Pocket’s Top Stories of June 2023

It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best.

Emily Grosvenor offers some interior design tips for the struggling bibliophile.

Why it’s so appealing to use pop psychology terms — and when to stop.

As the technology becomes ubiquitous, a vast tasker underclass is emerging — and not going anywhere.

Vehicles from Toyota, Honda, Ford, and more can collect huge volumes of data. Here’s what the companies can access.

How one Uyghur man fled Xinjiang via the notorious smugglers' road and broke out of a Thai prison.

Group trips are grand, but sometimes there’s nothing better than being in a new place alone.

Calling all Gen Xers and elder millennials: Those old copies of Pearl Jam’s “Ten” could you earn you a bundle.

Yeonmi Park’s account of the horrors of North Korea made her a human rights celebrity. Her new claims that America is on the same path have made her a right-wing media star.

In the past few years, neuroscientists have started to better understand what's going on in kids' brains (and adult brains, too) while they're streaming cartoons, playing video games, scrolling through social media, and eating rich, sugar-laden foods.

A vast fungal web braids together life on Earth. Merlin Sheldrake wants to help us see it.

The idea that we’re running behind unless we’re always running toward the next best thing and our next best self doesn’t just bypass the million ways our time is shaped and spent. It limits our ambition.

Making small talk with someone you’ve just met can be terrifying. Common sense tells us we need to convince the other person that we’re smart, so we casually drop our job title, education and accomplishments. But it turns out that’s exactly the wrong approach.

These three habits help your body, and also have a positive impact on your brain.

Or, the Count of Melty Crispo.

CEO Chris Licht felt he was on a mission to restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism. How did it all go wrong?

It’s about more than listening.

Isabella Weber’s heterodox ideas about government price controls are transforming policy in the United States and across Europe.

For centuries, people have held mistaken assumptions about the origins of male-dominated societies, writes Angela Saini.

An exit interview with Lynn Paltrow, who has spent decades representing women jailed for miscarriages and stillbirths.

From excessive hygiene to low-fiber diets, author Theresa MacPhail explores the deep-rooted causes of rising allergy rates in her new book Allergic.

The show was a groundbreaking smash, but behind the scenes it devolved into such toxicity that even co-showrunner Damon Lindelof now says of his leadership: “I failed.” A powerful excerpt from the new book Burn It Down.

An excerpt from François Caradec’s book Dictionary of Gestures.

Constantly buying books you never get around to reading? Try this.

In her latest work to be translated into English, Annie Ernaux examines the malaise of the modern supermarket.

Check out the stories that Pocket readers saved most last month.