Health Tips Line

Anyone who has to regularly commute in one of America’s major metropolitan areas knows that heavy traffic during the morning and evening rush hour can be a soul-killer. There’s nothing worse than watching your 8 a.m. meeting time come and go while you’re stuck behind a belching semi. Now, a new study from traffic data firm INRIX tallies just how costly congestion really is in both time and money. Given their densities, I expected my home city of New York or its West Coast counterpart, Los Angeles, to rank among the worst. Instead, I was surprised to find that another metro, much smaller than the Big Apple and even the City of Angels, claimed the unwelcome title of America’s most congested city. Even more surprising? This city ranked third worst in the world, beating out the likes of notoriously traffic-clogged London and Paris. Ahead, we’ll discuss the report, and if you live in this major metro, you’re probably already nodding along in solidarity. Read on to find out which cities ...

You read, you saved, you shared—and honestly? You have great taste. Throughout 2025, you showed up for the stories that sparked curiosity and made everyday moments a little more exciting. From surprising facts to travel hacks to feel-good news , our stories quickly became your favorites. At the heart of everything Reader’s Digest publishes is a simple goal: to create content our readers genuinely love. Our mission is to inspire, inform and be “a trusted friend in a complicated world.” Whether we’re helping you discover new places, make sense of what’s happening or find joy in the little things, we’re here for you . That’s why we’ve compiled our Best of 2025 , aka our top five stories of the year, along with a few honorable mentions (it was so hard to choose!), that reflect exactly that. So grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable and read on for the stories you loved most—and the ones you may have missed. Get  Reader’s Digest ’s  Read Up newsletter for more fun facts, holida...

The first time I experienced this phenomenon, it was the noise that got me. It was a loud whooshing sound that felt vaguely apocalyptic—if the apocalypse was happening in a car wash. I fly out of Denver, so this is a regular occurrence for me, but that first time felt otherworldly, almost claustrophobic, especially since I was watching workers outside the plane do things I’d never seen them do before. But for many passengers, it’s the smell that hits them first. The smell is unmistakably … sweet? Maple syrup-ish ? Maybe even a little boozy, like someone cracked open a bottle of butterscotch schnapps in 14C. If you’ve ever smelled this, know that your seat mate isn’t secretly housing a stack of waffles, and you haven’t finally snapped after two hours of gate delays. That mysterious scent is actually a very normal—and very important—part of flying. “I find it’s always helpful to explain a little bit about what is happening, because sometimes it concerns or scares people,” says Loretta ...

It seems like there’s a podcast for everything these days—and that’s actually pretty accurate. Believe it or not, there are more than 4.5 million podcasts available worldwide. (Yes, that’s a real stat!) And they’re more popular than ever: According to Edison Research, 55% of Americans tune into at least one podcast every month. It’s easy to see why we love them. We get to hang with a “friend” for an hour—someone we find endlessly fun and fascinating who always shares cool tidbits and helpful tips. Then we want to share all that cool and helpful info with our actual friends. That’s the basis of Apple’s list of the most popular podcasts of 2025, which includes the episodes that were shared most often with friends and on social media. (The top podcasts , by the way, were The Joe Rogan Experience , The Daily and The Mel Robbins Podcast .) So what is everyone sharing? Below, you’ll find the top five most-shared episodes on Apple’s list, as well as the highlights from each of them. I lis...

I recently texted my 21-year-old son to ask what time he was coming over for dinner. His reply? “k”—just the letter k . No capitalization, no punctuation, no context (and, most notably, no actual answer). Was he mad at me? Had I done something wrong? Had he gotten in a terrible car accident and broken all his fingers and all he could type was one letter with his nose? (Any other moms go directly to catastrophic spirals?) I spent 10 minutes analyzing that single letter before my 16-year-old daughter walked by and said, “Mom, that just means ‘fine.’ Chill.” Meanwhile, when I text my great aunt, I receive responses that read like formal correspondence: “Dear Charlotte, I was so delighted to see your pictures on Facebook. Your kids are getting so big. You look just like your grandmother. With love, Aunt Cathy.” Ignoring the fact that this text should have been a Facebook comment, there’s the issue that she signs her texts. Every. Single. Time. Welcome to the wild world of multigeneratio...