Everyday Curiosities Series

In 1986, on the morning after the space shuttle Challenger exploded, a group of first-year college students wrote down how they had heard the news. Where were they? Who told them?

You’ve probably heard this one: “Smell memories are the most accurate memories we have.” It sounds right. Elena walks past a stranger wearing her late grandmother’s perfume, and suddenly she is eight years old again, sit

Maya hears a pop song for about thirty seconds in a coffee shop. Six hours later, she is brushing her teeth, and the chorus is still playing in her head, over and over, like a radio she can’t switch off.

Think about three small waits from an ordinary day. You press the elevator button and watch the numbers. You stand at the baggage carousel after a flight while the same three suitcases go around. You stare at a little sp

Think about the last real trip you took. A week somewhere new, with strange streets and unfamiliar food. While you were there, the days raced past. Then you came home, and when you looked back, that week felt huge, as if