Life

The Museum of Failure, curated by Samuel West, exhibits a variety of failed consumer products.

Curator Samuel West opens Museum of Failure in Helsingborg, Sweden, where “learning is the only way to turn failure into success.”

Adrift for 438 days, Salvador Alvarenga's resilience, ingenuity, and determination allowed him to stay alive, with a huge assist from ordinary household garbage.

Stanford University sociologist Marianne Cooper on the anxiety generated by hard times.

The future looks bright (thanks to light pollution).

A critically-acclaimed “trash truck ballet” illustrates how workers in unenviable low-income jobs have something more to offer—given the opportunity to rise above the drudgery of their daily routines.

How epic amounts of waste are dragging us down—and what we can do about it.

Chicago speech pathologist Sarah Wu revolts against unhealthy school lunches and becomes an unlikely part of the school lunch reform movement.

Nudist camps have long had a hard time attracting the under-35 crowd. But thanks to social media and the rise of high-end resorts, young people are at last showing the lifestyle some love.

Private investigator Sam Brower says it’s going to take the resources of the federal government to control crime in Short Creek and other FLDS communities, because “[FLDS] have millions of dollars and they’re in it for life.”

“I would definitely like to win a Darwin Award on my grand exit,” acknowledges Northcutt, who once survived an incident that might have earned her that dubious honor.

The author of “Inside Scientology” discusses the successes and failures of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, as well as those of the church’s current leader David Miscavige.

Dullmensclub.com: A blog (or dullog) where dull men—and the women who appreciate them—share thoughts about simple, ordinary things.

Alexandra Robbins explains why geeks grow up to be more successful adults than their “popular” peers.

Don’t let the title deter you. Like failure, boredom is an unavoidable part of the human experience and deserves further consideration.

In response to skyrocketing gas prices and a struggling economy, Wendy Brown asks us to envision a reinvention of suburbia.

Bed bug infestations are now epidemic, thanks to an uninformed public and incompetent exterminators who don’t know how to treat bed bugs specifically.

After graduating from USC, Daniel Seddiqui found himself unable to find a full-time job. In dire financial straits, he decided to work his way across the country: 50 jobs in 50 states in 50 weeks.

Twenty-six years ago, Stan Brock founded Remote Area Medical to provide free medical care to people in Third World countries. Today, the large majority of its clinics are held in the United States.

Nicolas Buissart’s “urban safari” includes stops at a vandalized, abandoned subway station, a pile of coal waste, and the former home of a serial killer. Sound like fun?