Eight Absorbing Reads for Independence Day Weekend
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Our editors compiled a list of eight absorbing reads for your Independence Day weekend. Spend time with stories about a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, the search for America’s Atlantis, why Americans can’t access some of the world’s best sunscreens, and more.
The Reading List
You’re Not Allowed to Have the Best Sunscreens in the World
Newer, better UV-blocking agents have been in use in other countries for years. Why can’t we have them here?
By Amanda Mull
The Billion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme That Hooked Warren Buffett and the U.S. Treasury
How a small-town auto mechanic peddling a green-energy breakthrough pulled off a massive scam
By Ariel Sabar
In recent years, the idea that educators should be teaching kids qualities like grit and self-control has caught on. Successful strategies, though, are hard to come by.
By Paul Tough
Donald Cline must have thought no one would ever know. Then DNA testing came along.
By Sarah Zhang
The Search for America’s Atlantis
Did people first come to this continent by land or by sea?
By Ross Andersen
Can a Boxer Return to the Ring After Killing?
In 2019, Charles Conwell unintentionally ended Patrick Day’s life with his fists. Now he’s trying to make sense of his life, and boxing itself.
By Jacob Stern
The ubiquitous rise of add-on fees and personalized pricing has turned buying stuff into a game you can’t win.
By Christopher Beam
What the Longest Study on Human Happiness Found Is the Key to a Good Life
The Harvard Study of Adult Development has established a strong correlation between deep relationships and well-being. The question is, how does a person nurture those deep relationships?
By Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz
The Week Ahead
- Fly Me to the Moon, a comedy-drama film starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum about a plan to fake the moon landing (in theaters Friday)
- The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), a new album from Eminem (out Friday)
- Long Island Compromise, a novel by Taffy Brodesser-Akner about a wealthy family that starts spiraling after the patriarch is kidnapped and held for ransom (out Tuesday)
Essay
The Science of Pet Ownership Needs a Reality Check
By Michael Schulson
For more than a decade, in blog posts and scientific papers and public talks, the psychologist Hal Herzog has questioned whether owning pets makes people happier and healthier.
It is a lonely quest, convincing people that puppies and kittens may not actually be terrific for their physical and mental health. “When I talk to people about this,” Herzog told me, “nobody believes me.” A prominent professor at a major public university once described him as “a super curmudgeon” who is, in effect, “trying to prove that apple pie causes cancer.”
More in Culture
- The goal that saved England
- An antidote to the cult of self-discipline
- The awful ferocity of midlife desire
- Don’t give up on tourism. Just do it better.
- Blood and cheap thrills in ’80s Los Angeles
- Eva Longoria’s escapist charms
Catch Up on The Atlantic
- Anne Applebaum: How Labour defeated populism
- Mark Leibovich: The lie Democrats are telling themselves
- Something has gone deeply wrong at the Supreme Court.
Photo Album
Take a look at these photos from the past week that show wildfires in California, a hot-dog-eating competition on Coney Island, hurricane damage in Barbados, and sumo wrestlers in Washington, D.C.
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