Jesse Singer articles

There’s nothing quite like sitting at the gate, feeling that pre-flight optimism…only to hear the dreaded announcement: “This flight is canceled.” You barely have time to blink before your phone lights up with a rebooking for tomorrow. But what happens tonight—does the airline owe you a hotel?

Humans share a surprising amount of anatomy with the rest of the animal kingdom. We’ve got the same bones, joints, muscles, and basic internal plumbing. But there’s one tiny, everyday feature that no other species has—not even our evolutionary ancestors—and scientists still shrug when asked why it even exists. Meet the chin: evolution’s biggest unsolved facial mystery.

If you’ve traveled in Europe recently, you might’ve noticed something strange: travelers getting fined for things that feel…completely normal in the U.S. Europe’s rules can be surprisingly strict—and surprisingly expensive. People keep whispering, “Wait…you can get fined for that?” Yes—you really can.

There’s a place in Southeast Asia where locals have whispered the same story for generations—about small, strange, "Hobbit Humans" living deep in the forests. Most people outside the region have never heard of it. Even fewer have taken the claims seriously. But a handful of researchers say the locals might be describing something far more extraordinary than anyone imagined.

If you’ve flown a red-eye with a toddler, you know it’s basically a trust fall with fate. Sometimes it works…sometimes it’s a whole airborne meltdown. And when another passenger snaps at you, it’s only natural to start wondering: can someone actually report you—or could you even get fined—for a crying kid?

If you’ve ever brought your own food onto a plane, you probably assumed you’d be able to eat it. After all, you bought it, packed it, and carried it through TSA. And airlines don’t even serve real meals on most flights anymore, right? But still, travelers get told they can’t eat their own food. So…is that actually a rule—or just airline weirdness?

If you’ve spent any time in European train stations or hostels, you’ve probably seen it: an American accent, a U.S. passport…and a big Canadian flag patch sewn onto the backpack. It’s not a fashion statement—and it’s definitely not accidental. It’s one of the oldest unspoken travel traditions in the book, and it’s way more interesting than people think.

Remember that Seinfeld episode where Jerry argues with the rental car agent—“You know how to take the reservation. You just don’t know how to hold the reservation”? Well, it might’ve been a show about nothing, but this exact situation is definitely something a lot of us have had to deal with.

When the world goes sideways, some states might stand a fighting chance while others will be toast before the first news alert. We crunched the data—population density, farmland, and disaster risk—to see which states are best suited to outlast the apocalypse. Grab your canned beans and let’s find out who makes it.