Photo credit: Canva, U.S. Embassy London/X – The U.S. Embassy put out a press release addressing the tea controversy threatening our "Special Relationship" with the U.K.
If there’s one thing British culture is universally known for, it’s tea. And if there’s one thing Americans are known for in Britain, it’s mucking up tea.
Admittedly, Americans’ relationship with the U.K. and its tea is a bit…complicated. After all, it was Britain’s taxation of imported tea that served as both a symbol and catalyst for the Revolutionary War, made famous by the so-called Boston Tea Party in 1773. (For those not steeped in American history, colonists famously dumped tea from British ship in Boston Harbor overnight in protest over being taxed without representation. They also tried to pin it on Native Americans, dressing as Mohawk Indians to disguise their identities, but that’s another story for another time.)
Our complicated tea relationship just took an unexpected turn, as an American scientist dared to suggest that the secret to a perfect cup of tea is to add a bit of salt to it, which naturally caused the entire United Kingdom to lose its everlovin’ mind.
Michelle Francl, a chemistry professor at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, argues in her book, “Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea,” that sodium in salt can counteract the chemical process that causes tea to taste bitter, to which the British say, “Rubbish! Poppycock!”
“A scientist from the country where you can find tea being made with lukewarm water from the tap claims to have found the recipe for a perfect cuppa,” British newspaper The Guardian quipped.
The Brits take their tea-making seriously, using a kettle to heat the water to just the right temperature and steeping their tea for a set amount of time, while Americans dare to pop a mug of water in the microwave and haphazardly leave their tea bag for however long they feel like. (It’s kind of a perfect example of ingrained American rebellion against monarchical tradition, really.)
Folks at the U.S. Embassy in the U.K. recognized that salt-in-tea controversy had landed the nation in some hot water, so they issued an official response. And naturally, it includes some lighthearted trolling of our friends across the pond.
“An important statement on the latest tea controversy,” the Embassy wrote on X, with an image of an official United States Embassy Press Release.
It begins by explaining that media reports of an American professor’s “perfect” cup of tea recipe “has landed our special bond with the United Kingdom in hot water.”
“Tea is the elixir of camaraderie,” it continues, “a sacred bond that unites our nations. We cannot stand idly by as such an outrageous proposal threatens the very foundation of our Special Relationship.”
Ohhh, somebody at the Embassy had their cookies today.
“Therefore we want to ensure the good people of the UK that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britain’s national drink is not official United States policy. And never will be,” reassured the Embassy. “Let us unite in our steeped solidarity and show the world that when it comes to tea, we stand as one.”
A perfectly diplomatic response, followed by the ultimate American tea troll:
“The U.S. Embassy will continue to make tea in the proper way—by microwaving it.”
Oh yes, they did.
Now, some may lament that an official government agency would have the time to troll an entire country over a cup of tea, but it’s not like the U.S. Embassy in the U.K. is on a complex diplomatic mission. Our countries have been close friends and allies for a long time, despite our fight for independence in the 18th century, so a little friendly banter is just what we should expect.
For their part, the U.K. government officially responded with a quintessentially understated retort.
“We appreciate our Special Relationship, however, we must disagree wholeheartedly… Tea can only be made using a kettle.”
In response, to the statement put out by the US Embassy in the UK:
We appreciate our Special Relationship, however, we must disagree wholeheartedly…
From Pakistan to Tanzania, the most effective education solutions are community-led. Here’s how local leaders, in partnership with Malala Fund and supported by Pura, are mobilizing entire communities.
When asked to describe what Tanzania smells like, Grace Isekore closes her eyes and breathes in deep. For a moment, she’s somewhere else entirely. Tanzania is a rich tapestry of sights and scents, from the smell of sea mist that permeates the coastline to the earthy cardamom and cloves she cooks with in her kitchen. But when Grace emerges from her reverie, her answer is unexpected.
“Tanzania smells like peace,” she says, her eyes still closed. “I see a beautiful country where we are free to move, free to speak. And there is peace within the community.”
For Grace, that sense of peace isn’t just something she smells; it’s something she works toward every day. As a project coordinator with Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC), a women-led organization that empowers pastoralist communities in northern Tanzania, she has seen firsthand how girls flourish when they have the opportunity to attend school. Like scent, education not only connects girls to their own culture, but also helps broaden their horizons, realizing new possibilities for themselves and others. That transformation reshapes entire communities and ripples outward, with the potential to change countries and transform the world for the better.
Different scents, different approaches, and communities driving change
Spices in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
For Grace and others around the world, education is freedom, as well as a pathway to a stronger community. Rooted in that shared belief, Pura, a home fragrance company, was inspired to build on their four-year partnership with Malala Fund to create something truly unique: a fragrance collection that connects people through scent to communities in Tanzania, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil, where barriers to girls’ education are among the highest.
Using ingredients from each region, the new Pura x Malala Fund Collection uses scent to transport people to these regions directly. “Future in Bloom,” for example, invokes Pakistan’s lush valleys through notes of jasmine, cedarwood, and mango; while Tanzania’s fragrance, “Heart on Fire,” evokes the spirit and joyfulness of the girls who live there through cardamom, lemon, and green tea.
The new Collection honors the work Malala Fund does every day, partnering with locally-led organizations in these four countries to ensure every girl can access and complete 12 years of education. Each scent celebrates the joy, tenacity, and courage of the women and girls driving change on the ground, while also augmenting Pura’s annual grant to Malala Fund by donating eight percent of net revenue from the Pura x Malala Fund Collection to Malala Fund directly.
Just as each country’s scent is unique, so too are their needs related to education. But with support from Malala Fund and Pura, local leaders are coming up with creative ways to mobilize entire communities (parents, teachers, elders, and the students themselves, in their pursuit of solutions, understanding that educating girls helps everyone thrive. Here’s how their efforts are creating real, durable impact in Tanzania and Pakistan, and creating a ripple effect that changes the world for the better.
Parent-teacher associations help Maasai girls and their communities in Tanzania problem-solve
A girl’s school in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
Northern Tanzania, Grace’s home, is home to pastoralist communities like the Maasai, a nomadic people who have moved with the seasons to nurture the land and care for their livestock for centuries. The nomadic nature of this lifestyle creates significant and unique barriers to girls’ education. Longstanding gender roles have enabled Maasai to survive in the harsh environment and have placed great value on both women and men. Over time, as nomadic life has been threatened by the privatization of land and stationary education models have been implemented, the reality of pastoralist livelihood has shifted and introduced new complexities. Now, the sheer distance to schools is both a practical challenge and one that often comes with danger from the landscape, predators, and potential exposure to assault along the journey. Girls shoulder the responsibility of household chores and there is often cultural pressure around early marriage – both leading to boys’ education being prioritized over girls’.
“There are very, very good [pastoralist] cultural practices, which are passed from generation to generation,” says Janet Kimori, an English teacher at Lekule Girls Secondary School in Longido, Tanzania. But when cultural practices act as educational barriers, “you have to sit down and look for where you are going to assist. As a school, as an individual, the school administration—all of us will chip in and know how we are going to deal with this problem.”
PWC works to ensure girls are able to exercise their right to an education while also preserving pastoralist culture. One successful approach, the organization found, has been the formation of Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), created with help from Malala Fund. In PTA meetings, students, parents, teachers, elders, and government officials meet, discuss educational barriers, and come up with community-led solutions that preserve and honor their culture while advancing educational outcomes.
PTA meeting in Tanzania. Captured by James Roh for Pura
One recent PTA meeting highlights how these community-led solutions are often the most effective. At Lekule Girls Secondary School, the lack of fresh water forces girls to walk long distances to collect water for the school’s kitchen during the school day, and these long journeys not only disrupt class time but can leave girls vulnerable to sexual assault in isolated areas. Through facilitated discussion, PTA members landed on a solution: installing a borehole to pipe in fresh water to the school. Reliable access to water creates a better learning environment for the girls, but it also benefits the community at large, as local governments are then more likely to invest in health clinics and other community resources nearby.
With a solution in place, the PTA was then able to discuss ideas and map out a course of action. The women would raise money for the cost of the borehole, while the men would recruit workers to dig the hole and lay the pipe. Together, they would ask government officials to match their investment.
The benefits of PTA meetings within the pastoralist communities are undeniable. “The girls are talking and addressing issues in a confident way, and parents feel they are part of the resource team to solve challenges happening at school,” Grace says. One unexpected benefit: The larger cultural impact these PTA meetings have created. Thanks to the success of PTAs within pastoralist communities, the models are now being endorsed on a national level, and schools across Tanzania are starting to use them to solve problems in their own communities. When a community creates opportunities for girls to learn, everyone benefits.
Safe spaces in rural Pakistan help students and their parents connect, then drive change
Safe space for girls meeting in Pakistan. Captured by Insiya Syed.
A continent away in Pakistan, the country’s northernmost region of Gilgit-Baltistan seems like a land untouched by time. The region’s looming mountains, snow-capped peaks, lush valleys and crystalline lakes draw nature lovers and landscape photographers from around the world, but living among this kind of breathtaking scenery has its drawbacks. Schools in the region are few and far between, and the area’s harsh climate often makes roads inaccessible for travel. Poverty and gender-based discrimination are additional obstacles, making school even further out of reach, and girls are affected disproportionately. Going up against these barriers requires a persistent, quiet strength that’s found in the women who live there and reflected in Pakistan’s signature scent.
Saheli Circles are how local leaders in Gilgit-Baltistan are bridging the gap between girls and education. An Urdu term for “female friend,” Saheli Circles are after-school safe spaces where girls explore subjects like art and climate change, while also developing skills that help them manage emotions, set goals, and build positive relationships. Girls study in groups, visit the library, play sports, and tackle filmmaking and photography projects, all designed to develop self confidence and teach the girls how to advocate for issues that matter to them. But the work doesn’t stop there.
“What we’re trying to achieve here will only be impactful if it trickles down to the home environment and the school environment,” says Marvi Sumro, founder and program director of Innovate, Educate, and Inspire Pakistan (IEI), the local organization that developed the Saheli Circles model and partnered with Malala Fund in 2021 to make it a reality. Ever since, Saheli Circles have grown to involve teachers, elders, and parents to encourage relationship building that’s essential for young girls and adolescents. “Our spaces can give mothers and daughters an opportunity to interact a little differently—do an art activity, or have a cup of tea together, or some good conversation,” Marvi says.
The relationship building is what makes the biggest positive impact throughout the community. Recently, one Saheli Circle was able to bring together parents, teachers, and administrators to advocate for better education at their local school, and together they convinced the department of education to hire a science teacher. Another Saheli Circle organized a fund where members of the community can contribute monthly to pay for uniforms, books, and other school expenses for the girls in their village, eliminating those small, hidden costs that are often a barrier to education for many. A third Saheli Circle was able to produce a short film about how gender-based household chores can take away valuable study time from girls, leaving them at a disadvantage. “The girls put the film together and showed it to the mothers, and the response from the mothers was just beautiful,” Marvi says.
Girls smiling in Pakistan. Captured by Insiya Syed.
The education and relationship building that the girls receive in Saheli Circles connects them to larger opportunities and economic freedom that are not possible in their hometown. “For girls in Gilgit-Baltistan, education is extremely important because of the fact that we’re so far away from where the economy is, where the opportunity is. Education becomes this bridge for us, for our girls, to access all the opportunity and economy that exists in [larger cities].”
From rural Tanzania to remote Pakistan, local organizations prove every day that prioritizing girls’ education benefits everyone. Communities that lift up girls are able to secure resources like clean water and well-staffed schools, as well as build stronger relationships.
These outcomes are only possible because of the women and girls who work tirelessly in these regions to overcome barriers and drive progress. The Pura x Malala Fund Collection is a way to honor them, celebrate their achievements, and unite people the world over around a shared belief that education is freedom. Like scent, that belief can build, travel, and has the possibility to transform the world.
Experience the Pura x Malala Fund Collection here, and connect with the stories of real girls leading change across the globe.
There’s a nationwide running joke that the food we get from fast-food places isn’t actually food. That doesn’t stop Americans from consuming it. But we do so assuming that this food, which can fossilize in the back of a minivan, is still edible. One man decided to see whether fast food contains enough nutrients to grow vegetables if it’s turned into soil.
Ted Nivison is not a scientist, and does not play one on television. For this experiment, though, he dons a metaphorical lab coat and gloves. After spending time growing his own vegetables, he wanted to see what would happen if he changed up the soil. But instead of adding something practical, like Miracle-Gro, he decided to get innovative.
Nivison set his sights on making his own soil from fast-food scraps. In a YouTube video, he’s seen placing a large box on his kitchen counter.
“This is a Lomi. This is a device that lets you turn food scraps into usable soil, or at least what the company calls ‘Lomi Earth,’” he explains. “Obviously, by food scraps, they mean things like vegetables and fruit, but this device can turn any food scraps into soil. So what would happen if I turned fast food into soil? Could I grow a plant from that?”
Surprisingly, the answer to his question was yes. The curious man went to the nearest McDonald’s and dumped two double cheeseburgers, two large fries, 20 chicken nuggets, and a pack of apple slices into the soil-making device. The small machine takes up to 20 hours to turn food into dirt, so Nivison ran some errands before returning to check on the progress.
“I don’t know what I expected to happen here,” he says before it cuts to a clip of him returning home. “I’ve left the Lomi going and my entire apartment smells like McDonald’s.”
When the video cuts back to the present, Nivison reveals, “I had to open up the windows in my apartment just to filter out the air that I was smelling, and I gotta say, the resulting dirt is a little bit creepy.”
He opens the lid to reveal a bright, reddish-brown, dry, clumpy soil that he says smells like Cheetos. The amateur scientist also describes the soil as greasy. This doesn’t dissuade him, though he muses that a plant might taste the soil and say, “I guess I’m not going to live.”
Unfortunately, the McDonald’s haul didn’t produce enough soil to fill a pot, so he decided to mix things up by creating soil from Taco Bell and KFC, too.
The soil from Taco Bell looks closest to actual potting soil, which he attributes to the food having more vegetables. But the soil from KFC was so incredibly greasy that you could hear it as he moved it around.
To conduct the experiment, he set up a control group, a nod to his high school science education. Then he split the dirt into multiple clay pots with varying levels of traditional potting soil mixed in. One pot contained soil created solely from the fast-food concoction.
It turns out the more Lomi dirt used, the harder the soil became when it was watered. Nivison speculates that this is due to the grease content:
“With 100% Lomi dirt, it looks like the surface of Mars. And I don’t even think the guy in The Martian would’ve been able to grow potatoes from this. This is worse than Mars dirt. It is gross. When I watered it, none of the water would seep into the dirt. It just sat on top, turning into something like a swamp.”
After seeing the progress of the plant grown in 10% fast-food dirt, he decided to increase the amount, making sure not to exceed 50%. Seeds planted in 50% to 100% fast-food dirt molded, but so did the seeds planted in 15% Lomi dirt. Unexpectedly, the arugula planted in 20% fast-food dirt sprouted, though it eventually stopped growing.
If you thought the control plant grew the best, you’d be just as shocked as Nivison. The control plant never got beyond the small initial sprouts. It was the plant soaking up that 10% mixture of greasy fast food that outgrew them all. All that experimenting made for a fairly hungry scientist, so he made an arugula salad.
Sexual Assault is a topic many people don’t want to think about, but it’s an unfortunate reality for some. Due to the topic being uncomfortable and often stigmatized, there can be a misunderstanding around how prevalent sexual assault is. Brittany Piper is an author, sexual assault educator, and survivor who uses a unique approach to highlight the number of those impacted.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and April 1st marks the anniversary of Piper’s assault. To commemorate the occasion, she created a compilation video of an activity she performs during her training sessions at college campuses. The video was uploaded to her social media page, where it has amassed over four million views.
The video gives a visual representation of the startling statistics. Someone is sexually assaulted every minute in the United States, and every nine minutes, a child is sexually assaulted, according to RAINN. They also reveal that “An estimated 443,635 people age 12+ experience sexual violence each year in the U.S.” and that “26.4% of female and 6.8% of maleundergraduate students experience rape or sexual assault involving physical force, violence, or incapacitation.”
Those staggering statistics make Piper’s visual depiction more powerful. Piper focused the camera on different groups of college students in lecture halls. She asks the students to stand if they know someone who has experienced sexual assault or if they themselves have experienced it. In each video, nearly every student stands up. Piper tells the different groups of students to remain standing if the assault was reported. Almost instantly, the majority of people sat down.
As students look around taking inventory of how many were still standing, the educator asks one last question. For the few students who were still on their feet, she asked them to stay standing if the perpetrator received any punishment for their actions. In a heartbreaking visual, approximately 4 to 5 students remained standing in total.
“The creaking of chairs. It’s a visceral symphony etched into my bones,” Piper writes. She later adds, “Today, as I stitched together just a few of the stages my body remembers, the pattern is heartbreakingly clear. Every time, when I ask who knows a survivor, it’s always too many.”
Gen Z may have a clearer understanding of what constitutes sexual assault and be more likely to share their experience with others. A meta-analysis published by Science Direct that looks at ACE (adverse childhood experiences) scores shows Gen Z is less likely to have experienced childhood sexual assault than Gen X.
Viewers of the video were moved by the sheer number of people who sat back down. One person shares, “So many standing followed by so many sitting down breaks my heart.”
Another laments, “I guarantee the boys still sitting DO know someone who’s a survivor. They just don’t realize it because the person hasn’t told them.”
One man is calling for accountability, writing, “Men this is on us. We need to call anyone, anywhere, anytime we see something…. To start … let’s look in the mirror at our own behavior.”
Someone else has a sad revelation, writing, “It hits hard when you realize that she can do this in any city in the usa and get the exact same results. She wasn’t surprised, she knew what would happen when she asked those questions, no matter where she was in the usa.”
“The visual is overwhelming. Made me cry,” another person says.
“Thank you for your work. This is a such powerful way to show rape culture and the impunity in our society,” someone shares.
Editor’s Note: If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, you’re not alone. RAINN offers free, confidential support, 24/7 in English and Spanish through their National Sexual Assault Hotline. Call 1-800-656-HOPE (4637), text “HOPE” to 64673 or chat at RAINN.org/hotline.
Iced coffee is a must for many Americans. A 2025 survey from the National Coffee Association reported that 31% of Americans have iced coffee daily.
And Americans are shelling out their hard-earned cash for it. Data from food research firm Technomic found that in 2023, Americans spent $17.7 billion on iced coffee drinks. Coffee prices in the U.S. are also on the rise, and an August 2025 report noted that the average cost for hot coffee was $3.52, and $5.47 for cold brew.
Frugal people looking to save money on their daily coffee fix took to Reddit where a trucker shared his affordable iced coffee recipe. It’s earning major praise from his fellow frugal foodies.
49-cent iced coffee hack
User asu3dvl explained how he keeps his iced coffee costs down while on the road:
“Trucker here. Every morning I mix two tablespoons of Great Value 100% Columbian instant coffee into my 20 oz Stanley tumbler. A splash of Hazelnut creamer and add water and ice. Shake it up,” he shared.
He noted how affordable it is, as well as how “It’s like $0.49 a day, lasts me all morning and keeps me sane when I roll through your town as you people try to kill yourselves around my 40 ton 18 wheeler. 🤣🤣🤣 The coffee and the large creamer last around three weeks.”
He also added, “Tastes just as good if not better than the fresh brewed stuff we get out here, anyway.”
A former barista commented, “I worked in a coffee shop for years and I drink instant now. Its come a long way.”
Fellow iced coffee drinkers offered their best iced coffee tips to save money.
“I really like Cafe Altura instant coffee. They have one of the best instant coffees I’ve ever had and it’s a medium roast! It’s a bit spendy, but def less if you’re buying coffee from a coffee shop.” – 4077
“Juan Valdez makes great instant coffee too.” – jameson71
“Try Bustelo instant!” – disasterous_fjord
“I use about a cup and 1/3-ish of milk, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar, a couple of ice cubes, 2 scoops (I think they are tsp, but I have them heaping) of instant coffee. And a tiny bit of vanilla. I put it in a blender and tastes like a Tim Hortons Iced Capp. Instant coffee is super handy for iced coffee drinks! To make black coffee, I don’t like instant, but with milk and brown sugar, its so good!” – Just_Cake4512
“Cold brew concentrate is another good one for anyone who wants to level up from instant without spending starbucks money. throw ground coffee in a mason jar with water overnight, strain it in the morning, and you’ve got concentrate that lasts like a week in the fridge. cost works out to maybe 30-40 cents a cup. but honestly 49 cents a day for something that keeps you sane while driving an 18 wheeler through traffic is probably one of the best ROI purchases anyone in this sub is making lol.” – Couponpicked
“Try Taster’s Choice medium dark, next time you get a chance, also available at Walmart.” – ditto3000
“There’s a somewhat famous finance youtuber who had pretty much the same recipe for his “20 cent iced coffee” compared to coffee chains’ iced coffee:
– make a pot of coffee (i think he grinds his own beans) – put the whole pot in the fridge overnight – add mocha creamer (or whatever) to taste the next day. 20 cent (or is it 10 cent) ice coffee. save $5 (this was at the time, save more $ now).
I think the main part is the overnight icing of the coffee in the fridge. if you just add ice cubes to making it straight away its not the same.” -Silly-avocatoe
It seems like at least once a year, the debate over BMI (body mass index) resurfaces. Experts are quick to point out that it’s a flawed system: at best, it ignores key factors that shape a person’s body composition; at worst, it creates real health consequences, influencing eligibility for weight loss medications, insurance rates, joint-replacement surgery and fertility treatment. Then the conversation fades, life moves on and not much changes.
And yet, despite the constant debunking, the belief in BMI still marches on. This time, it was hurled at the USA rugby star and Olympian Ilona Maher. More specifically, someone commented “I bet that person has a 30% BMI” on one of Maher’s TikTok videos.
Could this person have simply been pointing out the inherent flaw of BMI and that Maher, an elite athlete, would be considered “overweight” using this system? Perhaps. But this is the internet we’re dealing with, so Maher (and others) interpreted it to be an insult.
Under that context, Maher wasn’t having it, and chose “not to just ignore the haters.”
“Hi, thank you for this comment. I think you were trying to roast me, but this is actually a fact. I do have a BMI of 30. Well, 29.3 to be exact,” Maher said in response video…which became something of a roast itself.
Maher talked about how she had been considered “overweight” her entire life, and even recalled being “so embarrassed” to turn in a physical form to the office which had “overweight” written on it.
“I chatted with my dietitian, because I go off facts, and not just what pops up here. You know, like you do.” she quipped while tapping her temples.
What the numbers actually tell us
Maher is 5-ft.-10-in. and 200 lbs, which is considered “overweight” by BMI standards. But as she explained, about 170 of those 200 pounds are “lean muscle mass.”
“Do that math in your head…you probably can’t,” Maher said sarcastically.
It’s easy to see through this example how bogus BMI really is, especially for athletes.
Essentially, “BMI doesn’t tell you what I can do.”
“It doesn’t tell you what I can do on the field. How fit I am. It’s just a couple of numbers put together,” she said. “It doesn’t tell you how much muscle I have, or anything like that.”
Maher concluded by faux lamenting, “I do have a BMI of 30. I am considered overweight. But alas, I am going to the Olympics, and you’re not.” Maher went on to win a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The U.S. women’s rugby team with First Lady Jill Biden and members of the U.S. delegation to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games The White House/Public Domain
Why This Hit Home for So Many People
While Maher’s clapback was certainly satisfying, it also provided some much needed reassurance to folks. So many commented on how this outdated concept has affected (or still effects) their own body image or that of a loved one.
“How can I get my teenage daughter with a high BMI (but fit!) to understand this?! She feels shamed even at the doctor for her BMI.”
“Dancer here, I’ll never forget at 13 being told I had the BMI of 24 of ‘overweight.’ I broke down and the nurse said it didn’t mean anything and all I could think was then WHY are you making me do this?!”
A registered dietitian explains why BMI is so flawed. YouTube
“I had to ask the doctor’s office to put a note on my child’s file to not bring up/talk about BMI in her check ups. It isn’t an accurate representation of health!”
“Thank you for sharing your weight, bc seeing lbs numbers in different bodies has been so helpful in me loving mine. I’m nowhere near an athlete’s body but damn, the numbers really do us in.”
Until a more affordable solution pops up, BMI will continue to rear its ugly head in doctor’s offices and in our psyches. Maybe this is a reminder that our bodies are so much more than height and weight every now and again is a good thing. And if it comes from an Olympian…even better.
Maher also shut down any notions that her BMI was high due to anything other than muscle with a Sports Illustrated cover shoot in August of 2024. Um, yeah.
Have you ever had trouble catching all of the dialogue in a TV show or movie at home? Not necessarily because you’re hard of hearing, but because you were distracted, the speakers on your television are terrible, the sound mixing is all over the place, or the characters were just talking really fast? If so, you should definitely take a cue from the younger generations.
If you’re a Gen Xer or older, one surprising habit the younger generations developed is their love of subtitles or closed-captioning while watching TV, during which every word of dialogue appears in crystal clear white text at the bottom of the screen. To older generations, closed-captioning was only for grandparents, the hearing impaired or when watching the news in a restaurant or gym.
But these days, studies show that Millennials and Gen Z are big fans of captions and regularly turn them on when watching their favorite streaming platforms.
Subtitles are becoming the new normal
A recent study found that more than half of Gen Z and Millennials prefer captions on when watching television. It’s believed that their preference for subtitles stems from the ubiquity of captioning on social media sites such as TikTok or Instagram. Think about it, most of us watch videos on their phone without the sound, so younger people in particular are used to and adept at following along this way without missing a beat. It’s comfortable for them.
This generational change perplexed TikTokker, teacher and Gen Xmother, Kelly Gibson.
“I have three daughters, and they were here. Two of them are young millennials; the other one is an older Gen Z,” Gibson explained in a video that went viral. “All of them were like, ‘Why don’t you have the captions on?’”
The mother couldn’t believe that her young kids preferred to watch TV like her grandparents. It just did not compute.
“My Gen X butt was shocked to find out that these young people have decided it’s absolutely OK to watch movies with the captions going the whole time,” she said jokingly.
Why subtitles? One reason is focus
Like a good mother, Gibson asked her girls why they preferred to watch TV with captioning, and their reason was straightforward: With subtitles, it’s easier not to lose track of the dialog if people in the room start talking.
The Today Show talks about the growing popularity of subtitles. – YouTube
“They get more out of it,” Gibson explained. “If somebody talks to them in the middle of the show, they can still read and get what’s going on even if they can’t hear clearly. Why are young people so much smarter than us?”
At the end of the video, Gibson asked her followers whether they watch TV with subtitles on or off. “How many of you out there that are Millennials actually do this? And how many of you Gen Xers are so excited that this is potentially an option?” she asked.
Gibson received over 400,000 views on her video, along with over 8,400 responses to her question. People have a lot of different reasons for preferring to watch TV with captions.
“Millennial here. I have ADHD along with the occasional audio processing issues. I love captions. Also, sometimes I like crunchy movie snacks,” Jessileemorgan wrote.
“We use the captions because I (GenX) hate the inability of the movie makers to keep sound consistent. Ex: explosions too loud conversation too quiet,” Lara Lytle added.
“My kids do this and since we can’t figure out how to turn it off when they leave, it’s become a staple. GenX here!” Kelly Piller wrote.
One user made an astute point: “GenX here. Hubby and I do this! Especially watching British shows…sometimes my American ear doesn’t hear Scottish or Welsh accents well!”
The interesting takeaway from the debate is that anti-caption people often believe that having writing on the screen distracts them from the movie. They’re too busy reading the bottom of the screen to feel the film’s emotional impact or enjoy the acting and cinematography.
“Gen X here. I hate the captions. I find I don’t watch the actual scene, I’m just reading the captions,” one user commented.
However, those who are pro-caption say that it makes the film easier to understand and helps them stay involved with the film when there are distractions.
Here’s another drawback, or con: The captions often screw up the timing of jokes and punchlines in comedies, which is a huge bummer. Watching a sitcom with the captions on, for example, can be a frustrating experience.
But here’s a pro! It’s way easier to follow convoluted plot points layered into fast paced dialogue when you can read it and never miss a name or reference.
Another pro: Turning on subtitles for young kids has been shown to help them to read!
Con: Even now, live TV closed captioning is still an absolute disaster on many programs, full of errors and inaccuracies. Surprisingly, AI captions have historically lagged behind human accuracy, though the gap is narrowing quickly.
So are captions and subtitles superior, or a pain? Who’s right? W.hoever’s holding the remote, that’s who.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
It’s a bittersweet situation for many adults. You live close enough to your own parents that grandma and grandpa can help out with the kids from time to time. On the one hand, you’ve got the luxury of a village at your disposal. Holidays are a cinch. Yay. But with that close proximity also comes blurry boundaries, which can take on the form of “surprise” grandparent visits during the most inopportune times.
Which brings us to the question: should grandparents be able to drop by unannounced in the first place? If you ask grandfather of two Rick Cognata, who regularly posts grandparent related content on his “Legacy Of A Grandpa” Instagram account, you’ll get a pretty definitive answer.
Should grandparents call before visiting?
In a video posted in early 2025, Cognata shared why making a call first might be a better move, explaining how well it works for his own kids.
“I am on my way to my daughter’s house and guess what? I called first,” Cognata began. “I said, ‘Hey, do you mind if I come over? I’m missing them. I just want to pop over. I’ll bring some food, whatever.’”
While this time Cognata’s daughter gave the okay, in the past she’s also told him “No Dad, today is not a good day.” And offering up this bit of autonomy can make all the difference in a grandparent-parent dynamic. Though Cognata shared that it’s not quite the norm.
“I see a lot with my friends that this presents a problem with … us grandparents … that just pop over. Like, ‘This is my kid, they live around the corner from me, I will pop over when I want. My parents did it to me and I do it to them.’”
Cognata concluded by saying that of course, the drop in policy will differ from family to family, but in his own observation, “I hear a lot of my friends’ children saying, ‘I wish they would call.’ So that’s all I’m saying … some of us might be crossing that line a little bit.”
Most of the comments agree
By and large, folks generally seemed to agree with Cognata’s stance.
“Totally agree it’s called respect as our children are now adults themselves. ❤️
“ I ALWAYS make contact first. They are a separate family unit to us and have their own life and routines. This has to be respected ❤️ ❤️ ”
“Agreed! Your kids are now your friends and they deserve your respect. Not everyone is up for company ( family) at any given time. They need to have their own space and decide when the timing is right. I expect the same from them. It works beautifully that way! ❤️”
Still, others felt the rule tobe unnecessary.
“It’s sad that family can’t pop over like it was when I grew up. But once an adult child gets married we have to respect how they want to live.”
“When I was younger and into my early married life, we would pop over to people’s houses all the time. I think it’s a southern thing.”
Southerners – do people stop by your house all the time? Photo credit: Canva
Whether or not you totally agree with Cognata’s opinion on this particular topic, it’s easy to see how it brings up a broader shift in how we approach family dynamics. Terms like “boundaries” certainly weren’t as mainstream when we (or our parents) were growing up, and it’s still relatively new territory for everyone. That’s why having open conversations, even online ones, can be pivotal for gaining perspective and possibly finding an approach that’s a win win for everyone.
By the way, Cognata has all kinds of grandparent-related discussions on his Instagram, which you can find here.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
Training a family pet can be hard, especially when you have an active breed that needs a certain level of stimulation. Some dogs are good to go after a few training sessions with a local trainer at a pet supply store, while others may require more personalized training in home. There are even some pet parents who opt to send their dogs to a sleep away training program that requires the dogs to live at a training facility for several months before coming home.
Many times these programs are expensive and used as a last resort option, when the other training programs aren’t providing the dogs with the skills they need to live safely with their family. This decision to send your fur baby off to a facility for months at a time is not an easy one to make, but with your pets’ best interest in mind, you put your faith in someone who specializes in the care your pup needs, and keep your fingers crossed that it pans out.
In 2024, one family thought they were doing what was best for their Huskies by sending them to a training facility. It’s unclear what prompted the family’s concern after dropping their four dogs off with their trainer, but after months of looking for their dogs with no luck, they contacted Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery Team.
The dogs, which were from Ohio, where their owner Andrea lives, were entrusted to an unnamed animal training facility in Greenville County, South Carolina. It was suspected that the training facility dumped the dogs in the woods without contacting the family to retrieve their beloved pets. Thankfully, Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery Team uses drones and other techniques to help locate lost dogs and give them an idea of where to place their traps, and they were eventually able to help recover the lost pups.
The first of the Huskies, Oakley, was found and reunited with Andrea after spending a whopping five months surviving in the wilderness. In a clip posted to TikTok, we see that poor Oakley was clearly unsure of the situation when she first spotted her human. It almost appeared that she was afraid of being in trouble. Anakin’s Trails referred to this as “lost dog syndrome.”
But after a few seconds of uncertainty, the pooch fully recognized her human mom and could not contain her excitement. Understandably—neither could Andrea.
To make things even better, just a few days after Oakley was reunited with her family, her sister Marley was also found.
Ashley Raymond, Founder and Director of Anakin’s Trails told Upworthy, “We got involved after the owners found out about them being dumped about a month and a half later [after entering the training facility]. For about a month, we hung flyers, set food stations with high quality bait with surveillance cameras, and strategically placed them where we got sightings. Before long, we began getting sightings.”
Owner reunited with second husky dog (Marley) when she was finally captured by the Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery team after surviving in the wild for months with two of her sisters. Marley was captured days after her sister (Oakley) and reunited with her owner . As of now, there is still one sister on the run in the wild that the recovery team is adamantly trying to locate and capture . #anakinstrails#animalrescue#fyp#sc#trustthetrap#animaltrapping#lostdog#dogontherun
Things were looking up for the agency after the sightings, but then the region experienced a beast of a hurricane. Hurricane Helene was massive, hitting Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia making the rescue of these remaining two pets a bit more difficult. The animal recovery organization didn’t give up hope though.
“Then, the hurricane happened and pushed them 16 miles down the road to another town. We basically had to start from scratch in an entire town, and that’s just what we did. After about 2 weeks of that, we finally nailed down the yard where they kept coming,” Raymond shares. “This time, we set our custom made kennel trap up. After they came once to it, we set it live the very next night. Around 10:30 that evening, Marley and Oakley walked in! Oakley got trapped, Marley ran off. Two nights later, Marley came back and we trapped her. We called the owner and she came down for the reunion for both on 2 different evenings.”
As of October 2024, the third dog, Juno, Marley and Oakley’s sister, is still missing, and their dog mom, Nova Jo, had been found but has still not been reunited with her human, according to Anakin’s Trails.
“There is a fourth dog. She was dumped with the other three, but she ran up to someone days after being dumped and was picked up,” Raymond said. “SC has a 5 day stray hold unfortunately. So any dog that you find in the state of SC and no one comes forward in 5 days, it’s technically yours. So they are fighting that in court.”
The work Anakin’s Trails does isn’t easy and since it’s a nonprofit, they rely on donations, which is how they were able to help provide Andrea a hotel room when she came to be reunited with her dog. And how they are able to help many others reunite with the four-legged member of their family.
If you’d like to donate to Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery Team so they can continue their work, you can do so here.
This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.
Being locked in a metal box with 150 random people all hurtling through the air at 30,000 feet is quite the social experiment, but one many of us do willingly in this age of air travel. One of the most notable parts of that experiment is that you never know who’s going to sit near you on an airplane. Will you get the quiet reader? The Chatty Cathy? The cougher who doesn’t cover their mouth? The sweet-but-over-perfumed old lady? The parent with a baby who screams from takeoff to landing?
Flying can feel like a game of roulette, especially when you find yourself sitting near one of the most unpredictable forces on Earth: a toddler. Tiny tots can make for the most delightful trip ever or the most annoying one, but as one couple demonstrates, the difference sometimes comes down to our own attitude.
A video shared on Reddit reads, “We were on the plane when this baby’s hand kept reaching out and touching my arm from behind…” At first, we see a zoomed-in shot of a woman’s arm next to the window as a little hand reaches around the side of her seat and taps her repeatedly and enthusiastically. Then the camera pans to the woman’s face and the face of the man with her, and their expressions say it all.
Clearly, the child is enjoying the feel of the woman’s arm. Tap tap tap, rub rub, squeeze, tap tap. No hesitation, zero sense of decorum, just a totally oblivious toddler sensory experience. A little annoying? Probably. Pure and wholesome and worthy of a laugh? Absolutely.
This woman could have asked the parent to stop their child from touching her (and she may have eventually). Not everyone finds small children cute and some people have sensory issues of their own that make such encounters more bothersome than it would be for others. But assuming the toddler arm massage was temporary and that the parents saw what was happening and stopped it, the reaction of the couple is a perfect example of finding the joy in life and rolling with the punches.
As the post reads, “Those small hands are a sign of absolute tenderness,” and people are loving the immediate mirthful reaction the pair had to the wee one’s curious little fingers.
An adult touching a toddler’s hand. Photo credit: Canva
“Nothing cuter than seeing a baby flailing their arms and slapping things because they are happy. They have no control. They just know they’re happy.”
“The baby slaps ‘yep this is good arm’ tap tap.”
“My grandma had the softest bat wings in the world. I used to love to touch them. I’m sure she was self conscious about it but I loved them lol.”
“As a parent I would be horrified to discover my kid was doing this but so relieved that they were such good sports about it. These are the types of people we need on airplanes.”
“Same, I’m always concerned how my kid behaves on a plane ride (and he freaking loves being on a plane) but I find most people to be such good sports around him. Love when it works out that way. Though I 10/10 would have snatched that hand away soon as I noticed .”
“The people laughing were so kind! I can imagine some people would lose it if a child did this but they just enjoyed it. “
“Seriously! Seeing the humor in everyday life says a lot about their temperament. They seem like great folks.”
Some people shared their own stories of toddlers similarly pawing at perfect strangers. It’s helpful to remember that these little ones have only been on the planet for a hot minute and they barely have anything figured out yet. The nuances of what and whom to touch and not to touch takes a while, as does having the impulse control to not just reach out and feel whatever looks soft or interesting in the moment.
A toddler looking out of an airplane window. Photo credit: Canva
“When my sister was a baby, she had an obsession with hair. My mom had her on a plane when she was probably 15 months or so and she was practically vibrating about the young woman seated next to my mom. She had Marida hair – massive red curls down to her waist.
Mom leaned over to her and said, ‘I am sorry to bother you, but my baby has a hair fetish. She may try to reach over and touch your hair, just let me know if she bothers you. She won’t pull on purpose, she’s just gonna want to touch it.’
The lady thought it was cute and let my sister hold her hair balled up in her little fists for the whole flight. I think I’ve head this story about 17161626185 times in my life, lol.”
“Little kids like to just touch stuff to learn more about the world around them, but parents need to be constantly paying attention so their kid doesn’t accidentally harass someone!”
“A little kid of around that age did this to me at a restaurant once- he walked up to me, rubbed my bare forearm, and then gave me that same mesmerized look and tapped me with his hand a couple times. I didn’t think too much of it (was more puzzled/confused than anything), but his mom had to pick him up and apologized anyway. Kids are funny haha.”
“Yes this is so adorable. The last time I took a flight with a kid sitting behind me he was kicking my seat for like two hours before I politely turned around and gave a look to his mother and said ‘hey my little friend. I know this flight is long and you wanna get out of this seat but do you mind not kicking my seat anymore?’ Then I gave him a piece of paper and some (like 5 out of my 50) colored pencils and asked him if he could make me a secret drawing and pass it to me quietly and I’d make him one. I’m an artist and I always carry watercolors and colored pencils and sketch books on flights. We ended up passing drawing back and forth for the rest of the remaining 5 hour flight. He didn’t kick my seat again… I suspect it was the poignant look I gave mom. But so he was engaged. Every 20 minutes or so I’d feel a little tap on my arm and a folded up little drawing would appear. I still have them in the pocket of a moleskin somewhere.”
Here’s to grownups joyfully embracing the reality of co-existing with small children, in all their curious, sensory-driven, hands-on glory.
This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.
