Hamilton Nolan · 09/12/14 03:50PM

The volume of gray matter in one region of your brain predicts how much tolerance you have for financial risk. Our economy will always be ruined by big-headed people.

The "Autocratic Crackdown" Threatening Hungary's Freedom of Press

Aleksander Chan · 09/12/14 02:35PM

Hungary's tightening vice on its press amounts to "an autocratic crackdown," Philip N. Howard, a professor at the Central European University and at the University of Washington, writes in the New York Times—taking specific aim at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's control of the country's Media Authority, which monitors media competition and issues broadcast licenses:

Zen Koans Explained: "Just Go to Sleep"

Hamilton Nolan · 09/12/14 02:22PM

Two men walking towards one another meet in a narrow hallway, wide enough for only one to pass. "Ladies first," says one man, slyly. A riddle: What is the other man's reply? A hint: Women have not been invented.

Democratic Congressman Recommends "Sexting" to Organize Voters

Allie Jones · 09/12/14 01:32PM

Rep. James Clyburn, a sweet old Democrat from South Carolina who may or may not own a cellular device, has some ideas about how to organize voters in Ferguson and elsewhere. He told a C-SPAN caller, "We've got great tools to communicate... We can text—what do we call it? Sexting. Let's do some … organizing over the Internet."

Alert: Olive Garden Does Not Cook Its Pasta in Salted Water

Aleksander Chan · 09/12/14 12:58PM

You've probably been busy eating real food to notice that America's favorite breadstick-shaped-baked-wheat purveyor, Olive Garden, is currently in the grips of a nasty proxy fight. Starboard Value LP, an investor in Darden Restaurants Inc.—Olive Garden's parent company—is vying for control of the Darden's board as sales, namely at Olive Garden, languish. And in a nearly 300-page slideshow takedown, Starboard takes Darden to task for what they believe to be poor business practices, most notably: Olive Garden does not salt their pasta water.

Helmet-Cam Video Shows How Much It Sucks to Get Doored on Your Bike

Andy Cush · 09/12/14 11:06AM

Getting doored—that is, having a driver or passenger open a car's door into you as you ride by—is a constant, looming threat for urban cyclists. The point-of-view video above, shot near New York City's Union Square, shows exactly what it's like when it happens, but the real drama comes after the crash.

Without Campaign Finance Reform, Nothing Changes

Hamilton Nolan · 09/12/14 10:57AM

If we ever hope to be a truly fair representative democracy, we need to have campaign finance reform. The Republicans in the Senate have just blocked a proposed Constitutional amendment that might help do that. In America, the money owns the people. Not the other way around.

Kimmel Catches Fashion Week Attendees Lying About Fake Designers

Aleksander Chan · 09/12/14 09:58AM

Like he did with Coachellea and fake band names, Jimmy Kimmel sent "Lie Witness News" team to New York's Lincoln Center as Fashion Week wraps to dupe aspiring fashion know-it-alls into saying they like designers that are actually just pop culture figures (Betsy Ross, Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia). "Chandler Bing, I have heard of," one insists. Have you?