My life is a blur these days. Really. I’ve traded my reliable (but stodgy) glasses for less reliable (but far more exciting) contacts. Like a lot of guys who try to trade up, I think I may have simply swapped one set of problems for another. I slipped solidly into geekdom at the age [...]

  When it comes to mathematical ability, nine out of ten experts agree that Americans can easily outperform most single-celled organisms from other cultures. When it comes to competing with actual human beings — or trained chimps or even well-bred horses — Americans don’t do nearly as well. In fact, they lose six out of [...]

  For over a century, the Nobel Prize committee has been giving an award for literature. The Pulitzer Prize committee has been recognizing outstanding journalistic writing for ninety years. The Christopher Award is a mere slip of a thing at half that age. Other writing awards include the Hugo, the Nebula, the Newbery, the Booker [...]

Psychologists have long known about holiday meltdown. Among the probable causes they cite unrealistically high expectations (maybe Santa will bring me that pony this year), pressure to be perfect (maybe my in-laws will compliment my cranberry-garlic loaf this year), and sheer, simple stress (maybe I’ll crack and finally have that breakdown this year). They don’t [...]