A Life of Paying Attention

This is an edition of Time-Travel Thursdays, a journey through The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the present. Sign up here.

You be the judge: should my partner keep his ashtrays outside?

Rita wants Martin’s novelty ashtrays to stay in the garden. He likes to give them pride of place on the shelf. Whose argument is a smokescreen? You decide Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror

Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh review

Unfaithful lovers escape to an uncanny alternate world, in this compelling allegory for infidelity and desire

Thursday news quiz: security scrapes, sordid statues and feral ferrets

Test yourself on topical news trivia, pop culture and general knowledge every Thursday. How will you fare?

Plastic-free cutting boards and $17 bike lights: 11 things you loved in March

As winter habits thawed, you leaned into brighter bike rides, kitchen upgrades and deeper sleep

Today’s Atlantic Trivia: Charles Dickens

Test your knowledge—and read our stories for some extra help.

I thought my cuckoo clock was amazing, but it’s got nothing on my statue of Bert the cheery chef

Installed in my home, Bert is a conversation starter like no other. It usually begins with: ‘What on earth is that thing?’

Scenes from the Canadian Arctic

Carlos Osorio, a photojournalist with Reuters, recently traveled to Canada’s northern reaches to document military exercises, daily life, robotic testing, wildlife, and more.

'What’s your favorite thing about me?’ How to deal with a conversational narcissist

We all know a person who sees every chat as an opportunity to go on and on about themselves. And sometimes that person is us …

Edge-walking and musical robots: photos of the day

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

How weaving, glamping and kayak tours are helping to tackle deforestation in Argentina’s Gran Chaco

Small farmers and community-led conservation groups are trying to protect one of the biggest semi-arid forests in the world – under threat from expanding agriculture, wildfires and the ‘logging mafia’

Colourful cathedral and breaking waves

A selection of Guardian readers’ photographs from around the world