Table of contents for January 2014 in Reader's Digest

Read Up! I JUST ASKED MY FRIEND Steve to tell me his favorite things to read. Here is his answer: “I like to read my bank statement on payday. I love to read personal e-mails. I read Hemingway’s short stories when I need a touchstone for writing, and I read newspapers because I always have. I love to read Reader’s Digest because it’s endlessly inventive. [Thanks, but I wasn’t fishing.] And I have a book of David Letterman’s Top 10 Lists that I’ve read over and over again and turn to when I need a laugh.” Does your list reflect the same desire for tradition and discovery, amusement and enrichment? I know mine does. As we redesigned Reader’s Digest, we aimed that high. The makeover debuts with this month’s issue…

RICK BRAGG is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author. His seven books include the bestselling memoir All Over but the Shoutin’. THE BOY HAS gone off to college now. And here I am, left with all the peace and quiet I have learned not to miss. I was not a man who wished for children. It seemed contrary to the notion of human happiness, like wishing for chiggers, or tinnitus, or the more awful forms of gout. I was single most of my life, and parenthood was something that afflicted other people. I watched it from a distance, and shuddered. When they were small, children seemed to scream for no apparent reason. As teenagers, they seemed to lose all sanity, pinging through mood swings like Ricochet Rabbit and marking their…

WIL WHEATON is an actor, a writer, and a dad. He’s known for playing Wesley Crusher on the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation and for his appearances on The Big Bang Theory. THIS IS WHAT HE SAID: My name is Wil Wheaton—and I am a nerd. It’s awesome to be a nerd. I don’t know what the world is going to be like by the time you understand this. I don’t know what it’s going to mean to be a nerd when you are a young woman. For me, when I was growing up, being a nerd meant that I liked things that were a little weird, that took a lot of effort to appreciate and understand. It meant that I loved science, playing board games, reading books,…

At the end of my shift, every removable piece of the restaurant would be carted off and washed. Vinyl booths were searched and scrubbed. This routine seemed Sisyphean at first, but I soon learned the satisfaction of working at a place that truly closed. I took great joy in watching people stroll in after hours, thinking they could grab a late-night sundae. I would point to the dimmed lights and stacked chairs as proof that we were shut. It was deliciously obvious and final. AMY POEHLER, in the New Yorker Let’s be honest, we eavesdrop too. Everyone is listening to everyone else. We don’t have the same means as the United States—which makes us jealous. BERNARD KOUCHER, former French foreign minister, in The Week If you want to feel better…

Supermarket packaging often contains common English words that are oddly confusing. Here’s what you need to know to safeguard your health. • IMITATION A food that simulates another food but isn’t made of the same stuff is an imitation, right? Not quite. It should be labeled imitation only if it has a lower amount of protein or some other essential nutrient than the food it’s copying. • FREE Packages bearing the words fat-, sugar-, or sodium-free may still contain trace amounts of those substances. The FDA evaluates these terms according to a typical portion size known as an RACC (reference amounts customarily consumed per eating occasion). An RACC of eggnog, for example, is a half cup, and for croutons, it’s 7 g. To be labeled free of calories, a food…

“And if you haven’t any further questions, I’m going to turn you over to my intern Heather.” IF YOU’RE A FREELANCE graphic designer, the only thing worse than no clients might be these clients: • "You think it’s right to charge us for things just because we don’t have the ability to do them ourselves?" • "Make everything bold so it all stands out." • "OK, the project has been approved, unless our client wants changes. In that case, it’s not approved." SCENE: A call-center operator on the phone with a doctor. DOCTOR: If you don’t turn my cell phone back on today, I’ll tell the families of my patients and their lawyers that you are responsible for my patients’ deaths because I couldn’t be reached. OPERATOR: Sir, if you…

1 CLOSING AN OLD CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT While canceling a long-held but seldomused account may seem responsible, it will shorten the length of your credit history, which can lower your score. If you feel like decluttering your wallet, nix a few of your more recently acquired cards, and hang on to the oldest one you’ve got—that long credit history will serve you well in the long run. 2 FINANCING THAT NEW BEDROOM SET If a local business offers to let you finance a purchase, think twice before accepting. The bank may consider it a “last resort” loan, which is a huge red flag for higher credit risk. 3 BATTLING A BILL If you’re in the midst of a credit quarrel, the disputed credit line may be ignored during your score…

Doctors’ Orders FEW THINGS ENHANCE your health as much as restorative sleep. No single pill can balance hunger hormones, boost immunity, protect against high blood pressure and diabetes, and keep your skin glowing—all well-studied benefits of getting enough slumber. But even though we often “prescribe” sleep to our patients, they frequently report that getting enough is difficult despite their best efforts to hit the hay on time. These unexpected sleep stealers may help explain why: 1 YOU FEEL YOUR PARTNER’S PAIN In a recent study, partners of arthritis patients reported sleeping poorly on nights that their bedmates suffered higher pain levels. Couples with the closest bonds were the most affected. To ease discomfort, your partner can try solutions like a pillow placed between the knees to soothe back pain. And…

HELLO. I AM LOOKING FOR MY FRIEND JEREMY, WHO IS AN ANT. JEREMY! JEREMY, ARE YOU IN THERE? DO YOU STILL WANT TO GO TO THE LIBRARY TODAY OR NOT? From Animals Talking in All Caps by Justin Valmassoi A SURVEYOR DROPS BY Will’s farm in eastern Minnesota and announces that he has some bad news. “I discovered that your farm isn’t in Minnesota,” he says. “It’s actually in Wisconsin.” Will lets out a sigh of relief. “That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time,” he says. “I was just telling my wife this morning that I don’t think I can take another winter in Minnesota.” THE NEW YORK CITY Department of Education says that only 26 percent of the city’s students in grades three through eight passed…

REAL-LIFE 911 CALLS THE CALL: A tenyear-old Brockton, Massachusetts, boy called 911, then abruptly hung up. WHEN THE DISPATCHER CALLED BACK: She discovered the problem: Much to the boy’s annoyance, his mother was insisting that he go to bed. Source: boston.com THE CALL: A woman in Dacula, Georgia, contacted police when her Chevy van went missing. BEFORE POLICE COULD ACT: The woman called back, saying she’d found the vehicle in her yard, hidden behind some weeds. Source: dacula.patch.com THE CALL: A Romanian man called the police to report hearing a strange noise in a house. WHEN COPS ARRIVED: They realized the man was in fact burglarizing the place, so they arrested him. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION: The noise he’d heard was made by the homeowner’s cat. Source: metro.co.uk THE CALL: A…

WHAT THE TECH? A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing. EMO PHILIPS I’d like the window that says “Are you sure you want to do this? OK/Cancel” to pop up less often on my computer and more in my real life. @AARONFULLERTON There are only two types of computers in the world: those that waste your precious time and those that waste your precious time faster. ANONYMOUS Taking pictures with an iPad is the new fanny pack. @CLARKEKANT User: the word computer professionals use when they mean “idiot.” DAVE BARRY “One can play at this game ...”—me to my computer solitaire. @MEGANAMRAM My dog licked the crumbs out of my computer keyboard and earned an online college degree. @SCBCHBUM…

The article “School Is a Prison” inspired a lively discussion on salon.com after it was published. Here is a selection of perspectives: • Personally, I think the biggest issue with school.particularly in K.6. is not the teaching or the tests but the inability (or unwillingness?) to group kids by their ability for fear of "labeling" them. So the children who are struggling get the bulk of the teachers’ time, while the rest are bored. SABRINA_SF • As someone who has tried to start an alternative school, [I think] the idea that kids will learn naturally is romantic but flawed. It’s a huge burden to put on children that they’ll somehow discover how to do math or read on their own. The key is to provide a balance, giving kids leeway…

• Two giant pandas, Mei Lan and Tai Shan, to China • 70,000 endangered sea turtle eggs, to Florida • Cupid, a rescued two-year-old bottlenose dolphin, to Six Flags Marine World • 19 penguins and two sea otters, returned to a New Orleans aquarium after Hurricane Katrina DELICATE • The 800-pound capsule that rescued the trapped Chilean miners in 2010, to the Smithsonian Institution • The 3,000-pound Spirit of Liberty Bell, to Fort Hood, Texas • A 3,000-pound piece of the Titanic’s hull, to Atlanta ANIMAL • A trio of 11-month-old grizzly bears, to Detroit DANGEROUS • An eight-ton statue of a revolutionary war hero, to Spain ARTIFACT • A Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter, to Narita, Japan…

For Garden Gurus The Pocket Hose $12.99 + $7.99 S&H (1.5/4.0) Company says: It’s the portable garden hose “that fits in your pocket” and has a powerful spray. Order today, and “say goodbye to those old-fashioned giant hoses that become a tangled mess.” We say: “I had a hard time keeping it screwed onto my outdoor faucet without the nozzle leaking,” complained one green-thumbed tester. “Yeah, it leaked,” said a soaked farmer. “But I like the space it saved.” The final verdict: If your yard is cramped “and you like getting wet, this hose is for you.” The Sneaky Gourmand Stone Wave Microwave Cooker $10 + $6.99 S&H (4.0/4.0) Company says: This “handmade nonstick ceramic stoneware” uses a special “steam-release chimney” to cook “gourmet foods right in your microwave.” You…

EVERYDAY WELLNESS 6 Natural Cough Remedies We found recipes for a half dozen homemade soothers: thyme tea, flaxseed tea, black pepper tea, lemon-pepper juice, honey milk, and almond-orange juice. One of them should ease your hacking. MOST POPULAR ON TWITTER HAPPINESS This Magic Word Will Change Your Outlook Some. Instead of declaring everything in your life “all wrong,” try: “Some things are going right; some things aren’t.” Immediately, your glass will look half full. READ UP AT RD.COM/JANUARY INSPIRING QUOTES “We can do no great things. Only small things with great love.” MOTHER TERESA HEALTHY EATING What’s the Best Brain Food? Fish (with omega-3) and eggs (with choline) are proven boosters, but the antioxidants in blueberries, red wine, and vitamin E–rich walnuts may also protect brain cells from damage. FUNNY…

COMMENTS ON THE NOVEMBER ISSUE WORD TO THE WISE My husband was one of the people scammed by “Jim” (“Confessions of a Con Artist”). Your article was encouraging to us; now we can take comfort in knowing we were scammed by a true professional! We learned a painful financial lesson that will stay with us forever. Thank you for publishing this article. I hope it will help others avoid becoming the victims of con artists. MARIE EDWARDS, Tehachapi, California TEARS OF JOY Thank you for your Editor’s Note (“My Heart’s in Yosemite”). I was born and raised in California but had never been to Yosemite until a few years ago, when my fiancé took me. That first time, standing in the Valley, I looked toward the heavens with tears running…

WHEN JALEESA MARTIN and Jawaan McCullough appeared in Tennessee family court in August 2013, they were hoping that the judge would settle a dispute about their baby’s last name. Jaleesa wanted eight-month-old Messiah DeShawn to have her last name; Jawaan wanted another McCullough in the family. Cocke County Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew quickly ruled that the boy should be given the last name of McCullough, after his father. Case closed? Nope. Judge Ballew also handed down a second, unexpected ruling: In the opinion of the court, “the name Messiah is reserved solely for the son of God.” She ordered the couple to change their son’s first name. “The word Messiah is a title that has been earned by only one person, Jesus Christ,” Judge Ballew said. After giving the bewildered…

WHEN MY HUSBAND’S friend gave his order at a fast-food restaurant, the cashier asked for his name. “It’s Stephen, with a ph,” he said. Soon after, he was handed his order and a receipt, which had his name on it: Phteven. WENDY DEWBERRY, Pell City, Alabama A NEIGHBOR’S 44-year-old sister was pregnant with twins. When her niece asked if she knew the genders, she said, “No. I want it to be a surprise.” “You’re 44 and having twins,” said her niece. “How much more surprise do you need in your life?” JIM GRANT, Twinsburg, Ohio HEADLINES AROUND AMERICA • County to Pay $250,000 to Advertise Lack of Funds Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon) • 4-H Training Scheduled for Shooting Instructors Pine City Pioneer (Minnesota) • Study Shows Frequent Sex Enhances Pregnancy Chances…

Smile … To Spread Happiness “The simplest and most reliable way to make someone smile is to smile at him,” says Marianne LaFrance, a Yale University psychology professor and the author of the book Lip Service. “Smiles are the most contagious kind of facial expression, even among people who don’t know each other,” LaFrance says. That’s because seeing a smile and showing a smile originate from the same area of the brain. Skeptical you can change your world by just smiling more often? LaFrance suggests trying this experiment: For one day, vow to not smile at anyone. The next day, smile at everyone. Then compare both days. Chances are the second day will be one of the best you’ve had in a long time. Cooperate … To Foil A Mugging…

• THEY REVEL IN THEIR FIRST LOVE. What attracted you to your house the moment you saw it? Was it the sunny yard, charming porch, original wood floors? Once you live there, it’s natural to focus on what needs improving, but remember to revel in the highlights that drew you in too. • THEY USE THEIR SENSES. If you’re getting down on your house, take a quick tour that zeros in on pure sensory pleasure: the cozy comfort of your couch, the smell of coffee brewing, the feel of a rug between your toes. • THEY CONTRAST IT WITH NOT-HOME. Imagine you’ve just been on a long trip, and you’re arriving home for the first time in weeks. You close the door behind you and take a deep breath. What…

SOME PEOPLE ARE SO RUDE. Who sends an e-mail or a text message that just says “Thank you”? Who leaves a voice mail message rather than texts you? Who asks for a fact easily found on Google? Don’t these people realize that they’re wasting your time? Maybe I’m the rude one for not appreciating life’s little courtesies. But many social norms just don’t make sense to people drowning in digital communication. Take the thank-you note. Daniel Post Senning, a great-great-grandson of Emily Post and a coauthor of the 18th edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette, asked, “At what point does showing appreciation outweigh the cost?” Then there is voice mail, a now impolite way of trying to connect. Think of how long it takes to listen to one of those long-winded…

IT’S COZY BENEATH these blankets, but I want out. I am achy and inflamed, brittle from a motionless night. I wait for The Body to register my familiar morning stiffness. He moans and rolls over, not quite ready to face the day. C’mon, get up already so we can work out these kinks. He flings his feet over the side of the bed and plants them on the floor. I’m not gonna lie: Straightening myself out under all 210 pounds of him takes some serious grit. I brace myself for the load. My upstairs neighbor, the thigh muscle, contracts and yanks the quadriceps tendon, which pulls on my kneecap to make the leg extend. I’m a hinge, with pulleys that bend and straighten me. The other knee snickers. He’s not…

Intense Workouts Squelch Eating Overweight men who did interval workouts—alternating short bursts of high-intensity exercise with brief recovery periods—ate less postworkout and consumed fewer calories the next day than those who exercised at a continuous moderate pace, found researchers at the University of Western Australia. Interval exercisers also had lower levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite. Deadly Mouth Danger The number of Americans who went to the hospital for dental abscesses increased more than 40 percent from 2000 to 2008, according to a new study in the Journal of Endodontics. Many tooth infections are treatable with prompt care, but delays can be serious (for instance, if bacteria travel to the airway, where they can restrict breathing, or to the brain). Seek treatment for any persistent tooth pain, and…

OPTIMISM IS READER’S DIGEST’S middle name. Not only is our glass half full, it’s topped with cookie dough ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream, a splash of Grey Goose, and the keys to a Porsche 918 Spyder. Still, we’re no Pollyannas, so we reached out to thought leaders, authors, and experts in various fields to make our case. Some wrote from the heart, while others thought globally. Some were serious; others, funny. But they all agreed—2014 will be a very good year. Hope Makes a Comeback It has to be better because even with all the awful things in 2013—the Boston Marathon massacre, floods in India, an NSA scandal, the Trayvon Martin case—still the world got excited over what? The birth of a baby. A royal baby, admittedly. But a…

The last thing Donald Evans remembered was shouting, “Pull up!” to the pilot seated beside him before the singleengine propeller plane slammed into a low mountain 37 miles west of McGrath, Alaska. One look now told him the pilot was dead. So was the woman sitting behind Donald, a popular schoolteacher named Julia Walker, who lived in Anvik, Alaska. Donald twisted in the six-seat Cessna 207 and looked behind him. The plane, hardly larger than a minivan, had snapped in half on the mountainside. He couldn’t see or hear his two children, Mckenzie, eight, and Donnie, ten. His wife, Rosemarie, 32 and two months pregnant, was slumped motionless in her seat. Donald’s mind filled with a single, horrifying thought: Everybody’s gone. TENDING TO THE WOUNDED Still buckled in his seat,…

THE GUY IN THE FLANNEL SHIRT really wanted me to eat his crab. “Have a claw!” he said, waving a steaming pincer in my face with tongs. “No, thanks. I’m good. You go ahead,” I said. I’ve suffered through this gastronomic showdown a million times, from Paris to Paducah, and it always ends the same way. I turn down food I don’t want to eat. At best, I offend somebody. At worst, I make a new unfriend. The crab pusher came at me last summer at a beach party in Gustavus, Alaska, a little town on the fringes of Glacier Bay National Park. Golden sun shining off the water. Friendly locals. Cans of Rainier on ice. Alaskan king crab pulled from the frigid Pacific just hours earlier, now boiling in…

Chosen by Casey Kelbaugh Founder and chairman of Slideluck “Drake generously donated a print of this photograph to my fund-raiser two years ago, so I had the pleasure of spending time with it. The picture is from an extremely rich body of work about two rivers that cut through often-overlooked parts of Central Asia. Taken in a border town in the Fergana Valley in Karasu, Kyrgyzstan, the image is divided by the tree branches into three vignettes, each with a different type of villager at a particular stage of life. The photograph is as timeless as any Pieter Bruegel the Elder painting from the 16th century.”…

This husband and wife wouldn’t let religion, custom, or even burial come between them AFTER 42 years of marriage, in 1880, Lady van Aefferden buried her husband, Colonel J.W.C. van Gorcum, in the Protestant cemetery of Roermond, a small town in the Netherlands. Custom dictated that van Aefferden would be buried in the Catholic cemetery upon her death, eight years later. To stay close to her spouse, van Aefferden requested the burial plot next to her husband’s grave, beside a brick wall separating the two cemeteries. Then she added interlaced stone hands to connect their tombstones so that they would embrace for eternity. Today, the tombstones are called het graf met de handjes, which translates to “grave with the little hands.”…

Prefixes are the key to vocabulary mastery. From auto-(“self”) to zoo-(“animal”), they introduce meaning to whatever follows. Parse these words with prominent prefixes, then check the next page for answers. 1. ambivalent (am-’bih-va-lent) adj.—A: uncertain. B: in the open air. C: left-handed. 2. neonatal (nee-yoh-’nay-tul) adj.—A: inert, as gases. B: relating to the newborn. C: completely bald. 3. omniscient (om-’nih-shint) adj.—A: all-knowing. B: spooky. C: pertaining to insects. 4. exonerate (ig-’zahn-er-ayt) v.— A: curse. B: dig up. C: clear of blame. 5. anagram (’an-ah-gram) n.— A: telegraph message. B: word or phrase formed by mixing the letters of another. C: metric weight. 6. hyperbole (hy-’per-boh-lee) n.—A: speeding. B: overstatement. C: eclipse of the sun. 7. antebellum (an-tih-’bel-lum) adj.—A: ringing softly. B: moving in a herd. C: before the Civil War.…

“First, we inundate them with pop-ups.” YOU MIGHT recognize comedian Rob Riggle from Fox NFL Sunday and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but he was a proud jarhead long before he was a professional talking head. We asked him, “What smells worse: a pro football player at halftime or a Marine after a day in the field?” He replied, “I can say this unequivocally: It’s a stinky Marine in the field. The smell? Indian food … with just a slight amount of dog poo … and some old Odor-Eaters from your grandfather’s orthopedic shoes.” Interviewed by BRANDON SPECKTOR (Watch the full interview at rd.com/january) ELAYNE BOOSLER is not happy that the U.S. Army won’t put women on the front lines. “They don’t know if we can fight,” she says.…

Three acts of generosity inspire others around them PAYING IT BACKW Eileen Taylor had something sweet on her mind in the drive-through line at Heav’nly Donuts. But it wasn’t a doughnut. Just the day before, a stranger ahead of her in line had generously paid for her coffee. “[The gesture] made such a big difference in my day,” says Eileen, 55. She had recently lost her job as a physician’s assistant, and money was tight. But Eileen was inspired to pick up the $12 tab of the family in the car behind hers. What she didn’t know was that her kindness would go viral, and in a chain reaction, dozens of other drive-through patrons would be prompted to pay backward too. In two and a half hours, 55 drivers paid…

…very sad because my love moved east. KURT BRADER …running a little bar that I bought in Duke, Oklahoma, and making more money throwing darts in tournaments than a lot of people did working all week. PAUL CHAMPAGNE …excited about where I’d be in 20 years. I’m sorely disappointed! BRIAN C. DOUGLAS …watching a video of my mother (or so my journal says), among a million other things I was doing that day. CAROLE CLAYTON PULLEY …probably a mess. The 40s are so much better than the 20s. COLLEEN ELIZABETH COOPER …27 years old and told that my daughter was autistic. She will be graduating college soon. We serve a mighty God. VICKIE SCOTTI …11 years old and Reader’s Digests. reading my mom’s HOLLY PUTNAT …about to embark on one…

WHEN SONIA SOTOMAYOR was only seven months old, according to family lore, she abruptly stood up one day—and ran. There was no crawling or walking for her; she simply took off. It was a fitting start for a woman whose will and intellect have propelled her from growing up in a Bronx housing project to being the first Hispanic justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor has faced some big challenges. At seven, she learned she had type 1 diabetes and started giving herself three to six insulin shots a day. Her father was an alcoholic and died of heart disease at 42, when Sotomayor was nine. Her mother then fell into a deep grief and often locked herself in her bedroom, until one day her daughter confronted her, demanding…

IF THERE’S ONE DISH you’ll find doubled or tripled up on in a Southern party spread, it’s deviled eggs. And even then, the folks who brought them aren’t likely to go home with leftovers. The “devil” part? It’s not because they’re a source of temptation (though they are); it refers to the spices that add their nice, piquant kick. Southern cooks have lately taken to dressing up their eggs with various accoutrements—country ham, chilled Gulf shrimp, poached tomatoes. But connoisseurs will rightly tell you that what matters most is the springiness of the white and the tang of the yolk. To please the fussiest of them, start with eggs a few days removed from the nest, since fresher eggs are frustratingly dodgy come peeling time. Put the eggs into a…

1 ICE REMOVES CARPET DENTS Place a cube in the stubborn hole, and let it melt. To make the fibers come back to life and look as good as new, fluff the damp spot with a fork. 2 WALNUTS FIX FURNITURE SCRATCHES Rub a shelled nut over marks in wooden tables, chairs, or flooring. The oils will penetrate, condition, and smooth the unsightly nick. 3 NEWSPAPERS CLEAN WINDOWS Newspaper fibers are denser than those in paper towels and absorb more liquid without falling apart. 4 ALKA-SELTZER UNCLOGS DRAINS If you’ve got a mild clog, drop four tablets and a touch of vinegar into the sink or shower drain, and flush with boiling water to clear any obstructed pipes or possible blockages. 5 SOAP FILLS HOLES IN THE WALL To plug…

• BODY Dyson vacuums (starting at $200) are built from the same high-impact-resistant materials used in crash helmets and riot shields, and they are rigorously tested to verify their durability: During development, cleaners are dropped onto floors 5,318 times to certify they can withstand ten years of use. • MOTOR Don’t get confused by cleaners that advertise high amps (which indicate the vacuum’s electricity consumption). Instead of a cleaner carpet, you might just wind up with a larger electric bill. • FILTERS Sealed HEPA filters are the most effective at trapping allergens. They cost about $25 and provide the same filtration as many pricey anti-allergenic machines. • NOZZLE/SUCTION Intelligence is expensive. A special sensor on the Sebo Automatic X4 vacuum ($679) automatically adjusts the machine to the appropriate cleaning height…

Who’s Right? THE LOUDEST PUBLIC food fight right now is about GMOs, or genetically modified organisms. Scientists add genes to corn, soybeans, and other plants, usually to protect the crops from insects or herbicides. Proponents say the genetic tinkering makes crops easier to grow and cheaper. But many consumers and food-safety watchdogs worry that GMOs pose an unnatural threat to our health and the environment. Opponents say that GMOs have been linked to depression, allergies, infertility, and even cancer. Although GMOs have been in our food supply for 20 years, the controversy has moved to center stage. Recent documentaries and experts on The Doctor Oz Show have fanned the flames. About 75 percent of consumers say they are concerned about the safety of genetically modified foods, according to a New…

PORTRAITS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO BECAME EXTRAORDINARY HEROES O ON A COOL NOVEMBER afternoon in Fleming Island, Florida, Melissa Hawkinson, then 41, was driving her five-year-old twins home from school when she saw a sudden splash in Doctors Lake just ahead. What was that? she thought. As she drove up to the scene, she saw a half-submerged car sinking about 30 yards offshore. “It was going down pretty quickly,” Hawkinson recalls. She stopped the car near the boat ramp and ran toward the water. This is going to be cold, she thought. She took off her vest and leather boots, waded into the icy water, and swam out to the car, where she found Cameron Dorsey, five, strapped into his car seat as the swirling waters rose around him. Hawkinson…

KRISTEN IVERSEN is the author of Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, now in paperback. IT WAS A SATURDAY morning in early June, a day my sister Karma and I believed would end in triumph. For weeks, we had been preparing for the gymkhana at the county fairgrounds, sponsored by our local riding club. My horse, Tonka, was a sleek pinto with patches of white and brown, long white stockings, and a star on his forehead. Tonka and I could run a three-barrel race faster than any kid in the county, or so I thought, and I hoped to bring home a blue ribbon. Karma’s horse, Comanche, was a pro at pole bending, a timed race that involved galloping between tall poles. My sister…

“WHY DID YOU STAY?” he asked as we waited for the light to turn green. I always thought he knew. “I love you,” I answered. “That’s what I thought you’d say,” he replied. “But … why … why did you stick around and do everything you did?” The answer to Dartanyon Crockett’s second question was not as tidy as the first. Because life can be a knotted mess and, sometimes, love is not enough. Dartanyon and Leroy Sutton found their way into my heart four years ago. As an ESPN television producer, I chronicled human-interest stories in sports. I covered everything from legends like Derek Jeter and Michael Jordan to disabled amateurs and terminally ill Little Leaguers. But what I found on the wrestling mats at Cleveland’s Lincoln-West High School…

PARENTS SEND THEIR CHILDREN to school with the best of intentions, believing that formal education is what kids need to become productive, happy adults. Many parents do have qualms about how well schools are performing, but the conventional wisdom is that these issues can be resolved with more money, better teachers, more challenging curricula, or more rigorous tests. But what if the real problem is school itself? The unfortunate fact is that one of our most cherished institutions is, by its very nature, failing our children and our society. Children are required to be in school, where their freedom is greatly restricted, far more than most adults would tolerate in their workplaces. In recent decades, we’ve been compelling them to spend ever more time in this kind of setting, and…

1 Whether we win $500 million or $1 million, about 70 percent of us lose or spend all our money in five years or less. 2 Do we still play the lottery? Absolutely. And we’re sure we’re going to win again. 3 Now that I can buy anything I want, I’ve learned that what really matters—and what I enjoy most—is being able to do things that help other people. 4 Always play the second-chance drawings. Some games require you to mail in your losing ticket. Others tell you to go online and register the ticket’s serial number. People either don’t know about the drawings or don’t take the time to enter, so your odds of winning are always better. 5 Everyone who wins thinks they’re going to have the same…

What it feels like to … FROM READER’S DIGEST CANADA Last year, Chris Hadfield, author of An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, became an Internet sensation when a video of him singing David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” from the International Space Station went viral. After spending five months orbiting the planet, Hadfield returned to Earth on May 13, 2013, landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan. This is his account of that epic touchdown: YOU PLUMMET into the atmosphere in a crash seat custom-poured for your body. You’re in a pressure suit, a four-point harness across your shoulders and waist, all laced through a big buckle in the middle. Plus, there are straps across your knees to hold your legs in place so they don’t splay at impact. You’re utterly belted…

Eat to feel great! Just in time for the new year, Reader’s Digest unveils its breakthrough diet plan to slim and soothe your belly. Lose weight, end heartburn, and ease digestion for life. Here’s an excerpt. FROM THE BOOK 21-DAY TUMMY Sorry, Mom. I know it’s not proper to confess an embarrassing problem to millions of readers. But a few years ago, I began to notice that my digestion was becoming less regular. I had almost constant pain and bloating and had gained nearly ten pounds. A physical revealed nothing amiss, and technically, I was at a healthy weight. But my clothes didn’t fit, and the discomfort was constant and distracting. As I started talking about my digestive challenges, other people confided their own struggles. Then I read the stats:…

THE MOST DANGEROUS PHRASE IN THE LANGUAGE IS “WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY.” GRACE HOPPER, computer scienti st I’m not interested in blind optimism, but I’m very interested in optimism that is hard-won, that takes on darkness and then says, “This is not enough.” COLUM MCCANN, writer Something happens when your subconscious goes to work ... That’s why “Sleep on it” is an adage that’s been passed on for thousands of years. JON VOIGHT America, everybody is in too big of a rush. Lie back, take a sip of tea, mow a little grass, and if you get tired, take ya a nap. SI ROBERTSON, star of Duck Dynast y WHOEVER ESTABLISHED THE HIGH ROAD AND HOW HIGH IT SHOULD BE SHOULD BE FIRED. SANDRA BULLOCK If you retain…