Pocket

A gossamer veil surrounds a blue and green oasis in space. It’s the only place we know of that supports life in this universe—and it’s our home. In honor of Earth Day, we wanted to share a collection of stories, photos, and videos that reflect Earth’s beauty and also the unexpected consequences of our human footprint. And we’ll even leave you with inspiration and hope from the bees, who may just have it right.

We’re also excited to share a special collection of climate change articles curated by Rolling Stone journalist and Pocket user Jeff Goodell, inspired by his recent trip to Antarctica. It’s an important look at the state of the planet today and what we can do to turn things around. For a deeper dive, pick up a copy of his book, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World.

Scott Kelly Spent a Year Taking Photos in Space. They’re Beautiful.
Photographs by Scott Kelly, The New York Times

In orbit aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Scott Kelly wasn’t just gathering data for NASA’s Twins Study. He also captured incredible images of Earth from the cupola of the space station—and in the process, he’s given us perspective on our own home and its beauty.

It’s not uncommon for astronauts to return from space with a transformed perspective on their home. See how seven other astronauts describe this experience courtesy of National Geographic.

Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change
Nathaniel Rich, Photographs and Videos by George Steinmetz, The New York Times Magazine

This feature explores the 10-year period from 1979 to 1989—the decade when humankind first came to a broad understanding of the causes and dangers of climate change. This article tracks the efforts of a small group of American scientists, activists, and politicians who raise the alarm and try to stave off catastrophe. It may come as a revelation to many just how thoroughly they grasped the problem and how close they came to solving it. Aerial photographs and videos help to tell the story.

How Climate Change Is Fuelling the U.S. Border Crisis
Jonathan Blitzer, Photography by Mauricio Lima, The New Yorker

In the western highlands of Guatemala, the question is no longer whether someone will leave but when. Explore how the changing climate patterns in Guatemala are affecting families and their ability to survive. Then pull back to understand the ripple effect across agriculture, society, economic markets, and ultimately the mass migration of people who are leaving the most vulnerable parts of this country.

Want to dig deeper? This short National Geographic video reveals how climate research offers coffee farmers hope for their crops. Guatemala’s third-largest export is coffee, which thrives in a narrow climate on the country’s mountainous slopes.

Palm Oil Was Supposed to Help Save the Planet. Instead It Unleashed a Catastrophe
Abrahm Lustgarten, The New York Times

A decade ago, the U.S. mandated the use of vegetable oil in biofuels that would power the vehicles of the future. Discover how a growing appetite for Palm oil led to mass deforestation on the other side of the world on the island of Borneo—one of the only habitats of the orangutan, one of our closest cousins.

If You Want to Tackle Big Problems, Try Thinking Like a Bee
Mary Halton, IDEAS.TED.COM

When it comes to climate change, the greatest minds in the world are struggling to come up with solutions. Maybe it’s time to look elsewhere for inspiration—like the humble honey bee. This TEDx talk from beekeeper Marianne Gee will open your eyes to our interrelationship with bees—and show that thinking small, like the bee, may be the best way to think big. Watch and share this video so we can all “waggle” together and make a change for Earth Day.

Hopefully these reads give you perspective, inspiration, and something good to put in your Pocket. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn to get great recommendations every day.

Happy Sunday!

March is Women’s History Month. It’s a moment to “amplify women’s voices to honor the past, inform the present and inspire the future. The stories we tell deepen our understanding of women’s contributions to America and the world, showing how far women have advanced and how we as a country value equality and the contributions of all our citizens.” (Smithsonian Institution)

At Pocket, we couldn’t agree more. We believe that stories can bring us power, insight, perspective—and can be a source of inspiration. That’s why we help you discover and read the good ones. Here are four stories that celebrate and reflect on the progress that women are making in America.

Three Michelin Stars! Meet the first woman to smash America’s boys’ club
Miranda Bryant, The Guardian

Food is a labor of love that takes passion. This is the inspirational story of Dominique Crenn,

a chef in San Francisco who has taken a place in the history books. Hailing from France with little cooking experience, she’s the first woman in the US to be awarded the top honor by the prestigious Michelin restaurant guide.

‘I am not a symbol, I am an activist’: the untold story of Coretta Scott King
Jeanne Theoharis, The Guardian

Coretta Scott King was more than the wife of legendary Dr. Martin Luther King. This story reminds the world that Mrs. King had her own beautiful and independent story and made a deep contribution to U.S. history.

The Radical Working-Class Roots of Improv Comedy
Gabrielle Moss, Bitch Media

In the mid-1900s, a new form of comedy was introduced thanks to a woman who thought outside the box. Learn about the fascinating roots of improv comedy and a woman named Viola Spolin, the founder of modern improv.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Unlikely Path to the Supreme Court
Jill Lepore, The New Yorker

Before she became a hero to feminists, Ruth Bader Ginsburg had to overcome their distrust. Learn more about the path of the second female U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

We hope you save these stories and share them with others this month. If you are someone who likes to keep a permanent archive of stories like these, get Pocket Premium and never lose an article—even if a link moves goes offline in the future.

Have a peaceful Sunday.

Travel is one of life’s great pleasures. A good trip can be transformative, shifting the way we think about the world and our place in it and making us more open to new people and experiences. It can also be restorative, breaking up the routine of day-to-day life and giving us a chance to relax and recharge.

Sometimes how we get there is just as important as where we go. So whether your idea of paradise is sailing off to a sun-soaked beach, taking a long journey by rail, or jetting off to a bustling foreign capital, here are a few great reads to get you thinking about your next getaway.

The Madness of Airline Elite Status
Gary Sernovitz, The New Yorker

The perks that frequent fliers get from achieving airline elite status are real: special airport entrances, roomier seats, free drinks. But the lengths travelers go to to maintain their status are sometimes completely out of proportion to the benefits.

Right on track
Margarita Gokun Silver, Aeon

In our fast-paced world, when the other side of the world is just a plane ride away, there remains something thrilling about traveling by train.

The dizzying story of Symphony of the Seas, the largest and most ambitious cruise ship ever built
Oliver Franklin-Wallis, Wired

Cruises used to have a reputation for bad food, cramped rooms, and retirees playing shuffleboard. No longer. Today’s cruise ships are like floating cities, complete with Michelin-starred chefs, shopping malls, ice rinks, climbing walls, go-karts, and luxury spas. And the entertainment arms-race is just getting started.

A New Word for that Feeling When Travel Makes Everything New
Liam Heneghan, Aeon

One thing Liam Heneghan noticed over the years of bringing his students to Ireland for the first time is that they pay rapt attention to the little things. This heightened and delighted attention to the ordinary, which manifests in someone new to a place, does not seem to have a name. So he created one.

One of the wonderful things about Pocket is we are able to go with you anywhere, anytime. Whether you’re at a quiet cabin in the woods or at 30,000 feet, you can access content you’ve saved from any device, even offline. It’s one of the many benefits of having a Pocket account. Tweet to us and tell us, if you could go anywhere in the world to read your Pocket, where would it be?

Look at how far we’ve come. Who remembers heading to the local video store to pick up a new-release video and grabbing a pizza on the way home? How about crowding into a theater for opening night? Now “Roma”, a black-and-white film with $0 in box office sales shot in Mexico and distributed by Netflix, is up for best picture. We were more likely to have watched “Roma” on a tablet or phone than we were in a theater.

On the eve of the Oscars, here are a few articles that offer perspective into why the movie business is changing so quickly, the inspiration behind “Roma” from its director, and a guide to all of the Oscar-nominated foreign films. And If you enjoy looking back even more than looking ahead, we’ve included a list of the best movie soundtracks.

Netflix’s Grand, Daring, and Maybe Crazy Plan to Conquer the World
Brian Barrett, Wired

Netflix is a notoriously data-driven company. That trove of data has enabled Netflix’s global expansion, by illuminating one simple fact: People are all different, but not in the ways you’d imagine.

Alfonso Cuarón on the Painful and Poetic Backstory Behind “Roma”
Kristopher Tapley, Variety

“This is not the kind of film that the studios generally release. And I’m happy with that,” says Cuarón, filmmaker and director of Oscar nominated film, “Roma.” His creations span from the semi-autobiographical road-trip saga “Y Tu Mamá También” to the big-screen majesty of space epic “Gravity” (which earned him a director Oscar). But “Roma”—named for the Mexico City neighborhood of his youth—is his ultimate personal testament.

Oscars 2019: Roma’s Success Shows There’s More to Movies Than Hollywood
Vincent Dowd, BBC World Service

Read about all five nominees for best foreign language film and how the success of “Roma,” Alfonso Cuaron’s Netflix epic, could not only take best picture but change how the foreign language category is perceived. Save this list to Pocket so you can track down and watch all of these fantastic movies.

The 50 Best Movie Soundtracks of All Time
Kristen Yoonsoo Kim, Pitchfork

A good movie soundtrack pulls you in and never lets you forget. In honor of the Oscars and all things movies and entertainment, Pitchfork has compiled a guide to the best movie soundtracks. Plus, learn about music supervisors, the masterminds behind the tunes that define modern filmmaking.

If you need to get your beauty rest for an Oscar Party tonight, save every one of these articles to Pocket. If you don’t yet have the Pocket app, now’s the perfect time to download it. Never miss the chance to capture recommendations, lists, and guides like these in your Pocket and come back to them whenever you’re ready.

Happy Sunday!

We’re not yet two months into 2019, and the year has already seen its share of viral memes: Nancy Pelosi’s State of the Union clap, Bird Box blindfolds, the #10YearChallenge. It’s more proof that memes—those ultra-shareable, customizable images and GIFs that allow different corners of the internet’s hive mind to spread and share an idea or in-joke—have become a mainstay of our social web.

But just where do memes come from and what do they tell us about how we communicate online today? Why have they morphed far beyond their goofy origins to become a tool of both protest and political disinformation? This Sunday, dive into these three smart reads on the impact of memes on our modern online lives.

When Internet Memes Infiltrate the Physical World
An Xiao Mina, The Atlantic

Deplorable frogs and “nasty women” aren’t just online for comic relief. They’re central to how people engage with political issues.

Ermahgerddon: The Untold Story of the Ermahgerd Girl
Darryn King, Vanity Fair

Meet Maggie Goldenberger, who helplessly watched an Internet meme spawn from her awkward adolescent photo. What happens when you unknowingly go viral — and how do you continue to own your story, in real life?

World War Meme
Ben Schreckinger, Politico

A group of anonymous keyboard commandos swarmed the internet for Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election, helping memes from obscure message boards cross over into the mainstream. Their success could change how political campaigns target and influence voters.

Speaking of ideas that spread like wildfire, did you know you that once you’ve saved these articles to Pocket, you can share them with friends? You can also recommend great reads to those who follow you on Pocket. So whether you’re spreading ideas, or just reading about how they spread, enjoy your Sunday reading time!

Have you made progress on a resolution or goal for 2019? If not, you’re in good company. Behavior change can be hard. But fear not: This Sunday, Pocket is here to support you. Jumpstart your progress with three great reads that reveal the underpinnings of procrastination, provide new ways of thinking that can propel you forward, and help you look at a challenge in an entirely new way. Sound refreshing? Put these articles in your Pocket and charge into February with a whole new perspective.

The Ultimate Guide to Becoming Your Best Self: Build your Daily Routine by Optimizing Your Mind, Body and Spirit
Chris Winfield, Medium

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle is credited with these famous words. So rather than do what he’d always done, Chris Winfield decided to take a different path…to listen to Aristotle and establish a positive daily routine. See if the steps and approaches he offers work for you.

How to Beat Procrastination
Caroline Webb, Harvard Business Review

We can look and feel busy, while artfully avoiding the tasks that really matter. And when we look at those rolling, long-untouched items at the bottom of our to-do list, we can’t help but feel a little disappointed in ourselves. We may be programmed to procrastinate, but rest assured, there are solutions.

Inversion: The Crucial Thinking Skill Nobody Ever Taught You
James Clear, JamesClear.com

Mental models are thinking tools that can help us make decisions and solve problems. James Clear shows how you can use a mental model called inversion to upend your normal patterns of thought in order to see a situation from a whole new angle, and possibly take a different action as a result. Who doesn’t like a fresh perspective and a new way to solve a problem?

At Pocket, we aim to reveal and share great writing and thinking from across the web, so that you can benefit from it too. If you want to see even more on this topic, visit http://www.getpocket.com, sign up for an account if you don’t yet have one, and hit the Explore tab to find more great content. Sign up for Pocket Hits to get exceptional content delivered right to your inbox. And follow us on your favorite social platform to see more of what we share and let us know if it’s valuable to you!

Have a peaceful Sunday, from the team at Pocket.

Nothing beats waking up after a night of rest feeling refreshed. Quality sleep helps us recover, grow, and lead a healthier life. Can you count the times you’ve had trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or not getting enough sleep? The new year is a perfect time to learn more about sleep and how to improve your own sleeping habits.

What Happened When I Tried the U.S. Army’s Tactic to Fall Asleep in Two Minutes
Michael Grothaus, Fast Company

The technique has been used to help people fall asleep in the most uncomfortable circumstances, and best of all, it’s said to work for 96% of the people who tried it for six weeks.

While We Sleep, Our Mind Goes on an Amazing Journey
Michael Finkel, National Geographic

Around 3500 B.C., Aristotle wrote an essay wondering why we sleep. For the next 2,300 years, no one had a good answer. It’s only in the past few decades, as imaging machines have allowed ever deeper glimpses of the brain’s inner workings, that we’ve begun to understand the science of sleep.

The Brain Benefits of Deep Sleep—and How to Get More of It
Dan Gartenberg, TED

Deep sleep is the most regenerative stage of sleep, which might help us consolidate our memories and form our personalities. What if technology could help us get more out of it?

So now that ‘sleeping more in 2019’ is one of your new goals, do you know about Pocket’s auto dark mode? If you read in Pocket before bed, turn on auto dark mode from the article view and your articles will display on a dark background at night. As you may know, blue light from mobile screens can interfere with good sleep. So try out auto dark mode and tell us what you think.

Do you have any valuable articles about sleep in your Pocket? Share them with us!

Money does help to turn the wheel of life. It buys necessities, access, and even privilege. But what is wealth? What if you already have wealth—right now—and didn’t realize it? What does access to more money actually buy you? And what might happen if we collectively evolved our definition of wealth to include things that aren’t material—like knowledge or human capacity? Save and read these three articles in Pocket and get a new perspective.

The Price of Happiness: Horizontal vs Vertical Wealth
Charles Chu, Medium

Money can’t buy you happiness—or can it? Charles Chu takes a look at the traits of the wealthiest people he admires, observes different approaches to living, and arrives at an interesting insight.

The 9.9% is the new American Aristocracy
Matthew Stewart, The Atlantic

Contrary to popular myth, economic mobility in the land of opportunity is not high, and it’s going down.

Our attitude towards wealth played a crucial role in Brexit. We need a rethink.
Stephen Hawking, The Guardian

On the heels of Brexit in 2016, physicist Stephen Hawking, who passed away in March, penned an article encouraging people to change their view of wealth and money. “Everything is connected,” he wrote. “If we wish to understand the fundamental nature of the universe, we’d be very foolish to ignore the role that wealth does and doesn’t play in our society.”

Hopefully, these reads give you a fresh perspective and even a new way to think about money, wealth, and how to find happiness. Tell us, what are your goals in the new year?