The Last Word
Are global positioning systems rotting our brains?
(Corbis/Najlah Feanny)
The last word: This is your brain on GPS
Our navigational gadgets, says journalist Alex Hutchinson, could actually be damaging our sense of direction.
The last word: Kidnapped by the Taliban 
Held prisoner for seven months, The New York Times’ David Rohde discovered a movement unbroken by war.
The last word: The unbearable lightness of breast cancer
Author Barbara Ehrenreich could handle her doctor’s diagnosis. What pained her were the teddy bears.
The last word: Who owns home plate?
In a new book, two legends of baseball’s World Series dissect the duel between batter and pitcher.
The last word: ‘It’s just actor sex’
Even for Hollywood veterans, says Los Angeles magazine, seeing a spouse make a love scene is never routine.
Coming out in middle school
Kids today, says Benoit Denizet-Lewis, are declaring themselves gay or bisexual earlier than ever.
The last word: Inside a dog’s world
Author Alexandra Horowitz explains why dogs pee on hydrants, lick our faces, and are always sniffing.
The last word: Listening for the past
Two acoustic ecologists let a reporter tag along as they record a symphony of endangered sounds.
The last word: Nothing but the truth
On the advice of a self-styled honesty guru, author A.J. Jacobs tries giving voice to his every stray thought.
The last word: Mr. Ubiquitous
How a novelty importer with a magic touch aims to get his next product into every closet in America
The last word: The view from inside an ambulance
Serving as a paramedic, says Esquire’s Chris Jones, made him appreciate the miracle—and fragility—of life.
The last word: He said he was leaving. She ignored him.
When Laura Munson’s husband asked for a divorce, she ducked instead of fighting. He needed to learn, she says, that his unhappiness wasn’t really about her.
The last word: Five minutes in the Arctic Ocean
Author Bill Streever takes a plunge into 35-degree water and shrugs off the pain. When it comes to extreme cold, he explains, explorers and ground squirrels have endured far worse.
The last word: Baseball’s invented Eden
Fans of the game often speak in hushed tones about Cooperstown, N.Y. In reality, says author Zev Chafets, the village’s hallowed Hall of Fame began as a dubious marketing gimmick.
The last word: Childhood’s lost wilderness
When he was growing up, says author Michael Chabon, kids were still allowed to explore and map their own worlds. What price in imagination will today’s children pay for our overprotectiveness?
The last word: The Eagle has landed—barely
The success of the first attempted moon landing, 40 years ago this week, was hardly foreordained. In a new book, Buzz Aldrin recalls how close he and Neil Armstrong came to aborting the mission.
The last word: The case against marriage
Sandra Tsing Loh had a revelation about marriage when she tired of her own. Maybe, says The Atlantic Monthly essayist, both adults and children would be better off without the institution.
The last word: Washington’s new power game
Congressmen are practicing their jumpers, and bureaucrats are hunting pickup games. A president who hoops, says ESPN.com’s Wright Thompson, can do that to a town.
The last word: The philosopher with a wrench
As white-collar opportunities dry up, people need to consider other career paths. For former scholar Matthew Crawford, that meant becoming a motorcycle mechanic.
The last word: Where’s Pepper?
Pets were once routinely snatched from America’s streets and slain in the name of science. In 1965, says Daniel Engber in Slate.com, one family’s heartbreak roused the nation’s conscience.
