The Wisdom of Running a 2,189-Mile Marathon

The limits of looking to ultramarathoners for lessons on perseverance

Is the Chinese Language a Superstition Machine? - Issue 59: Connections - Nautilus

Every year, more than a billion people around the world celebrate Chinese New Year and engage in a subtle linguistic dance with luck.…

The Thing That Made The Office Great Is the Same Thing That Killed It

Its TV-as-catharsis approach to the monotony of office work was groundbreaking, but the show's premise wasn't built to last more than a few seasons.

The Classic Dinner and a Movie Date Costs Parents Too Much

Marketing professionals really want me to go on movie dates. The pressure is always there and worse during Oscar season when marketing professional are allowed to insinuate that going on movie dates would help me better myself in some way. And, look, they might. Date nights are wonderful. Friends say so. Scientists say so. Therapists... View Article

Breaking Bad became one of the best TV shows ever by borrowing a trick from Shakespeare

The show balanced improvisation and careful planning thanks to its overarching structure.

The Emotional Legacy of The Breakfast Club

John Hughes’s coming-of-age classic feels dated in retrospect, but the film paved the way for more character-focused teen stories.

The Stick Is an Unsung Hero of Human Evolution - Issue 56: Perspective - Nautilus

In April 1997, at the snooker world championship held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, Ronnie O’Sullivan stepped up to the…

Best Song Ever: "Spin the Bottle" by Juliana Hatfield

"It's like, kiss this guy you don't know and will probably never see again!"

Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow

Inside Elon Musk's world-changing plans to inhabit outer space, revolutionize high-speed transportation, reinvent cars – and find love along the way.

The Rise of Bikepacking, A Manifesto - BIKEPACKING.com

Our unofficial/official mission statement… and why we think bikepacking is one of the best things to happen to the bike industry.

Highest Hundred - Interview With The Long Ranger - BIKEPACKING.com

Justin Simoni, "The Long Ranger," bikepacked and climbed Colorado's 100 highest peaks. The self-supported, non-stop trip required over 380K' of ascent...

The Last Invention of Man - Issue 53: Monsters - Nautilus

The Omega Team was the soul of the company. Whereas the rest of the enterprise brought in the money to keep things going, by various…

How to Choose Wisely - Issue 52: The Hive - Nautilus

Sparkling or still water? Organic or conventional avocados? Four stars or three-and-a-half? The modern world sets loose upon us a…

The best antihero dramas aren’t vicarious thrill rides. They’re morality plays in reverse.

The recent glut of bad antihero dramas makes it worth remembering what makes for a good antihero drama.

Jon Ronson on bespoke porn: ‘Nothing is too weird. We consider all requests’

Turned on by gremlins? Excited by ketchup or rare stamps? There’s a porn film for that. Inside California’s new growth industry

The American Trail Race, Route, Riders & Rigs - BIKEPACKING.com

Riders, rigs, and details about the American Trail Race, a 5,000 mile bikepacking race following the mostly off-road Trans-America Trail across the USA.

Are You a Self-Interrupter?

Our technology-rich world has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. While on the one hand we have access to information or people…

The Hidden Sexism of How We Think About Risk - Issue 48: Chaos - Nautilus

My eldest son has long been irresistibly drawn to danger. At 6 months old he rolled across the entire expanse of the living room in…

New golden age for science fiction in China, and what it has to offer

Recent Hugo Awards for Liu Cixin and Hao Jingfang have shone spotlight on new generation of Chinese sci-fi writers; we talked to some about their hopes and the deeper meaning of their works at a recent Hong Kong conference

Defy the Stars - Issue 48: Chaos - Nautilus

Count to five, Noemi decides. If she’s cracking up—if the terror of the past few minutes has scrambled her mind to the point where…

Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings? - Issue 47: Consciousness - Nautilus

Reading medieval literature, it’s hard not to be impressed with how much the characters get done—as when we read about King Harold…

The United States of Billy Joel

The Piano Man hasn’t released a new pop album since 1993. How does he continue to sell out stadiums?

Why Poverty Is Like a Disease

On paper alone you would never guess that I grew up poor and hungry. My most recent annual salary was over $700,000. I am a Truman…

The Kekulé Problem - Issue 47: Consciousness - Nautilus

Cormac McCarthy is best known to the world as a writer of novels. These include Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, No Country…

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Definitive Oral History of a TV Masterpiece

With the Netflix reboot here, let's take a look back at what made the original so great.

Why You Feel the Urge to Jump - Issue 46: Balance - Nautilus

Have you ever stood in a high place and felt the urge to jump? Judith Dancoff did one beautiful, clear day on Deception Pass Bridge,…

How Buffy the Vampire Slayer transformed TV as we know it

Five reasons the seminal teen series deserves just as much TV respect as The Sopranos.

This Is My Brain on Rock Climbing

We reached Thank God Ledge on the Regular Northwest Face, of Yosemite’s iconic Half Dome climb, by mid-afternoon. This 40-foot horizontal…

How Designers Engineer Luck Into Video Games - Issue 44: Luck - Nautilus

On Sept. 16, 2007, a Japanese YouTuber who goes by the handle “Computing Aesthetic” uploaded a forty-eight-second-long video with…

How Watership Down was written