Illustration by Bendik Kaltenborn I born in factory. They put me in wrapper. They seal me in box. Three of us in box. In early days, they move us around. From factory to warehouse. From warehouse to truck. From truck to store. One day in store, boy human sees us on shelf. He grabs us, hides us under…

Men aren't porn stars. Not really. They're extras. They're props. They're stand-ins for guys everywhere. But not Mr. James Deen. Just by being, well, average (or let's say larger than average), Deen has gotten huge (oops). And what's even stranger is who he's gotten huge with (hey, we didn't mean…

What I am about to do has been denounced by the Vatican as “a vulgar display of power and wealth,” drawn the ire and fire of Islamic terrorists, stranded European royalty and thrill-seeking riffraff in the Sahara, cost hundreds of millions in damages, and claimed the lives of more than 30 people.…

UPDATE: Some thoughts on some of the responses, by way of Einstein. UPDATE 2: This segment from NPR’s On the Media articulates the project well — give it a listen. Ours is a culture and a time immensely rich in trash as it is in treasures.” ~ Ray Bradbury You are a mashup of what you let into your…

British-born David Ogilvy was one of the original, and greatest, "ad men." In 1948, he started what would eventually be known as Ogilvy & Mather , the Manhattan-based advertising agency that has since been responsible for some of the world's most iconic ad campaigns, and in 1963 he even wrote…

It might sound strange to use the verb “Love” in the title of a rant. But here goes. I love photography. Why am I telling you this? Isn’t it self-obvious? Don’t we all love photography? The answer is no. There is a percentage of photographers who hate photography. They do not appreciate photography.…

Kenji Aoki for The New York Times On May 26, 2009, Robert Lustig gave a lecture called “Sugar: The Bitter Truth,” which was posted on YouTube the following July. Since then, it has been viewed well over 800,000 times, gaining new viewers at a rate of about 50,000 per month, fairly remarkable numbers…

Those high-priced bartenders in their red vests and white shirts who your caterers recommended to serve at your last party may know a thing or two, but for entertaining on a smaller scale—for parties of seven people, four, or even just one—a few simple steps to the perfect cocktail are all you’ll…

VOW OF PROPERTYFather Arsenios at the Vatopaidi monastery, overlooking the Aegean Sea, in Mount Athos, Greece. He is considered by many to be Vatopaidi’s C.F.O., “the real brains of the operation.” After an hour on a plane, two in a taxi, three on a decrepit ferry, and then four more on buses driven…

Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, oversees a populist intelligence network. Digitally altered photograph by Phillip Toledano The house on Grettisgata Street, in Reykjavik, is a century old, small and white, situated just a few streets from the North Atlantic. The shifting northerly winds can…

1/4 Getty 2/4 Getty 3/4 Getty 4/4 Getty The wide, smiling face of Sheikh Mohammed – the absolute ruler of Dubai – beams down on his creation. His image is displayed on every other building, sandwiched between the more familiar corporate rictuses of Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders. This man has…

Romano Cagnoni / Getty Pop quiz: Which European country has the most liberal drug laws? (Hint: It's not the Netherlands.) Although its capital is notorious among stoners and college kids for marijuana haze–filled "coffee shops," Holland has never actually legalized cannabis — the Dutch simply don't…