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Fauxstalgia, Reconstructing Pelé’s Lost Goal, the Mississippi Miracle and Self Destructing Plastic issue artwork#524Latest Issue

Fauxstalgia, Reconstructing Pelé’s Lost Goal, the Mississippi Miracle and Self Destructing Plastic

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Why Immersive Events Succeed, the Rise of Negative Energy Pricing and Launching the New InfoWars issue artwork#521

Why Immersive Events Succeed, the Rise of Negative Energy Pricing and Launching the New InfoWars

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Highlights from the Cannes Lions, Algospeak and the Most Meaningless Stories in America issue artwork#520

Highlights from the Cannes Lions, Algospeak and the Most Meaningless Stories in America

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Gen Z's Music Problem, How AI Artists Think and One Person Who Doesn't Deserve a Second Chance issue artwork#519

Gen Z's Music Problem, How AI Artists Think and One Person Who Doesn't Deserve a Second Chance

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Inside the World Cup Chaos, the Truth About China's Fast Fashion Empire and the Future of BMW Design issue artwork#518

Inside the World Cup Chaos, the Truth About China's Fast Fashion Empire and the Future of BMW Design

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Why the World Is Losing Color, A Powerful Silent Keynote and Automating West African Mammies issue artwork#517

Why the World Is Losing Color, A Powerful Silent Keynote and Automating West African Mammies

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Olympics Adds Ninja Warrior Obstacle Event, a Blue Octopus and Why College Majors Don't Matter Anymore issue artwork#516

Olympics Adds Ninja Warrior Obstacle Event, a Blue Octopus and Why College Majors Don't Matter Anymore

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The College Mass Discard Problem, Retro Restaurants and More Generated Podslop issue artwork#515

The College Mass Discard Problem, Retro Restaurants and More Generated Podslop

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Why Older People Are Cooler, the Worst Graduation Speech and Meta's Big Problem issue artwork#514

Why Older People Are Cooler, the Worst Graduation Speech and Meta's Big Problem

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The Future of Markups, Why Kings Matter and the Rise of "Hotspan" Instead of Healthspan issue artwork#513

The Future of Markups, Why Kings Matter and the Rise of "Hotspan" Instead of Healthspan

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Why Writing Is Your Digital Identity, Proving Telepathy Exists and A Nipple-Saving Sponsorship issue artwork#512

Why Writing Is Your Digital Identity, Proving Telepathy Exists and A Nipple-Saving Sponsorship

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The Significance of a Monkey Selfie, How FIFA Is Ruining the World Cup and the Legacy of Tim Cook issue artwork#511

The Significance of a Monkey Selfie, How FIFA Is Ruining the World Cup and the Legacy of Tim Cook

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Coachella Marketing Highlights, Tax Cheating and the Rise of AI Sabotage issue artwork#510

Coachella Marketing Highlights, Tax Cheating and the Rise of AI Sabotage

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How AI Shamed Irish Pubs Into Lowering Beer Prices, the Tragedy of Taxes and India's Impossible Census issue artwork#509

How AI Shamed Irish Pubs Into Lowering Beer Prices, the Tragedy of Taxes and India's Impossible Census

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Dangerous Passwords, Best and Worst April Fools Pranks and Why Alterna-casts Are the Future of Sports issue artwork#508

Dangerous Passwords, Best and Worst April Fools Pranks and Why Alterna-casts Are the Future of Sports

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United Brings a Couch To Economy, Why We Need Casting Directors and a Rumor About LEGO issue artwork#507

United Brings a Couch To Economy, Why We Need Casting Directors and a Rumor About LEGO

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Huggies Expensive Sh*t Campaign, the Gen Z Pout and My New Book Announcement From SXSW issue artwork#506

Huggies Expensive Sh*t Campaign, the Gen Z Pout and My New Book Announcement From SXSW

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World Modeling, Anti-Surveillance Products and a Hotel Suite That Rewards Human Kindness issue artwork#505

World Modeling, Anti-Surveillance Products and a Hotel Suite That Rewards Human Kindness

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Dream Engineering, How To Effectively Boycott AI and the Mysterious Black Taj Mahal issue artwork#504

Dream Engineering, How To Effectively Boycott AI and the Mysterious Black Taj Mahal

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The Professor Saving History, a Myth About Las Vegas and Your Afterlife Soundtrack issue artwork#503

The Professor Saving History, a Myth About Las Vegas and Your Afterlife Soundtrack

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The Myth That Women Are More Empathetic, What Countries Are Proudest and a Dancing Squirrel issue artwork#502

The Myth That Women Are More Empathetic, What Countries Are Proudest and a Dancing Squirrel

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Super Bowl Ad Winners and Losers, Stupid Gambling and the Murder of a Newspaper issue artwork#501

Super Bowl Ad Winners and Losers, Stupid Gambling and the Murder of a Newspaper

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The Cassette Cafe, Saving Science and How To Get Excited About the Winter Olympics issue artwork#500

The Cassette Cafe, Saving Science and How To Get Excited About the Winter Olympics

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The Importance of Big Dreams, Ending Dual Citizenship and How "Kidults" Saved the Toy Industry issue artwork#499

The Importance of Big Dreams, Ending Dual Citizenship and How "Kidults" Saved the Toy Industry

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Why Gen Z Doesn't Want To Be the Boss, the AI Land Gold Rush and the Return of Kickstarter issue artwork#498

Why Gen Z Doesn't Want To Be the Boss, the AI Land Gold Rush and the Return of Kickstarter

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5 Takeaways From CES, Dangerous Names and America's Disappearing Data Problem issue artwork#497

5 Takeaways From CES, Dangerous Names and America's Disappearing Data Problem

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Useless Years In Review, Giving Chatbots Psychedelics and How To Create a Christmas Song issue artwork#496

Useless Years In Review, Giving Chatbots Psychedelics and How To Create a Christmas Song

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Why Australia's Social Media Ban Works, Dangers of Driverless Cars and How To Avoid YouTube Ads issue artwork#495

Why Australia's Social Media Ban Works, Dangers of Driverless Cars and How To Avoid YouTube Ads

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The Best Non-Obvious Books of 2025, How To Break AI and the Wrong Way To Measure Innovation issue artwork#494

The Best Non-Obvious Books of 2025, How To Break AI and the Wrong Way To Measure Innovation

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The 2025 Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide [Special Edition] issue artwork#493

The 2025 Non-Obvious Holiday Gift Guide [Special Edition]

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Dark Sky Zoos, Word Policing, Ant Yogurt and Why 1997 Was Peak Culture issue artwork#492

Dark Sky Zoos, Word Policing, Ant Yogurt and Why 1997 Was Peak Culture

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What Ghostwriters Think, the Benefits of Physical Car Keys and Why I Respect Kim Kardashian issue artwork#491

What Ghostwriters Think, the Benefits of Physical Car Keys and Why I Respect Kim Kardashian

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How Electricity Became Free, the Mystery of Red Leaves and Why Mamdani Won In NY issue artwork#490

How Electricity Became Free, the Mystery of Red Leaves and Why Mamdani Won In NY

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Why All Online Outrage Is Fake, Nike Launches Exoskeletons and Bill Gates' Big Shift On Climate issue artwork#489

Why All Online Outrage Is Fake, Nike Launches Exoskeletons and Bill Gates' Big Shift On Climate

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Reinventing Pittsburgh, Zero Crime Neighborhoods In 12 Months and Toxic Positivity issue artwork#488

Reinventing Pittsburgh, Zero Crime Neighborhoods In 12 Months and Toxic Positivity

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The Pen That Speeds Up Learning, a Magical German Word, and the Myth of Amazon Prime Day issue artwork#487

The Pen That Speeds Up Learning, a Magical German Word, and the Myth of Amazon Prime Day

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The World's Quietest Room, Celebrating Diwali and What I Learned About Events At IMEX issue artwork#486

The World's Quietest Room, Celebrating Diwali and What I Learned About Events At IMEX

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College Admissions Secrets, Emotionally Attuned Cars and the Most Hated Billboards In New York issue artwork#485

College Admissions Secrets, Emotionally Attuned Cars and the Most Hated Billboards In New York

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The Upside of Bad Podcasts, an Egg Hunt For Supermodels and What Really Happened To Silicon Valley issue artwork#484

The Upside of Bad Podcasts, an Egg Hunt For Supermodels and What Really Happened To Silicon Valley

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Grey Divorces, South Park's Secret Message, Elton John's Kneecaps and a Film Festival About Tuna issue artwork#483

Grey Divorces, South Park's Secret Message, Elton John's Kneecaps and a Film Festival About Tuna

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How Farmland Is Shrinking, AI Copyright Paydays and The End of Anonymity issue artwork#482

How Farmland Is Shrinking, AI Copyright Paydays and The End of Anonymity

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Fixing AI Slop Is Now a Job, the Ad Campaign To Make You Happier and Pumpkin Spice Faces Competition issue artwork#481

Fixing AI Slop Is Now a Job, the Ad Campaign To Make You Happier and Pumpkin Spice Faces Competition

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Tech Dumbification, the Death of Good Criticism and Why Cracker Barrel's Team Deserves a Raise issue artwork#480

Tech Dumbification, the Death of Good Criticism and Why Cracker Barrel's Team Deserves a Raise

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The Ridiculously Perfect Sandwich, Why Drive-In Theaters Disappeared and How Not To Use AI issue artwork#479

The Ridiculously Perfect Sandwich, Why Drive-In Theaters Disappeared and How Not To Use AI

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The Idiocy of Influencer Marketing, Diabolical Smart Speakers and the USPS Turns 250 issue artwork#478

The Idiocy of Influencer Marketing, Diabolical Smart Speakers and the USPS Turns 250

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7 Non-Obvious Website Tips, Hiring a Witch On Etsy and the Return of the Commodore 64 issue artwork#477

7 Non-Obvious Website Tips, Hiring a Witch On Etsy and the Return of the Commodore 64

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One Thing AI Can’t Fake, What Gen Z Is Reviving, and the Non-Obvious Podcast Season 5 Launches issue artwork#476

One Thing AI Can’t Fake, What Gen Z Is Reviving, and the Non-Obvious Podcast Season 5 Launches

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The Cold Tux, Child-Free Parks and How Carnival Killed Brand Loyalty issue artwork#475

The Cold Tux, Child-Free Parks and How Carnival Killed Brand Loyalty

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Talking Statues, Paint That Sweats, the Rebirth of Digg and an Underdog Politician issue artwork#474

Talking Statues, Paint That Sweats, the Rebirth of Digg and an Underdog Politician

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Why Event Planners Avoid Celebrities, Denmark's Treasure Hunters and the Perfect Future Astronaut issue artwork#473

Why Event Planners Avoid Celebrities, Denmark's Treasure Hunters and the Perfect Future Astronaut

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Why Optimism Works, Seeing Through Manipulated Headlines and Cheetos' Brilliant Brand Strategy issue artwork#472

Why Optimism Works, Seeing Through Manipulated Headlines and Cheetos' Brilliant Brand Strategy

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Notes from SXSW London, Undoing American Policy and the World's Tallest 3D Printed Tower issue artwork#471

Notes from SXSW London, Undoing American Policy and the World's Tallest 3D Printed Tower

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A Book Changing the World, the Steroid Olympics and How To Spot AI Images issue artwork#470

A Book Changing the World, the Steroid Olympics and How To Spot AI Images

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Free Coffee for Gossip, a Millennial Hobby Comeback and the Future of Animation issue artwork#469

Free Coffee for Gossip, a Millennial Hobby Comeback and the Future of Animation

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Eliminating Pennies, the Blind Box Phenomenon and a Brilliantly Diabolical Diamond Verification Device issue artwork#456

Eliminating Pennies, the Blind Box Phenomenon and a Brilliantly Diabolical Diamond Verification Device

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Traumatized Federal Workers, Michael Jackson's Unreleased Songs, and the Genetic Startup Making Florescent Bunnies issue artwork#455

Traumatized Federal Workers, Michael Jackson's Unreleased Songs, and the Genetic Startup Making Florescent Bunnies

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The Kendrick Lamar Backstory, Upsides of Regulation and Why Buzzfeed Is A Plague issue artwork#454

The Kendrick Lamar Backstory, Upsides of Regulation and Why Buzzfeed Is A Plague

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Useless Blurbs, the Future of Memories and How To Destroy a Small Business issue artwork#453

Useless Blurbs, the Future of Memories and How To Destroy a Small Business

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The Story Behind DeepSeek, Bad Bunny Celebrates Puerto Rico and the Uneasy Driverless Car Revolution issue artwork#452

The Story Behind DeepSeek, Bad Bunny Celebrates Puerto Rico and the Uneasy Driverless Car Revolution

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The Library of Imaginary Books, Notes From the Future In Dubai and How To Save DEI issue artwork#451

The Library of Imaginary Books, Notes From the Future In Dubai and How To Save DEI

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AI-Powered Hotel (No B.S.), Fake Job Postings and Canadian Angst Over Trump issue artwork#450

AI-Powered Hotel (No B.S.), Fake Job Postings and Canadian Angst Over Trump

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Observations From CES 2025, Helping LA and the Decline of Patriotism issue artwork#449

Observations From CES 2025, Helping LA and the Decline of Patriotism

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The Secret of the Kardashians, 2024 Most Hated Ads and the Year of Reuse issue artwork#448

The Secret of the Kardashians, 2024 Most Hated Ads and the Year of Reuse

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Inventing Flowers, Jamie Foxx Controls His Story, 2024 Book Award Winners and Copyrighting A Vibe issue artwork#447

Inventing Flowers, Jamie Foxx Controls His Story, 2024 Book Award Winners and Copyrighting A Vibe

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12 Biggest 2024 Book Themes, the Truth About Food Deserts and Why Anti-Tourism Works issue artwork#446

12 Biggest 2024 Book Themes, the Truth About Food Deserts and Why Anti-Tourism Works

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The Non-Obvious 2024 Holiday Gift Guide + FREE Audio Book issue artwork#445

The Non-Obvious 2024 Holiday Gift Guide + FREE Audio Book

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Jaguar's New Brand, an AI Scambaiting Granny and Why Most People Hate Their Own Voice issue artwork#444

Jaguar's New Brand, an AI Scambaiting Granny and Why Most People Hate Their Own Voice

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Beautiful Paradoxes, the Art of Plating and Why Expertise Holds Us Back issue artwork#443

Beautiful Paradoxes, the Art of Plating and Why Expertise Holds Us Back

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The Day After the Election, Pet Cloning, Irish Pub Museums and TIME's Best Inventions issue artwork#442

The Day After the Election, Pet Cloning, Irish Pub Museums and TIME's Best Inventions

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3 Non-Obvious Halloween Ideas, Why Baseball Players Are Always Eating and Pew's Masculinity Report issue artwork#441

3 Non-Obvious Halloween Ideas, Why Baseball Players Are Always Eating and Pew's Masculinity Report

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The Voting Fraud Myth, a Dying Diet Industry and the Airport Limiting Hugs To 3 Minutes issue artwork#440

The Voting Fraud Myth, a Dying Diet Industry and the Airport Limiting Hugs To 3 Minutes

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Understanding Diwali, Notes from SXSW Sydney and a Talking Pet Collar issue artwork#439

Understanding Diwali, Notes from SXSW Sydney and a Talking Pet Collar

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Non-Obvious Thinking Book Launch, Robot Referees and a Secret Arabian Vegas issue artwork#438

Non-Obvious Thinking Book Launch, Robot Referees and a Secret Arabian Vegas

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The Brilliance of Delayed Delivery, Abandonment Zones and the Problem With Leather issue artwork#437

The Brilliance of Delayed Delivery, Abandonment Zones and the Problem With Leather

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The Chatbot That Changes Minds, the World's Most Discomforting Restaurant and Why We Support Lovable Losers issue artwork#436

The Chatbot That Changes Minds, the World's Most Discomforting Restaurant and Why We Support Lovable Losers

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Flappy Bird's Troubling Return, 4 Ways Tupperware Could Survive and Jobs You've Never Heard Of issue artwork#435

Flappy Bird's Troubling Return, 4 Ways Tupperware Could Survive and Jobs You've Never Heard Of

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The Poetry Pharmacy, Future of Diamonds and Why We Should All Shut Up issue artwork#434

The Poetry Pharmacy, Future of Diamonds and Why We Should All Shut Up

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Why College Football Is A Scam, Eating Green Crabs and Avoiding Ultracrepadarians issue artwork#433

Why College Football Is A Scam, Eating Green Crabs and Avoiding Ultracrepadarians

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