In case you’ve been living in a cave, the great Popeyes v. Chick-fil-A wars are upon us, and millions of Americans are heading out to their local fried-fowl purveyor to find out for themselves which sandwich reigns supreme. Not gonna lie, my interest was piqued. But how many chickens need to die to determine a winner? Quinn Myers did the math on the metaphorical back of a schmaltzy napkin, and I’ll just say I think I might be a vegetarian now.
Must Read
“‘Eat the Rich’ Is the Rallying Cry of 2020”
For years now, the Right has held a monopoly on rallying cries like “Lock her up,” “Send them back” and “Make America Great Again,” buoyed by a president who’s built his political persona on slogans, terrible and often racist though they may be. The Left, on the other hand, has mostly foundered to keep up. But in the last year or so, in parallel with the ascendant socialist wing in the Democratic party, a rallying cry that dates back to Rousseau and the French Revolution has been picking up steam: “Eat the rich.” And it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. READ MORE
The Business of Motivation
Of all the genres on YouTube, one of the fastest rising may be motivational videos. Though there are many iterations of the motivational video, they all seem to feature the same mix of montages of men working out, athletes playing sports or business tycoons like Elon Musk talking about perseverance while orchestral music plays in the background. It’s a recipe that obviously delivers, because along the way, such videos have garnered a cult-like following, racking up hundreds of millions of views that pump people up before going to the gym, making major life decisions or just getting through the day.
Just in Time for Back-to-School
In recent years, sales of bulletproof backpacks have skyrocketed as manufacturers clamor to capitalize on parents’ well-deserved fears over the threat of mass shootings in schools. But can they actually do what they claim? Law enforcement and security experts aren’t so sure.
To Crust, or Not to Crust
When you eat pizza, do you always eat the crust? Or do you look at crust as “optional” calories, the avoidance of which allows you to enjoy the best part of the pizza without adding too much to your waistline? No doubt, going without can cut more calories than you might think. But for many, leaving crusts to wither and die in the box is as much about “crust philosophy” as it is about health and physical fitness.
An Ode to the Travel-Size Shampoo Bottle
Hotels the world over are ditching those tiny plastic shampoo bottles in an effort to cut down on plastic waste. Just this week, InterContinental Group, which owns Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Kimpton, joined Marriott by replacing the one-bangers with bulk-size bottles in a last ditch effort to save the human race from annihilation. Though it makes sense and we’ll all be better for it, as Andrew Fiouzi laments, it’s a move that cuts the klepto-traveller real deep.
Maybe They Were Born With It
The first step on the path to recovery is acknowledging that we have a problem. In the case of politics, that means confronting the fact that, as a species, we have a compulsion to engage in left-versus-right antagonism. But where does that compulsion come from? According to a niche but growing perspective within evolutionary psychology, our political orientations may be under the influence of social coping strategies we’ve had since we were in the womb.
What to Wear
One of the biggest barriers to maintaining a regimen at the gym is feeling like you don’t belong, and a lot of that stems from not knowing what to wear. I know I’ve felt that way, so I put together a handy guide to help newbie gym-goers figure out what to wear during a workout so they never feel out of place.
Douching is Still a Thing, Evidently
Douching is a practice that’s been around for a hundred years, and though it had a heyday in the middle of the 20th century, it’s since been proven that the douche is as ineffective as a means of contraception as it is medically dangerous. And yet, douching persists. Madeleine Holden spoke to a number of women who douche to find out why.
Jeff Gross
Jeff Gross is MEL’s senior editor for social media and content marketing. His daily ICYMI column, which chronicles all things meta on the site, is the quickest way to catch up on MEL, and the funniest thing you’ll read all day. Follow him on Twitter.
