Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

We have a miraculous anti-aging vaccine. Why aren’t more people getting it?

An elixir for keeping our brains and bodies younger may already be sitting on pharmacy shelves across the United States — if only we’d take advantage of it. I’m talking about the shingles vaccine.  It was invented because, well, shingles is a terrible disease. If you ever had chickenpox (like I did), this virus is […]

The messy truth about TikTok’s Trump-aligned takeover

It’s been just over a week since TikTok — in the United States — transferred into the hands of new owners. And it’s been a mess ever since. At the government’s urging, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance sold the app to a mostly American group of investors, including the software business giant Oracle (founded by Trump […]

The next big thing in wellness is…mitochondria?

Over the past couple of years, celebrities, tech bros, and biohackers have come to believe they’ve found the ultimate source of good health. Boosting this one thing, they say, will cure all ails, rejuvenate the body, and lead to longer life. They are talking about the star of middle-school biology class: mitochondria.  The “powerhouse of […]

AI agents could change your life — if they don’t ruin it first

Some smart people think we’re witnessing another ChatGPT moment. This time, folks aren’t flipping out over an iPhone app that can write pretty good poems, though. They’re watching thousands of AI agents build software, solve problems, and even talk to each other. Unlike ChatGPT’s ChatGPT moment, this one is a series of moments that spans […]

Why your kid is yelling “chicken banana”

This story originally appeared in Kids Today, Vox’s newsletter about kids, for everyone. Sign up here for future editions. My husband was picking up our older kid from school a few weeks back when he overheard a teacher issuing an exasperated directive to her class: “No more chickens! No more chicken banana!” Though it might sound absurd […]