Have heard this question raised recently, both on Reddit and on the wonderful Big Picture podcast. To clarify: the theory is that Oscar...

Loyal reader/roommate N. and I stopped by Rite Aid yesterday to pick up a birthday card, and she observed how much the card lengths...

Here’s a hypothetical for you: suppose two MLB players approach you in the dark. You can’t see them, and you can’t identify them, but...

The NFL started its regular season this weekend, and against the cacophony of overreactions, you hear the occasional analyst say...

Was recently watching MythBusters, a first-ballot hall of fame TV show, when I got to wondering what their rate of actually busting myths...

On Tuesday night, the Cubs put up 17 runs against the Washington Nationals. While it's delightful to see your team score over and over...

Like millions of unproductive basketball fans, I'll be spending the next few days obsessing over the NCAA Tournament. And in...

Just added some new entries to my Best Things list. Congrats to the latest inductees: Old computer screensavers New TV screensavers (city...

My friends C. and C. recently raised the following question: Do late-round NFL draft picks from Power 5 schools tend to perform better...

I'm thrilled to unveil the official list of people I assumed were from other countries but who are, in fact, from the United States. The...

Examples of names becoming more popular when a celebrity with that name dies unexpectedly. Data from the Social Security Administration,...

This post is inspired by a conversation with friends D. and N. As a kid, few things were more electrifying than ordering a fountain drink...

Alternative title: The Five Things I Read This Year. 5. "The Anxiety of Influencers" by Barrett Swanson, Harper's - One of the funniest...

If your feeds look like mine, this time of year means the annual rebirth of the "Die Hard Is/Isn't A Christmas Movie" discourse. I don't...

Was recently wondering which states churn out the most-- and best-- NBA players. Fortunately, Basketball-Reference keeps birthplace data...

Faithful reader N. writes that she recently watched the British miniseries Safe and was alarmed to see Michael C. Hall, an American actor...

Watched the saintly, darling Bears play the evil, awful, no good Packers on Sunday and was struck by this graphic (if you'll pardon the...

tl;dr: It doesn't seem like team popularity has much of a relationship with World Series TV ratings. Series length and year, however,...

There's no surer sign of the season than Spirit Halloween's triumphant return to our nation's strip malls. The chain truly embodies the...

If you've spent any amount of time around any kind of screen lately, you've probably seen a trailer for the new James Bond movie, No Time...