By: Matthew Daniel

I look the Martian in the eyes for longer than I should.

By: Katya Apekina

I miss living along the Mississippi — the swampy air, the damp earth, that artery of water.

By: Friederike Paetzold

Dreamily greeting you as if from an undersea trench…

By: Ramona Lyons

I’m not into any other “cute” little animal-shaped things.

By: Beth Lisick

It presides over us, thinking it’s in stealth mode.

By: Josh Foer

The poor suicide’s face has become “the most kissed” of all time.

By: PROJECT:OBJECT

Kicking off a series of 25 true stories about objects with which we are obsessed.

By: Tom Nealon

What’s the difference between Russian and Thousand Island — and who invented them?

By: Tom Nealon

Maltodextrin makes not just food, but flavor itself thicker.

By: Tom Nealon

Suspicious post-prandials, gnawed corpses, bloody cravats, cannibal neighbors….

By: Tom Nealon

Gingerbread isn’t so much complicated as it is a complicated illusion.

By: Adrienne Crew

When I look at the fish scaler, I see my family’s frugality and ingenuity.

By: Alissa Walker

Selections were made with a satisfying double-thwang of a letter key and number key pressed in quick succession.

By: Erin M. Routson

The paper wallet still makes me laugh. And cry.

By: Chelsey Johnson

The horses developed complex social networks, animosities and affections.