Top Stories

New stories you’ll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.

Grade School Teacher Drops Everything for a Cause
In late 2018, after becoming aware of how animals are produced by the food industry, Teresa Gangnier, a grade school teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, was determined to make drastic changes in her life.
By Emily Adams7 years ago in The Swamp
How to Clean a Keurig Machine
I love my coffee. I can't carry on with my morning if I don't have my coffee first thing. In fact, I'm not even fully awake until I comfortably finish my first coffee of the day. Yes, I'm not fully awake even when my kids are jumping on my husband and me in bed at 6 AM. This is also another reason why I seriously need my coffee.
By Jennifer Violet7 years ago in Lifehack
"The Bells": One of the Best, but Also One of the Worst Episodes...
If you haven't watched Game of Thrones season 8 episode 5 just yet, don't read this piece because I am about to ruin and spoil every last inch of it for you! You have been warned.
By Samantha Bentley7 years ago in Geeks
Hanging Out in Hollywood
I have fond memories of my first trip to LA—landing at LAX with my best friend, climbing into the hire car, and jumping on the 405 in rush hour traffic to head off in search of some Hollywood magic. For some reason, we took the freeway north up to Sherman Oaks and took the 101 going east to get to Hollywood (in retrospect, we'd have gotten there quicker by taking the 105 east and the 110 north until we got to Downtown and join the 101 going up to Hollywood).
By Daniel Lyddon7 years ago in Wander
Top Ten Met Gala Faves
Alright, this list is obviously based on my own subjective taste. Most of the outfits that celebrities wear are not even chosen by them, themselves. So I honestly do not understand why celebrities get roasted for wearing something that is perhaps too outside of the box. My intention is not to shade anyone, or make it personal. I do not know the celebrities or the designers who made these ensembles. I simply love clothes, and here are my humble two cents on who looked amazing at the Met. My tastes run in pieces that are loud but classy, not just loud. And I do not mean classy from a conservative stance. The best way I can differentiate it is that I prefer the fantasy over a whole festival. I hope that makes sense. And at the end of the day, to each their own. It is truly not the end of the world if our tastes in clothes are not the same. And yes I am quite aware of the theme—which left much to be desired.
By Heeta7 years ago in Styled
Wave Soda
Wave Soda boasts few ingredients, but the ones they use pack a punch. Before I read more about the flavors and beverage, I expected this one to be more like a natural soda (similar to Hansens), but it’s different, in a good way. For me, the definition of this drink sits between being a sparkling juice and being a soda. If I were to parallel it to another (excellent) brand on the market I’d say it’s closest to Spindrift. Sparkling juices don’t seem to have harnessed the right carbonation to juice ratio, and the fizz sparks a little more than the fruit juice does... sparkling juices haven’t been perfected yet. I’m willing to argue about this, but the facts (my opinions) remain. Across the board, in a universal sense, sparkling juices haven’t gotten the formula right. Soda has that perfect ratio, usually in part due to the devil ingredient high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is probably one of the most controversial food ingredients, and concern about it has only increased over decades. While some soda brands (like Hansens and Wave) are proud not to use it, other beverage brands (like Snapple), sneakily put it in their beverages and include it under the tricky umbrella of “natural ingredients.” Though around 2013, Snapple claims to have removed high fructose corn syrup from its beverages, there’s no way to know for sure—because of that “natural ingredient” listing. I could talk about this more, and will in a later post, but for now I’ll stick to the matter at hand.
By Alyson Lewis7 years ago in Feast
Foods and Drinks that Came About by Accident
It is amazing how many popular foods and drinks are available for consumption today that were created by accident. Little do most people know that many of those items were not invented by deliberate design but by an accident that caught the inventor by surprise.
By Margaret Minnicks7 years ago in Feast
'Bule'
'Hi, Bule!" The call of a young Indonesian child makes me turn my head and wave. The child lights up, enthusiastically waving back. I continue walking down the crowded sidewalk, ducking to miss the low hanging backpacks that a vendor is selling, towering over the rest of the passerby. I am the Bule.
By Jenny Beck7 years ago in Wander
My Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Wedding
Wedding season is upon us. Pinterest is pinging. Registries are ringing. Seamstresses are... seaming. You see where I'm going with this. Myself, I'm helping plan my best friend in the whole wide world's wedding for June 2020, and my vow renewal for September 2020. It got me thinking about my wedding nine years ago. When we plan out weddings, we all want everything to go off perfectly, and we kill ourselves creating a perfect day. Not everything always ends up perfect, though. In the case of my wedding, only one thing actually went according to plan: I married my husband. Sit down, I'll tell you all about it.
By Diane Nivens7 years ago in Marriage
Endurance Riding–Allaskar’s Scout
My name is Emily, and I am an endurance rider. I have been hooked on this sport since my first ride when I was 11 years old (almost 18 years ago). And I’ve been involved in the sport for far longer. My grandmother was the one who started the obsession, quickly followed by my mother, which makes me a third generation to be enjoying endurance riding in our family.
By Emily Notting-Hill7 years ago in Petlife
Makeup's Dark Secret: Child Mica Mines
Mica is a shiny silicate mineral with a layered structure, found as minute scales in granite and other rocks, or as crystals. It's an unassuming mineral essential to modern life. It's been used in everyday products like insulation, paint, and even toothpaste.
By Katrina BG7 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Joon Releases Heartfelt New Music Video
We had the pleasure of speaking one on one with R&B/Soul artist Bryan Joon about his new music video for his hit single "Nowhere," which released last week. His debut self-titled album, Bryan Joon, consists of a total of 10 tracks ranging from different stages of love. Check out our exclusive interview with Bryan below to get to know more about him!
By Rebecca7 years ago in Beat
No Meat May
Hey everyone! Thanks for following me on this journey. My hope for this blog is to share and educate not only myself, but others. I enjoy meat, but I also know a lot of it is not good for me. I try to have a least one dinner a week meat free. I know I could do a lot better. When this challenge came up, I decided, "why not?" I like pushing myself to see what I am capable of. With that being said, this challenge does scary me a little. Will I really be able to do this? Will I feel hungry all the time? Will it cause me to snack more and gain weight? How hard is this really going to be?
By Kristen Jager7 years ago in Longevity
Why My Fantasy World Includes Suicidality and Other Sad Stuff
Where do movie makers get their ideas for the next blockbuster?Writers.How do the news get to our Facebook timeline?Writers.How do we decide which new diet to follow, or what new habit to start? Probably an article or a blog written by... yep, you guessed it.
By Mezmur7 years ago in Journal
16 Things You Didn't Know About Being on TV
I was recently invited on to ITV's This Morning with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby after the show had discovered my thrifty food blog, Millennial Hunter Gatherer. Naturally, I jumped at the chance. It was a great experience, but there are a few backstage secrets you might not expect...
By Laura Ansbro7 years ago in Geeks
Your Brain on 'Animal Crossing'
Content Warning: Depression, anxiety, and mental health. Video games have always been under scrutiny when talking about the player's health, more specifically the mental and social "toll" of spending time in virtual worlds. Scientific research revolving around adolescents behavior while "being on Video Games" (known as IAD, Internet Addiction Disorder) started way back in the 1980s in papers such as "Media violence and the self: The impact of personalized gaming characters in aggressive video games on aggressive behavior." (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 137)Since then, the stigma of people who enjoy passing their free time with video games has not lightened. YouTube is stuffed full of clips of aggressively toxic behavior on online platforms, even frustration with single player games that do not have social interaction. These montages are usually publicly posted in a humorous light, or to shame a player for saying things that are morally unacceptable. Granted, denying the toxicity in the gaming community is pure blissful ignorance, despite the best efforts of gaming developers. An example of a gaming company trying to force the metaphorical chill pill down its player's throats is Blizzard's Overwatch 1.25 update, which adds an endorsement system for positive interaction with teammates.
By dee7 years ago in Gamers
Has 'Game of Thrones' Lost Its Edge?
SPOILERS! But who hasn't seen Game of Thrones. Come on. Think back to the ninth episode of season three, when Robb Stark was preparing to marry Queen Talisa. A huge crowd had gathered to watch the festivities, and it seemed that the King of the North was headed for a happy ending. Other fan favourites were in attendance, such as Robb's mother Lady Catelyn, but that did not stop the shocking tragedy from unfolding. Robb, his new wife, and his mother were all savagely murdered at the hands of Walder Frey. This, for me especially, was one of the most shocking moments I have seen in any television series, and it highlighted the fact that the show was not going to rest on its laurels. The killing of Eddard Stark in season one was not a fluke. This show is brutal. And it made it clear that it was going to continue to sacrifice main characters in the most heinous way possible.
By M W R7 years ago in Geeks
Body Talk
I’m 5’11,” and fluctuate between 200-220 lbs in any given year. I’ve been self conscious of my body for as long as I can remember, and I have noticed recently that I have began to appreciate, embrace, and love my body for what it is.
By Morgan H7 years ago in Viva
Powerful Prince
Every-so-often we are reminded of the powerful influence our Royal Family has. From charity work, global events, patronages, to the influential fashion choices. But they also, in times of deep pain and suffering, highlight how an ancient institution can heal wounds.
By The Rumble Online7 years ago in The Swamp
Evergreen and Grey
Surrounded by irregularly stacked houses made mostly of reddish-orange cinder blocks topped with makeshift roofs, the more affluent areas of Caracas are always reminded that poverty is just a breath away. With creatively wired electricity, these houses, known as ranchos, twinkle like stars, and their orange glow greeted my arrival to Venezuela in 2001. Though it was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen, I was too scared to appreciate it at the time.
By Evergreen & Grey7 years ago in Wander