review
Reviews of relationship guides and the ever-changing love landscape.
Saltwater and Ashes
Sometimes the sea holds what we cannot. The sea was quiet enough to take me. Not violently. Not in a dramatic, thrashing way. Just quietly — the way grief does. I floated on my back, my ears softened by water, my eyes fixed on the wide, indifferent sky. Birds skimmed low across the surface, their wings almost brushing my face. I was only moments from shore — from my husband, from my boys, from my life. I could have stood up easily. The water was not that deep.
By imtiazalama day ago in Humans
The Scale Didn't Change Much
I stood on the bathroom scale for 47 seconds. Not because I was waiting for the number to change—it wouldn't. I was waiting for myself to feel different. The digital display read 184.3. It had read 184.1 three weeks earlier. Same jeans. Same face. Same frustration.
By Edward Smith2 days ago in Humans
Three-stranded braid of failing Cs: Christianity, Capitalism, Consumerism
Scrooge. What a word. Invented by Charles Dickens back in the 1840's as the name for his deplorably wealthy antagonist in the story "A Christmas Carol". Now, in modern English, a Scrooge is a miserly, greedy "person" who deprioritizes actual people in order to better fixate on money.
By Sam Spinelli6 days ago in Humans
You Ate What?
What did you say? You ate what? We have been consumed with modern technology. Every week it seems there is some new innovation to consider. Never has it been more imperative to take a step back and revisit what we are dealing with, because everything has a consequence, good or bad.
By Alexandra Grant6 days ago in Humans
Facebook is Dead. Top Story - February 2026.
Or at least it feels like it's dead, doesn’t it? Any system that is not maintained and improved but simply left to its own devices, will enter a stage of entropy (natural, slow decay, degradation, and dilapidation) and eventually die.
By Lana V Lynx6 days ago in Humans
Falling Between Every System
Modern social systems are often described as safety nets. Employment law protects workers. Healthcare programs provide treatment. Disability benefits replace lost income. Unemployment insurance bridges job loss. Each system is presented as a safeguard designed to catch people when life disrupts their ability to function normally. Yet for many people living with disability, chronic illness, or injury, the lived experience is the opposite. Rather than forming a net, these systems stack vertically, each with its own eligibility rules, thresholds, and assumptions. Instead of catching the fall, they create gaps. People do not slip through because they failed to try. They fall because the systems were never designed to align.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast7 days ago in Humans
American Dream is Broken
For much of the 20th century, the United States was associated with a broad and stable middle class. Rising wages, home ownership, accessible higher education, and stable employment formed the backbone of what was often referred to as “the American Dream.” The idea was that if you work hard, play by the rules, and save for the future, you will achieve success and build a good life for yourself and your children.
By Lana V Lynx7 days ago in Humans
Is Bridgerton Trashy and Stereotypical or Progressive and Innovative?
Where to begin… I have yet to see ‘Wuthering Heights’, but it seems similar in style. It is not in keeping with the time it depicts and weaves in the modern era. I love this about Bridgerton, although I was unsure at first. I have watched every season, and it’s always thought-provoking.
By Bathtub Narratives9 days ago in Humans
The Voucher Program
Tennessee's Education Savings Account program was introduced to the legislature in 2023 with a specific image attached to it. A poor child in a failing school whose parents finally have the power to do something about it. That image did most of the political work. The bill passed. The program launched. And then the data started coming in, and the data described a different child entirely.
By Tim Carmichael9 days ago in Humans
The Legible Child
A particular form of exhaustion arises from performing unseen tasks, distinct from the fatigue of overwork. It settles slowly, over months or years, until one day a teacher stands at a photocopier early in the morning, watching pages collate, and notices she no longer knows why she chose this profession. She gathers her papers, walks to her classroom, and begins another day of documentation.
By Tim Carmichael10 days ago in Humans
Mayday Mayday
She, Amanda, Sr. Administrator, walks into the server room and notices that the report server is down. She has not even put her purse up or sat at her desk. Her first order of business was to troubleshoot the major fire. Which had shut down the report server over the weekend.
By Jacqueline Elaine Hudson10 days ago in Humans
