Cover Story:
Inventions We Love
mental_floss has a dream. We have a dream that one day the safety pin will no longer be relegated to the dark, anonymous confines of your junk drawer. We have a dream that the infection-preventing BAND-AID® and the ever-convenient Dixie® Cup will one day walk with pride alongside the light bulb, the wheel, and sliced bread. No longer can the brilliance of the PEZ® dispenser go ignored! Not another day must pass while the pencil/eraser duo lies neglected on your desk! Today, we have a dream, and that dream is alive in this issue. You'll learn about the paper clip (fighting Nazis since 1940), Cruise Control (created by... a blind guy?) and many, many more.
Features:
Paradises Lost: The Unofficial Guide to Cities Too Good to be True
by William S. Kirby
It's simple human nature. We are uncontrollably intrigued by the mysterious and fabled. Atlantis, El Dorado, the continued success of Keanu Reeves' acting career – they all call seductively to our imaginations, and, apparently, to producers at Disney. But mankind's quest for utopian lands is more than the stuff of kids' movies. Throughout the ages, plenty of people have risked their necks to uncover the truth (and, possibly, limitless riches) behind places like Timbuktu and Shangri-La, and we were totally ready to do the same for this article, but with our bad asthma, and flu season coming up and all, we just figured we'd get William Kirby to bring the adventure to us instead.
A Volkswagen Story: Readers Wanted
by Kara Kovalchik & Sandy Wood
Petite, powerful, and cheap; with a past chock-full of scandal. No, we're not talking about a character on "Dynasty," but Volkswagen history does come completely loaded with soap-opera-sized drama. Brimming with plot twists but, thankfully, few catfights, Kara Kovalchik and Sandy Wood expose how the dreams of a capitalist visionary, a fascist dictator, and a starry-eyed entrepreneur combined to create one of the best-selling vehicles of all-time.
Blues Clues: A Beginner's Guide to the 9 Greatest Moments in Blues History
by Bill Hauser
Leonard Cohen is positively cheerful. Patsy Cline? An upbeat pop star. Marilyn Manson? Not even a smidge on the sad side. Seriously. What do these folks know about depression? Or prejudice? Or selling their souls to the devil, even? Look, if you want music that's sad – like some "Lost My Home, Wife, Shoes, Kidney, Dog, and Banjo in a Bet"-type stuff, none of these people can help. No, for serious woes, you need serious blues, and we've got just the antidote. From W.C. Handy to Howlin' Wolf, Bill Hauser's about to give you something you can really cry about.
scatter_brained:
Figures of Speech
By Paul Davidson
We didn't want Paul Davidson just flying by the seat of his pants on this assignment, so we really made him put his nose to the grindstone and find a good theme. He proposed a scatterbrained on Figures of Speech, but we scoffed and told him that idea would work when pigs fly. Convinced that we had an axe to grind, he was about to throw in the towel, but we said that if he could put his money where his mouth was, we'd bury the hatchet. And, we have to admit, he pretty much knocked our socks off. From Blind as a Bat (tips for seeing in the dark) to Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater (a handy chart on disposable items), there's more great trivia in here than you can shake a stick at.
right_brain:
Masterpieces:
Citizen Kane
Mark Juddery
Monet's "Water-Lily Pond"
by Robert Cumming
left_brain:
Why Your Boss is Going to Live Longer Than You: An Interview with Dr. Michael Marmot
interview by Mary Carmichael
Man, your boss sure is awful. First, he took away your Christmas bonus. Then, he made you pick up his dry cleaning. And now, he goes and steals your favorite red stapler. But, hey, at least all the stress from that high-power position will send him to an early grave, right? Wrong. In mental_floss' first interview with a live guy (in a long time), Mary Carmichael talks to epidemiologist Michael Marmot about the Status Syndrome theory: that annoying tendency for the rich and powerful to outlive their less-advantaged counterparts.
Man Against Machine: How Lie Detectors Work
By Kevin Bonsor, HowStuffWorks
spinning_the globe:
50-Cent Tour:
Kenya
Your Kenya Cheat Sheet
Not Your Average Jomo: The Story of Kenya's Unlikely Founding Father
by Maggie Koerth
A friendly suggestion to Oliver Stone: Seeing how that whole "Alexander" thing didn't pan out so well for you at the box office, try consulting us the next time you choose a subject for an epic bio flick. Our suggestion? Jomo Kenyatta. Think about it: A young boy leaves his tribal life to follow his dreams; after years of travel and education, the native son returns to help his tribe and others gain independence from British rule, succeeds, and becomes the first president of a sovereign Kenya. It's the perfect rags-to-riches tale! Plus, we could probably figure out a way to do it without blowing $150 million. Look, just read the article, then consider a screenplay, and have your people get in touch with our people. Seriously.
plus_the usual departments:
[10]
Misleading Minor League Monikers
[know_your dough]
How Do Currency Exchange Rates Work?
[underground_education]
The Scheming Princess Behind the Fall of the Roman Empire
[the_dead guy interview]
Montezuma
[the_quiz]