Some mothers call their children to remind them to eat healthfully, exercise and focus on their studies. Others send very long texts at inconvenient times. Meanwhile, my mother and I use a wonderfully passive-aggressive channel of communication in which we send one another timely news articles related to our complaints, suggestions and love for one another. Below are articles my mother sent me from April to September 2017.
April 2017
“Millennials Are Spending More on Coffee Than on Saving for Retirement”
“Diet Sodas Tied to Dementia and Stroke”
“Sleep Is the New Status Symbol”
“Tips on Making Your Child a ‘Money Genius’”
“Turning Negative Thinkers Into Positive Ones”
“Starbucks barista in Colorado has meltdown over Unicorn Frappuccino”
“Yes, Your Sleep Schedule Is Making You Sick”
“Finding Your Inner Calm”
“To Be a Genius, Think Like a 94-Year-Old”
“Girl found living among monkeys in Indian forest”
“The Hippies Have Won”
“South Carolina homeowner finds 9-foot alligator on porch”
May 2017
“Remembering Mom”
“U Can’t Talk to UR Professor Like This”
“Cash is even grosser than you knew: Dangerous bacteria survive on paper money, study finds”
“Simple Financial Planning Tables”
“An Hour of Running May Add Seven Hours to Your Life”
“Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable”
“Protecting Your Digital Life in Eight Easy Steps”
“The Most Delicious Bar Crawl In Spain”
“Relax! You’ll Be More Productive”
“You Can Take Steps to Lower Your Breast Cancer Risk”
“The Surprising Benefits of Boredom”
“You’re Too Focused on What You’re Focused On”
“Three secrets to projecting confidence, according to science”
June 2017
“Even moderate drinking may dull the aging brain”
“Irregular sleep tied to worse grades”
“Need Another Reason to Exercise? Here’s One”
“The Peril and Promise of Peanut Butter”
“The Universal Phenomenon of Men Interrupting Women”
“The Five Best Natural Deodorants: Hippie No More”
“Air-Dry Your Hair Adeptly: Four No-Frizz Strategies”
“Why You Should Learn to Say ‘No’ More Often”
“On Campus, Failure Is on the Syllabus”
“This Is the Best Way to Overcome Fear of Missing Out”
“Plague Is Found in New Mexico. Again”
“Has Harry Potter mania cursed Indonesia’s owls?”
July 2017
“The Chemicals in Your Mac and Cheese”
“How Not to Get a Job”
“Artificial Sweeteners Don’t Help People Lose Weight, Review Finds”
“Will the Cubs Wake From Post-World Series Slumber?”
“Why Exercise Makes You Less Anxious”
“This is How You Get Stuff Done”
“Adolescence is no longer a bridge between childhood and adult life”
“How to Improve Resilience in Midlife”
“Is There Such a Thing as a Healthy Tan?”
“10 Ways to Make a Blister Heal Faster”
“For the Love of Spanglish”
“Fired voice of Kermit the Front says he’s ‘devastated’”
“How to Save Money for Retirement”
August 2017
“She’s 98. He’s 94. They Met at the Gym”
“Alcohol and Cancer Risk Fact Sheet”
“Before You Study, Ask for Help”
“Learn From My Mistakes and Avoid These Common Roommate Problems”
“Sick of her 9–5, this woman moved across the world to become a butcher”
“Why It’s Better to Carry Weight on Your Head”
“It’s Mosquito Season. Here’s How to Prepare”
“How Ice Cream Helped America at War”
September 2017
“The shorter you sleep, the shorter your life: the new sleep science”
“How to form healthy habits in your 20s”
“Fitness May Lower Breast Cancer Risk”
“Truck With 20 Tons Of Nutella And Chocolate Vanishes; Police Hunts for Semi’s Sweet”
“You Still Need Your Brain”
“Foolproof Ways to Cook Your Eggs in Your Office”
“The Baffling Rise of Goop”
“How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds”
“Mayonnaise, Disrupted”
Julia Kahn | julia.kahn@yale.edu