Ben Bateman At the close of his trek across South America, Ben Bateman is looking for the life lesson of his travel experience.

Jonathan Gourlay Jonathan Gourlay analyzes the latest smartphone commercials and finds perversion, misogyny, anger, and circles.

Kevin Nguyen Kevin Nguyen plays Journey, a new videogame about the kind of isolation and loneliness that brings people together.

Dan Packel Dan Packel spent many childhood days at the racetrack, never quite grasping the sport. For similar reasons, audiences never connected with HBO’s ill-fated series Luck.

Jonathan San Jonathan San would like to fix several errors that appeared in yesterday’s news story.

Alice Stanley For Alice Stanley, streaming her favorite shows with Netflix on her laptop is convenient, but does it rob her of TV’s communal aspects?

The Bureau Staff The Bureau Staff does a bit of hard drive archaeology to uncover embarrassing documents, emails, and images of days past.

Ben Bateman Ben Bateman has advice if you’re going to make the most of being the token fat kid in this cartoon caper.

Tim Lehman Even with a plethora of online tools to manage his personal finances, Tim Lehman still sucks with money.

Juliet Disparte Juliet Disparte asks herself what she wants to do next — and figures out that she doesn’t have to figure it out.

Jon Methven Jon Methven announces several cast changes for this evening’s performance of Random Arrows: A Reality Broadway Musical.

Luke Epplin Luke Epplin watches Buddy Guy, the “world’s greatest living guitarist,” combat his increasing irrelevancy with bombastic guitar solos.

Katie Boody Katie Boody visits the home of one of her sixth graders to discuss how he’s coping with the death of his older brother.

Mark Peters Bored by only seven distinct days of the week, Mark Peters proposes 24 more days to fit in the month.

The Bureau Editors The Bureau Editors introduce a new side blog.

Kyle Chayka After years of resisting, Kyle Chayka gives in and purchases his first smartphone.

Michael Stutz In the mid-’90s, Michael Stutz abandoned his computer for an entire year to write his first novel. Coming back wasn’t so easy.

Charlie Nadler Thinking about writing a trend piece about how kids today are “too plugged in”? Charlie Nadler has some writing advice for you.

Kim McMurray Kim McMurray falls in love and, at the same time, sets out to read the biographies of every single U.S. president.

Matt Swetnam Matt Swetnam on why we shouldn’t love Downton Abbey (but do anyway).

Eli Terry According to Eli Terry, the key to succeeding at everything involves a lot of ham.

Hallie Bateman Running with the notion that “everyone deserves love,” Ben and Hallie Bateman have penned and illustrated Valentine’s Day cards for, well, everyone.

Jessica Schein Before pads, there were Kotex belts. Before adulthood, there were Jessica Schein’s embarrassing pre-adolescent experiences.

Ben Bateman In Ecuador, Ben Bateman makes a friend, eats sausage, and stops being afraid.

The Bureau Staff The Bureau Staff recalls tales of adolescent loves and disappointments. (Okay, mostly disappointment.)

Nishant Batsha Nishant Batsha tries to remember exactly he did exactly one year ago and finds that digital records don’t add up to a complete memory.

Leah Caldwell Leah Caldwell confuses a human with a spambot, which begs the question: what does it mean to be human?

Jeremy Blachman Jeremy Blachman notices his Pandora recommendations becoming increasingly sinister.

Jonathan Gourlay For Jonathan Gourlay, Facebook Timeline has turned his news feed into an online cemetery.

Juliet Disparte After her mastectomy, Juliet Disparte gets breast implants — a process that reveals just how shallow she is.