Plus: The search for America’s Atlantis
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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
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.”
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