International Space Station (ISS), he captured a crystal-clear view of the pyramids of Giza. Making the most of his time at the ISS, he was able to take a picture of this wonder of the world, as reported by IFL Science.

The American astronaut took to X and posted a picture of the pyramids from space with a caption that read, "It took me until my last day in space to get a good picture of these!" The story behind this photo was special for Virts as he had been trying to capture one particular view for the last six months, living and working on the ISS. However, his wish was fulfilled on his last day in space.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman leans over a plug-in, electric stove

A woman leans over the new plug-in electric stove

Image via CopperHome

The new plug in stove is being called a breakthrough for people's health and the planet

A California start-up named Copper is reviving the discourse between those who cook with an electric stove and folks who swear by gas stoves. The company has created a viable electric stove that runs on 120 volts rather than the standard 240 volts, meaning that it can be used with a standard electric outlet rather than needing an electrician to adjust a kitchen’s wiring.

The stove also has a built-in smart battery that can charge up when electricity rates are lower to avoid incurring charges during peak rates. This means that folks like building co-op treasurer Ed Yaker and fellow renters in the building, as reported by the Associated Press, can cook their food affordably while also not worrying about when his building’s aging gas line is shut off for for repairs.

But there are still advocates that strongly prefer gas stoves. Many of them cite that gas stoves offer better temperature control since you can see the flames when cooking. They also argue that it costs less to heat up a gas stove versus an electric one. The fandom is such that some politicians even balked against a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommendation for stricter safety regulation of gas stoves in 2023.

While it’s become a topic in “culture war” discourse, gas stove usage probably isn’t as huge as you’d imagine. According to a 2020 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, only 38% of American homes use a gas stove, with the vast majority of gas stoves being used in California and New Jersey rather than any traditionally red state. This makes sense as more and more new kitchens are built with electricity in mind to power up refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves, and other appliances along with kitchen gadgets such as blenders and coffee makers. Also, per Consumer Reports, electric stoves are generally less expensive to purchase than gas stoves by hundreds of dollars.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Jacqueline Kennedy stands at a 1962 State Dinner at the White House

Jacqueline Kennedy after State Dinner, 22 May 1962 White House, Cross Hall

Image via Wikicommons

Once an 'unwilling housewife,' Jackie Kennedy launched her own career long before the White House

“What is your candid opinion of marriage?” Jacqueline Bouvier asked. The year was 1953. At that point, Bouvier–before she became Jackie Kennedy–was the journalist and photographer behind her own newspaper column, “Inquiring Camera Girl,” for Washington Times Herald. Every week between fall 1951 and early summer 1953, she produced several columns, asking people on the street their opinions about a particular topic and taking their photographs. By the time “Inquiring Camera Girl” was done, Bouvier had produced some 4000 interviews, 2600 images, and nearly 600 columns.

From the time she was young, Bouvier was creative, a talented writer, and whip smart–maybe even more than some people wanted her to be. Her first grade teacher cited her as "a darling child, the prettiest little girl, very clever, very artistic, and full of the devil." This continued well into high school, where her boarding school yearbook referred to her “wit, her accomplishment as a horsewoman, and her unwillingness to become a housewife,” according to The New Yorker.

Keep ReadingShow less
Blind student holding a model of a hawk's head

3D models can help blind students better understand how the world around them looks.

Photo credit: Australian Broadcasting Company/Justin Hewitson

3D printing is helping blind students “feel” art, history, and other school subjects

Being a student who’s blind makes learning a bit different compared to their sighted peers. Most artwork is experienced through audio descriptions, an animal’s appearance is often imagined than known, and the phrase “bird’s-eye view” means very little when reading a map. However, 3D printing is literally putting more knowledge at the fingertips of blind and low-vision students at the South Australia School for Vision Impaired.

Through the work of models 3D printed by researchers at University of Sydney and Modash University, the visually-impaired students are able to receive a more enhanced learning experience to better understand certain subjects on par with sighted students.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2025