The language of potatoes (Atlas Obscura)
by Dan Nosowitz
Potatoes were once confined to the Andes Mountains. Once they spread around the world, they became key parts of many cuisines—and metaphors in many languages.

Why grapes catch fire (Wired)
by Sophia Chen
Throw a cut grape in your microwave and you may be rewarded with a destructive little fireball of super-hot plasma. Now, scientists understand why.

How a psychologist helped desegregate schools (Massive Science)
by Lauren Mackenzie Reynolds
Coming from a completely segregated education, Mamie Phipps Clark became the first black woman to earn a PhD in psychology from Columbia, and then went on to help outlaw segregation.

The complicated politics of cobalt mines (The Washington Post)
by Sarah Katz-Lavigne
Mining of cobalt—a key ingredient in many high-tech products—has come under fire for horrific human rights and environmental abuses in Congo. But campaigns have focused largely on small-scale mines, raising questions about what real justice looks like in an impoverished country with a tremendous resource.

The screen time puzzle (Vox)
by Brian Resnick
Is too much screen time really hurting teenagers’ emotional development? Not only is current data insufficient to answer that question, it’s not necessarily a great question to start with. It depends upon which teenagers, and what kind of screen time, we’re talking about.

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