If there’s one thing that Tara Snyder, a veteran mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, teaches every new mail carrier she trains, it’s this: “Even if a dog is friendly to you 364 days a year, they can have a bad day too—and bite you. If they have teeth, they can bite.”

She knows of what she speaks. In April 2024, Snyder was doing her usual route in Pennsylvania when she approached a resident’s door to get a signature for a piece of mail. Before she realized what was happening, a 70-pound dog launched out the door and went right for her hand. She tried to block it with her mailbag, but it was too late. “It ripped my hand open pretty bad,” she says, noting that she ended up needing 17 stitches, a tetanus shot, a round of antibiotics and three weeks off work to recover. “The worst part was that it bit my right hand, and I’m right-handed.”

It wasn’t the first or last confrontation between a mail carrier and a vicious dog at that address. In fact, a different dog cornered Snyder on the porch during a separate visit. (Thankfully, she wasn’t bitten that time.) Animal Control is looking into the owners, and the Postal Service is doing everything it can to stop its mail carriers from getting bitten. Because the fact is, Snyder is not alone: There were 5,800 incidents involving dogs and postal workers in 2023, according to Postal Service data.

That brings us to the colored paw-print stickers you may have spotted on mailboxes. Ahead, we’ll explain their meaning, the replacement system that’s keeping mail carriers safe and what you can do if you’re a dog owner.

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The Paws mailbox sticker program

In 2020, the Postal Service rolled out the Paws Program in select cities around the country. Workers placed paw-print stickers on the mailboxes of homes known to have dogs: an orange sticker to indicate that a dog lives at that address and a yellow sticker to signal that a dog lives next door. The goal was to let Postal Service workers and other delivery people know they should be on the lookout for dogs or other animals at that address—especially dogs who don’t react well to mail carriers.

The program is no longer active, though you may still spy the stickers on some mailboxes. If you see one on someone else’s mailbox, leave it where it is and take it as a sign that a dog may live there. If you see a sticker on your own mailbox, you can either leave it or remove it.

The new Postal Service dog-alert system

“The Postal Service has pivoted away from the sticker-based Paw Program and implemented a digital and more effective, sustainable method for alerting letter carriers of potential dangers,” says Amy Gibbs, a spokesperson for the service.

That’s right: Your mail carriers have gone high-tech. The same scanner they use on packages now customizes warnings to the exact location, time and situation of individual postal workers.

“To help protect our employees, the hand-held scanners used by our carriers to confirm customer delivery include a feature to indicate the presence of a dog at an address,” Gibbs explains. “And the USPS Informed Delivery service alerts customers to mail and packages coming to their homes, allowing them to plan for the carrier’s arrival and secure their dogs safely.”

Snyder loves the new program—it’s part of the National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign—as it can alert mail carriers about all kinds of dangers and provide updates on the go. The only downside of the digital system for her: “It doesn’t help other delivery people, like DoorDash drivers or FedEx, and I don’t know if they have a similar warning system,” she says.

What you can do to help protect your mail carrier

“I am such an animal lover, and I never want to have anything bad happen to a dog,” Snyder says. “Preventing animal attacks is the best way to protect us and your dog. And don’t say, ‘My dog would never.’ Because any dog can bite under the wrong circumstances.”

The No. 1 tip for preventing your dog from biting a mail carrier? “Secure your dog,” both Snyder and Gibbs say. This starts with putting your dog inside when you know the mail carrier is coming, but it doesn’t stop there.

“Be aware of what your dog can do,” Snyder says. “Many dogs can open latch doors by jumping on the handle, leap over fences or gates, or barrel through screen doors if they feel threatened. You may need to add extra locks.”

Other tips for dog owners:

• Tell your mail carrier ahead of time about your dog.
• Don’t allow your dog to roam freely.
• Fence in your yard, and put your mailbox outside the fence.
• Use Informed Delivery (it’s a free service!) for packages that need to be brought to your door.
• Don’t allow children to accept mail directly from the carrier, as the dog may become protective of the child.
• Keep your dog current on its vaccines, including rabies.
• Ensure your dog is covered under your homeowners or renters insurance policy.

That last one is important. Many people don’t realize that they will be held personally responsible for the medical bills, lost wages and uniform-replacement costs associated with their dog biting a mail carrier, Gibbs says.

The Postal Service takes steps to educate and equip their workers to prevent animal bites, but at the end of the day, the responsibility is on the pet owner, Gibbs says. One of the things your mail carrier may not tell you? If you don’t or can’t secure your dog, you may not be able to have your mail delivered anymore. “If a carrier feels threatened by a vicious dog, or if a dog is running loose, we may ask the owner to pick up their mail at the post office,” she says.

About the experts Tara Snyder is a veteran mail carrier with U.S. Postal Service in Pennsylvania. Amy Gibbs is a spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service and a strategic communications specialist for the Atlantic area.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Tara Snyder, U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in Pennsylvania; phone interview, Sept. 10, 2024
• Amy Gibbs, spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service; email interview, Sept. 4, 2024
• U.S. Postal Service: “U.S. Postal Service Releases Dog Bite National Rankings”
• U.S. Postal Service: “National Dog Bite Awareness Campaign”

Princess Kate is a woman who needs no introduction, but we’ll give her one anyway. She is one of the most popular members of the British royal family, a devoted mother of three, a style icon and, with Prince William next in line for the throne, the future queen of England. And while she has always been a relatable royal, much like Princess Diana, we recently got a more intimate glimpse into her life with a video released on Sept. 10, in which Kate announced that she had completed chemotherapy and was on the path to recovery from cancer. We may all feel like we know her … but how much do you really know about the Princess of Wales, aka Kate Middleton?

If you’ve ever wondered about Kate’s guilty pleasures, her secret nicknames or her first crush, you’re in the right place! Reader’s Digest talked to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams to uncover some surprising Princess Kate facts you never knew. Read on to find out exactly what they are.

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Kate was nicknamed after a guinea pig

Yes, you read that right! When Kate visited her old prep school, St. Andrew’s, in 2012, she revealed her secret childhood nickname: Squeak. “She explained that her school had guinea pigs, and two of them were called Squeak and Pip,” Fitzwilliams says. “So Kate and Pippa went along with the names. Kate was Squeak, while Pippa was known as Pip.”

It seems that Kate still adores the squeaky little pets: She and William now share their home, Adelaide Cottage, not only with their three kids and a cocker spaniel but also with a few guinea pigs. “I spend my life cleaning out the guinea-pig cage because the children forget to do it,” quipped William during a royal engagement in Birmingham in 2024.

Her teenage crush was a Levi’s model, not Prince William

It was the perfect fairy tale: When Kate and William went public as a couple, it was rumored that the future princess had a poster of the prince on her bedroom wall when she was a teenager, long before she fell in love with him in real life. Sadly, the romantic story turned out to be (royal) fan fiction. And it was Kate herself who put an end to it in her televised engagement interview in 2010. When asked if the story was true, she looked at William, then cheekily responded, “He wishes!” She went on to say, “No, I had the Levi’s guy on my bedroom wall, not a picture of William. Sorry!”

She founded an all-girls drinking club in college

College and boozing go hand in hand for many students, and Kate was no exception to the rule. In fact, when she attended St. Andrews University, she reportedly founded a women-only drinking club, according to Fitzwilliams. The reason? “She wasn’t allowed to join the existing ones, as they were for men only,” he says.

Now a mom of three, Kate still seems to enjoy a glass of red once in a while. After the Prince and Princess of Wales visited the Mission Hill Winery in British Columbia as part of their tour through Canada in 2016, Graham Nordin, who showed the pair around, told a reporter that they “really enjoyed the Oculus,” a Bordeaux-style wine. He also shared that they are keen merlot drinkers.

She briefly worked as a waitress—but was “terrible” at it

Like most college students, Kate had a part-time job to bring in some extra cash: As she revealed on the BBC show A Berry Royal Christmas in 2019, she waitressed for a short time while studying at St. Andrews. When asked if she was any good at it, she laughed and admitted, “No, I was terrible.”

After finishing her degree, Kate worked for her parents’ party-planning business, Party Pieces, before becoming an accessories buyer for British design brand Jigsaw Junior. “Kate had to think carefully about her next steps after university, especially during the time when there were glitches in her relationship with Prince William,” says Fitzwilliams. While everything worked out with William in the end, Fitzwilliams believes this foray into “normal life” may have been the best thing for her future family. “Having had regular jobs before marrying into the royal family now helps her in bringing up her children in the most normal way possible,” he explains.

Her go-to food is a spicy curry

Whether it’s homemade or from a restaurant, Kate loves a good curry. “It seems to be her favorite go-to food, and her children like it too,” Fitzwilliams says. In an interview with BBC 1 in 2023, Kate revealed that William, unlike her, wasn’t too fond of spicy food, so she’d always cook a mild curry at home and then add some extra spice just to her own portion.

Other dishes the princess seems to enjoy? Pâté on toasted brioche, roasted figs on parma ham and sticky toffee pudding, according to Fitzwilliams and a former chef at one of her favorite pubs in her hometown.

She has a competitive streak

Kate has always been athletic. “During her days at Marlborough College, she played field hockey and was the captain of her team,” Fitzwilliams says. “She also set a high jump record of 1.5 meters in primary school that still stands today.” She was also seen swimming and playing tennis and volleyball as a university student.

And being a senior royal hasn’t stopped her from embracing her athletic side and occasionally ditching the royal dress code for some casual sports attire. “Archery, boat racing, sailing—you name it, she loves it,” Fitzwilliams says, adding that Kate loves challenging her husband to a friendly competition in public. “The most relaxed we ever see Kate is when she is doing something sporty. She is very competitive and likes to tease William when they compete against each other. Sports gives her the chance to be more informal than during a regular royal outing.”

She starred in a Wimbledon video

The Princess of Wales is a tennis buff, and she most recently attended the men’s final at Wimbledon in 2024. But her commitment to the sports doesn’t stop with cheering on the athletes. She is also the patron of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which hosts Wimbledon every year. And, as Fitzwilliams points out, she even starred in a video for Wimbledon in 2020. The commercial came out at the height of the pandemic, when the world-famous championships had to be canceled due to government rules. In the video, Kate told tennis fans to keep their spirits high and promised that “we will be back again” and “it will have been worth the wait.”

Kate makes her own honey

Kate’s passion for photography is widely documented. The Princess of Wales regularly shares cute pictures of her kids on special occasions, such as their birthdays and holidays. But here’s a Princess Kate fact you probably never heard: Kate is also a dedicated beekeeper! In fact, the future queen has her very own beehive at her family home, Anmer Hall, in Norfolk.

And Kate seems to be quite an expert. When she met schoolchildren at London’s Natural History Museum in 2021, she talked all things bees with them and even gave them a homemade jar of honey. Beekeeping seems to run in the Middleton family: Kate’s brother, James, also owns a beehive.

Kate played the piano on Eurovision

Kate likes playing the piano—and she’s very good at it. According to media reports, she took lessons at school and re-embraced her passion for music during lockdown. However, it took her 10 years into her marriage to William to share her skills with the public. “During a Christmas concert at Westminster Abbey in 2021, Kate surprised everyone when she accompanied Scottish singer Tom Walker on the piano,” says Fitzwilliams. The pair performed his hit “For Those Who Can’t Be Here,” an experience Walker later described as “mad” and “surreal.”

Two years later, the princess publicly hit the ivories again: When Liverpool hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, the largest televised live music event in the world, reaching around 160 million viewers in more than 40 countries, Kate was seen playing on King Charles’s Steinway piano at Windsor Castle in a prerecorded cameo. “It was very unusual to have a senior royal participate in this show,” says Fitzwilliams. “Unsurprisingly, her performance became an instant hit.”

She loves the British version of Dancing with the Stars

Guilty-pleasure alert! In 2019, William revealed at a charity gala that Kate loves Strictly Come Dancing, the British equivalent of Dancing with the Stars. “[Kate] is a huge fan, and my mother-in-law loves it,” he said, according to the Telegraph.

But it’s not all reality TV, all the time, in their royal digs: While she’s reportedly not a fan of The Crown, Kate loves the British historical drama Downtown Abbey. In fact, she visited the London set in 2015 and seemed to have a blast chatting with cast members and producers.

About the expert Richard Fitzwilliams is one of Britain’s most prominent royal experts and commentators. He has followed the lives of the royal family for decades and regularly shares his expertise with media outlets around the world.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. For this piece on Princess Kate facts, Astrid Hofer tapped her experience as a London-based journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering topics including the British royal family. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Richard Fitzwilliams, royal expert; phone interview, Sept. 6, 2024
• ITV News: “William and Kate’s 2010 engagement interview”
• The Guardian: “Girl, interrupted”
• HuffPost UK: “Kate Middleton once had a server job and says she was ‘terrible’ at it”
• Town & Country: “Kate Middleton cooks this surprising dish for Prince William”
• The Telegraph: “Duchess of Cambridge is ‘huge’ Strictly Come Dancing fan, her husband reveals”
• Metro: “Kate Middleton visited the Downtown Abbey set and had a ripping good time”
• Tatler: “A glimpse into life at Adelaide Cottage: Prince William reveals an insight into his charming family dynamic as he opens up about his pets during a royal engagement.”
• Harper’s Bazaar: “Duchess Kate dabbles in beekeeping and makes her own honey”
• Yahoo: “Prince William and Kate Middleton love this hidden wine region—Here’s how to visit”

Whether we’re talking about the best carry-on luggage, underseat luggage or anti-theft bags, there’s one brand that consistently makes its way onto our “best” lists: Travelon. In fact, after thorough testing by our Product Testing Team, four Travelon bags made it onto our list of best anti-theft bags, including the Travelon crossbody bag, which earned the top spot as “Best Overall.”

Anti-theft bags feature built-in safety features, such as anti-slash materials, locks and radio frequency identification (RFID)-blocking capabilities to keep your belongings safe while you travel at home or abroad. In order to assess whether or not these bags really stand a chance against pickpockets and thieves, our Product Testing Team took them into our studio and performed a battery of tests. And yes, we even went as far as slashing each bag with a box cutter. We also sent these bags home with experienced product testers to see how each one holds up to everyday wear. Once we were through with the entire testing process, we summarized all of our findings in a series of detailed reviews. Here is our Travelon Crossbody review, which tells you everything you need to know before you go and add it to your cart.

What is the Travelon crossbody bag?

The Travelon Anti-Theft Classic Messenger Bag is a utilitarian-style anti-theft bag that can be worn across your body or on your shoulder. It boasts a roomy main compartment with an internal zipping pocket, a split-side pocket and a strap with an attached flashlight so you can store and easily find all of your essentials. It also has two zippered side pockets with mesh, an expanding back pocket and an angular front pocket for additional storage space. The entire bag features a protective mesh layer underneath the water-resistant nylon fabric to protect against slashing, and the strap is reinforced with slash-resistant wiring. It also has RFID technology to protect your credit cards and locking zippers for extra protection.

This Travelon crossbody bag is offered in three neutral colors that’ll go with just about anything in your closet. It’s on the larger side, but given its basic, casual design, our testers feel that it could function as a unisex bag.

That said, if you’re looking for something smaller and even more versatile, then you may want to consider the Travelon convertible crossbody and waist pack, which features a super simple design and can be worn as a crossbody bag or a belt bag.

How we tested it

Associate product reviews editor, Sheri Kaz, led the charge in the Testing Lab with our Product Testing Team to see what this Travelon crossbody bag is really made of. Upon first glance, the team noted that while this bag might not be much to look at in terms of style, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “This is a very basic bag that’s more utility than style. Nicely, though, it’s somewhat unisex,” muses the Product Testing Team. “The angular design of the front flap and squared-off corners give this a tidy appearance.” They were also impressed by overall quality and durability, noting that the seams appear durable, the latches are strong and the zippers work well. What they didn’t like, however, was the strap, which they described as scratchy, rigid and thin.

After their initial observations, the team filled the bag with an appropriate assortment of items, including keys, a wallet, sunglasses, a book and a water bottle. With all of the items stowed away, this bag weighed in at 5.5 pounds. Kaz then wore it as a crossbody bag for 15 minutes. “This put strain on my shoulder near my neck when carrying 5.5 pounds. The strap felt narrow and dug in when worn as a crossbody bag,” reports Kaz. However, she adds that the bag felt much more comfortable when she removed the full water bottle.

After taking off the bag, our team moved on to see how this bag held up to water. They found that water beaded off when the bag was sprayed. On the other hand, when placed on a wet counter, water soaked into the outer layer of the bag, though it didn’t soak through to the interior. Although this bag proved to be fairly water-resistant, you’ll still want to be careful if you’re traveling in wet conditions. Our team discovered that the zippers on this bag are not leakproof after the book inside the bag got wet from the top.

Next, it was on to test the Travelon crossbody bag’s anti-theft capabilities. Our team did this by locking and unlocking the zippers to evaluate their ease of use and level of security. “The zippers clip to a D-ring and are easy to operate,” explains the Product Testing Team. “The hook that holds the strap on has an extra layer of security with the locking hook.” Then, they tested the anti-slash strap and body by taking a box cutter to them. They were pleased to find that they were unable to cut all the way through the strap or the front compartment pocket.

Once the Product Testing Team completed their testing, they sent the bag home with tester Melissa Franco to see how it holds up to everyday wear. Franco, who is a busy mom of two, was delighted by how much she was able to store in this Travelon crossbody bag. “There are a lot of compartments. As a mom of two young kids, I always carry a lot of miscellaneous items with me. This bag is big enough to accommodate everything—from Kleenex to snacks to hand wipes. You never know when you might need them,” she raves. However, she does agree with Kaz that the bag can become too heavy and uncomfortable if overpacked. “It tends to get a bit heavy if you pack every compartment full,” she says. Additionally, Franco explained that while the adjustable strap allows her to find a comfortable place for the bag to rest—for Franco this is lower on her hip—it has a tendency to twist and can become uncomfortable when worn for extended periods of time.

Franco also agrees with the Product Testing Team’s assessment of the bag’s overall durability. “The strap hooks and zippers are durable, and it feels like quality material,” she says. However, she did point out that one of the exterior zippered compartments would slide open on its own, causing her to always keep it latched shut.

Overall, both Franco and our experts on the Product Testing Team agree that at $80, this bag is a good value. “For a sturdy and functional bag with anti-theft features, $80 seems reasonable,” says the Product Testing Team. And if you can snag this Travelon crossbody bag on sale, even better!

Pros

• Anti-slash compartment and straps
• Protected card and passport compartment
• RFID-blocking pockets
• Locking zippers
• Roomy interior
• Casual design and neutral colors
• Dirt- and water-resistant

Cons

• Zippers aren’t leakproof
• Shoulder strap can become uncomfortable after wearing for an extended period of time

Why you should trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we know how important it is to have peace of mind wherever you are. Whether you’re exploring a new city, attending your local state fair or simply running errands around town, it’s crucial that you feel safe. That’s why we love products like zipperless luggage and anti-theft bags, which deter thieves. As a diverse mix of travelers, parents and pet owners who know how easy it is to become distracted or disoriented while out and about, our editors and testers have years of personal experience trying to keep our purses safe. As shopping experts, we are always excited to share our winning products and will never recommend anything we don’t love, regardless of a product’s popularity.

Our product testing experts on the Product Testing Team spent around 36 hours in our Testing Lab carefully inspecting 15 anti-theft bags and considering each bag’s anti-theft capabilities, comfort and wearability, durability, capacity and functionality. Several of those hours were spent with the Travelon crossbody bag. We also had one of our testers carry this bag with her daily to see how it holds up to real-life use. “The Travelon crossbody bag has now become my everyday purse! Every time I leave the house, I grab it to bring with me,” says Franco. “I go to work, shopping, kid’s events–basically everywhere!”

Plenty of actors elicit emotion with their expressions, but few can deliver goosebumps with their voice alone. And no voice was as powerfully evocative—or iconic—as the deep, throaty rumble of James Earl Jones. While you may be most familiar with his Darth Vader quotes, Jones had a long and celebrated career.

He made his professional acting debut in 1957 with the Broadway play The Blackstone. In the more than six decades that followed, he was featured in well over 100 movies, television shows and stage productions. From the comedic King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America to the serious Admiral Greer in the Jack Ryan movies to the poignant Reverend Kumalo in Cry, the Beloved Country, he played an astoundingly wide range of characters. That said, most people remember him as either Darth Vader, one of Hollywood’s most notorious villains, or Mufasa, one of Hollywood’s most beloved heroes.

So our hearts were broken when we heard Jones passed away on Sept. 9, 2024, at the age of 93. In his honor, we have collected our favorite quotes from his biggest movies, including some of the most memorable Field of Dreams, Lion King and Star Wars quotes. They’ll make you laugh and cry, inspire you, give you chills and maybe even prompt some deep thoughts about the meaning of life. We hope that as you read these, you’ll hear them in Jones’s “voice of God” timbre.

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Star Wars series (1977–2019)

Role: Voice of Darth Vader

The original Star Wars trilogy (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi) centers on Luke Skywalker, a young farm boy who ultimately saves the entire galaxy. Along the way, he finds a mentor in Jedi masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, learns how to use the Force and fights the dark Sith Lord Darth Vader (who, spoiler alert, turns out to be his dad).

Jones’s iconic voice of Darth Vader, perhaps Hollywood’s most notorious villain, was a huge part of what made the character so scary—and the movies so much fun to watch. And to fans’ delight, Jones voiced Vader not only in the original Star Wars trilogy but also in the prequel films and later Star Wars projects.

Read on for our favorite Darth Vader quotes. (And yes, they’re a million times better in Jones’s deep voice.)

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

• “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”

• “The Force is strong with this one.”

• “The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.”

• “You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away!”

• “I’ve been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again at last.”

• “Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.”

• “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

• “There’ll be no one to stop us this time.”

• “Your powers are weak, old man.”

• “I sense something, a presence I’ve not felt since …”

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

• “I am your father.” (Nope, it’s not “Luke, I am your father.” That’s a quote most people get wrong.)

• “You don’t know the power of the dark side.”

• “You have failed me for the last time, Admiral.”

• “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.”

• “Apology accepted, Captain Needa.”

• “All too easy.”

• “We would be honored if you would join us.”

• “You have learned much, young one.”

• “Perhaps you think you’re being treated unfairly?”

• “You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don’t let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did.”

• “He will join us or die, my master.”

• “He is as clumsy as he is stupid.”

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

• “You have controlled your fear. Now, release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me.”

• “The emperor is not as forgiving as I am.”

• “You underestimate the power of the dark side. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny.”

• “It is too late for me, son.”

• “There is no conflict.”

• “I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete. Indeed, you are powerful, as the emperor has foreseen.”

• “Give yourself to the dark side. It is the only way you can save your friends.”

• “Luke, help me take this mask off. … Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes.”

Other Star Wars films and TV shows

• “Be careful not to choke on your aspirations, Director.” (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

• “I am what you made me.” (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

• “Your pain has just begun.” (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

• “You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker. I did.” (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

• “The years have made you weak.” (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

• “Our long-awaited meeting has come at last.” (Star Wars: Rebels)

The Lion King (1994)

Role: Voice of Mufasa

This animated Disney film was a childhood staple for generations of kids. The story starts with King Mufasa, who’s preparing his son, Simba, to rule in his stead. Mufasa’s murder by his brother, Scar, is the catalyst that sends Simba on a journey, eventually leading him to save the pride and rule as the lion king.

Part of what made this movie so memorable was Jones’s masterful portrayal of Mufasa. We still tear up during the seminal “remember who you are” scene featuring Jones’s resonant, fatherly voice. It’s more proof that Jones was an expert in stoking our emotions, whether he was portraying an evil dark lord or virtuous lion king. “The best thing about acting is that you get to step into someone else’s shoes and see the world through their eyes,” Jones once said. “It’s an opportunity to explore different facets of human experience and to express something deep and meaningful.”

• “Remember who you are.”

• “Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”

• “I’m only brave when I have to be. Being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.”

• “While others search for what they can take, a true king searches for what he can give.”

• “Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars.”

• “That hairball is my son. And your future king.”

• “You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me.”

• “Remember, Simba, you are more than what you have become.”

• “We are all connected in the great circle of life.”

• “Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance.”

• “Being king is more than getting your way all the time.”

Field of Dreams (1989)

Role: Terence Mann

Baseball lover Ray Kinsella is prompted by a mysterious voice—”If you build it, he will come,” it says—until he gives in and builds a baseball field in the middle of a cornfield. Soon, a fantastical team of dead baseball greats shows up to play. Jones plays Terence Mann, the reclusive writer who aids Kinsella in his quest. Mann’s speech, voiced by Jones, about the enduring magic of baseball is a highlight of the film.

• “People will come, Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway, not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past.”

• “This field, this game: It’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again.”

• “Peace, love, dope. Now get the hell out of here.”

• “The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time.”

• “We just don’t recognize life’s most significant moments while they’re happening.”

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Role: Admiral James Greer

In this Cold War thriller, based on Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan book series, Jones plays Admiral James Greer, the CIA’s gruff deputy director. He helps Ryan hunt down a Soviet nuclear submarine that is fast approaching America. The twist, Ryan discovers, is that the Soviet submarine captain is planning to defect rather than launch a nuclear attack—something he has to work hard to convince Greer of. (Spoiler: The crisis is averted.)

• “I’m a politician, which means I’m a cheat and a liar, and when I’m not kissing babies, I’m stealing their lollipops.”

• “Welcome to the CIA, sport.”

• “You think this is a game, Jack? People are going to die.”

• “He’s defecting, Jack. And if he isn’t, then I’ll kill him myself.”

• “Now understand, Commander—that torpedo did not self-destruct. You heard it hit the hull. And I … was never here.”

• “It’s a game of chess, Jack. It’s all about moves and countermoves.”

Patriot Games (1992)

Role: Admiral James Greer

Jones reprised his role of Greer in the next two Jack Ryan movies—Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. In Patriot Games, Ryan inadvertently thwarts an assassination attempt on a British royal, making him the target of a group of Irish extremists. Greer’s wisdom and experience help save the day.

• “You don’t get a lot of chances to be a hero.”

• “I don’t think there’s much you could do to make the situation worse.”

• “It’s the same thing in Washington: You don’t get an answer unless you ask the right question.”

• “You know, you’re the first person to ever bring a problem to me that I couldn’t solve.”

• “It’s not as simple as just blowing up a car, Jack.”

• “I think you’ve had enough of your own brand of courage.”

• “Excuse me, Jack—tell me one thing in life that is absolutely for certain.”

Coming to America (1988) and Coming 2 America (2021)

Role: King Jaffe Joffer

In this comedy, Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) of the fictional African nation of Zamunda comes to New York City to find a woman who will fall in love with him for who he really is rather than the fact that he’s a prince. In disguise, he learns about American culture and finds love. Akeem’s exploits are a riot, but a good number of the laughs (and funny quotes) come courtesy of Jones’s character, Akeem’s father, King Jaffe Joffer.

• “Do not alert him to my presence. I shall deal with him myself.”

• “So you see, my son, there is a very fine line between love and nausea.”

• “You are a prince who has never tied his shoes. Believe me, I tied my own shoes once. It is an overrated experience.”

• “You have disgraced yourself, and you must be punished. You will confine yourself to our royal suite at the Waldorf Astoria.”

• “I’m more than the exalted ruler of this land and the master of all I survey. I’m also a concerned dad.”

• “So you want to sow your royal oats?”

• “Get out, see the world, enjoy yourself. Fulfill every erotic desire.”

• “From this day forth, anyone who throws roses at my son’s feet will answer to me.”

• “Now, you will be king, but the throne must pass to a male heir. Akeem, it appears you have a son.”

Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)

Role: Rev. Stephen Kumalo

Set in apartheid-era South Africa, this movie follows Stephen Kumalo, a rural South African priest portrayed by Jones. Kumalo travels to Johannesburg hoping to find his son and is instead confronted with the harsh realities of racism and social decline. He discovers his son has been charged with the murder of a White boy. Instead of seeking revenge, Kumalo builds a relationship with the murdered man’s father. The powerful film offers some of the most moving movie quotes on this list.

• “Here in my heart, there is nothing but fear, fear, fear.”

• “Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die? Who knows what keeps us living and struggling, while all things break about us?”

• “It was my son that killed your son.”

• “Truth? But how can he have truth on his side and not God?”

• “This, the end of our lives, is beyond all human wisdom.”

• “This thing, that is the heaviest of all my years, is the heaviest of your years also.”

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experience where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. For this piece on James Earl Jones’s Darth Vader quotes and quotes from other films, we relied on film clips and verified quotes. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Finding the best luggage to accompany you on your travels is no easy feat. For starters, you have to decide between hard and soft luggage, a carry-on or checked luggage,and traditional vs. zipperless luggage. And maybe at the end of the day, you find yourself so overwhelmed by all of the options that you throw your hands up and just reach for your trusty travel backpack instead. Well, we come bearing good news. There’s actually a piece of luggage that functions as a suitcase and a travel backpack. It’s sturdy yet lightweight and is a dream to roll through an airport or throw on your back for a rugged outdoor adventure. All you have to do is decide which size you need, and the Osprey Sojourn Wheeled Travel Pack will be yours.

To see whether this luggage is truly the no-brainer it appears to be, we brought it into our Testing Lab for closer inspection. Then, we sent it on a four-day lake adventure with one of our testers to see how it fares in real-life travels. Once our testing was complete, we compiled all of our findings in this helpful Osprey luggage review.

What is the Osprey Sojourn Wheeled Travel Pack?

The Osprey Sojourn Wheeled Travel Pack is a versatile piece of soft-sided luggage that functions as a rolling duffel bag or a travel backpack. The one we tested holds up to 45 liters of storage—though it also comes in 60-, 80-, 100- and 130-liter options—which is within the carry-on dimensions for most U.S. domestic and international airlines. The main compartment is an open design with interior pockets for organization. Once this bag is packed, internal compression straps and external straps keep the bag compressed. The Osprey luggage also features an exterior quick-access area for anything you might want to quickly grab while en route, such as your phone, charger or a snack.

In addition to being highly versatile, this bag is also very well-designed. It has two wheels, which our testers described as big and heavy. And though they’re not 360-degree swivel wheels, they were the top performers of all the soft-sided luggage we tested. This bag also features large, sturdy zippers that don’t snag even when the bag is stuffed to the gills, big fabric handles that make it easy to lift and carry and a telescopic handle for rolling through airports and hotels. It even has a hidden add-a-bag strap for carrying extra bags.

This versatile bag, which weighs 7.70 pounds and measures just under 32 inches high with the telescopic handle fully extended, is suited for every type of traveler. It’s also worth pointing out that this bag is completely waterproof. Made of bluesign-approved, 100% recycled high-tenacity nylon with ripstop, this sustainably made luggage feels similar to a raincoat and water wipes off easily. It’s the ideal bag for travelers who enjoy outdoor adventures!

How we tested it

Dylan Fischer, associate product tester, took this two-in-one bag into the Testing Lab with our Product Testing Team for a closer look. He was immediately taken with the Osprey Sojourn Wheeled Travel Pack‘s unique appearance. “It certainly sticks out from the rest because it’s fashioned to be luggage and a backpack,” says our team. “It has a slant to it that almost gives it a turtle shell-like appearance.”

The next thing the team noticed was the fact that this bag only has two wheels. They deduced that the decision to include only two wheels can be explained away by the fact that this is probably going to be worn as a backpack half or more than half of the time. Since the wheels aren’t 360-degree swivel wheels, the team was concerned about the overall maneuverability of the bag and quickly got down to business.

Fischer stuffed this bag with two heavy moving blankets to add weight and bulk before taking it for a spin on various types of terrain, including grass, gravel, wood chips and over uneven sidewalks. As the team suspected, the bag’s turn radius wasn’t as great as some of the other bags they tested, but they were seriously impressed by the overall performance. “These wheels were rolling their way through grass, gravel, wood chips, you name it,” raves the Product Testing Team. “It took all bumps like a pro.”

Next on the agenda was a series of tests to see how well this bag might hold up when tossed around at an airport. This included dropping this suitcase from roughly 4 feet high, tossing it over a barrier and dragging it along the ground for a yard or so. Our testers were amazed by how well this bag held up to their rough testing. “This bag was definitely made with the assumption that it’s gonna get beaten up, and they took proactive measures to mitigate that as much as possible,” explains the Product Testing Team. “The shape of the bag, plus the material, helped it look nearly flawless after being dragged around a bit and dampened up with a cloth.”

Overall, our Product Testing Team found that this bag is a good value. “You’re practically paying for two separate items and it never feels like it cheaps out on one or the other,” says the Product Testing Team. “This bag is ready, almost begging, to be put through the wringer. It’s up to the task.” Our long-term tester, Taylor-Max Tesch, agrees.

“It’s a good value as Osprey is built to last, durable and you’ll get a lot of life from it,” says Tesch, who took this bag on a four-day trip to a lake house in Wisconsin. Though he didn’t fly with this Osprey luggage, Tesch appreciated how it was able to fit nicely sideways or standing up in the trunk of a car without taking up much room. He was also impressed by the wheels, noting that they were some of the best wheels he’s experienced on luggage.

When it came to packing for his trip, Tesch was able to fit four days’ worth of clothing along with an extra pair of shoes, toiletries and other travel essentials and even had room to spare. “It holds more than I expected and is able to neatly organize everything,” he says. He was also impressed by the zippers on this bag, which he claims are some of the smoothest he’s ever come across. That said, Tesch would have liked to see more internal dividers. However, the lack of pockets and dividers is far from a deal breaker. “This will be my go-to luggage from now on,” he says, noting that he’ll just turn to packing cubes.

Pros

• Can be used as a rolling suitcase or a backpack
• Easy to maneuver over all surfaces
• Completely waterproof
• Sustainably made from recycled materials
• Sturdy zippers that don’t snag or stick
• Large fabric handles make it easy to lift
• Hidden add-a-bag strap for carrying additional bags
• Lifetime warranty

Cons

• Heavy wheels that don’t turn 360 degrees
• Limited interior organization

Why you should trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we know how important it is to find quality products that make your life easier and won’t leave you with a bad case of buyer’s remorse. This especially applies to luggage, which can be a significant investment. As frequent travelers ourselves, we have years of personal experience with everything from viral luggage brands like Monos and Away, Béis and July to the best luggage on Amazon. And we only recommend a piece of luggage if we believe it’ll enhance your own travel experience as it did ours.

Our product testing experts on the Product Testing Team spent hours in our Testing Lab getting up close and personal with over a dozen soft-sided suitcases. Several of those hours were spent with the Osprey Sojourn Wheeled Travel Pack. We also sent this suitcase on a four-day long trip with a tester to see how it holds up to real-life travel. So, you can feel confident that we put in the work to find how this Osprey luggage holds up during real travel with real people. “Osprey designed this bag for the adventurers in mind. Compact, convenient and ready to take a beating, the Sojourn will make an excellent addition on your backpacking trips,” says Fischer.

When it comes to your cleaning routine, a good vacuum cleaner is one of the most important tools you can buy. While it’s true that some vacuums can set you back around $1,000, there are plenty of cheap vacuums that are just as effective at keeping your floors clean. Bissell’s PowerForce Helix is one such vacuum cleaner.

This lightweight machine costs under $100 and is made by Bissell, a trusted name in the business that’s known for making some of the best vacuums for pet hair. To see if this budget-friendly vacuum is truly effective when it comes to household messes, our expert product testers took it into the Testing Lab for close inspection. When they were finished in the lab, they sent it home with a tester to see how it holds up to real messes over time. Here’s everything you need to know about the Bissell PowerForce Helix.

What is the Bissell PowerForce Helix?

The Bissell PowerForce Helix is an upright vacuum cleaner that’s designed for use on all flooring surfaces. It is lightweight at 10.10 pounds and has a 22.75-foot power cord that makes it easy to move from room to room. This vacuum includes a washable filter, extension wand, dusting brush and crevice tool, which can be stored on the machine.

Bissell’s PowerForce Helix features powerful suction in all five floor settings. It also has scatter-free technology, a dirt separation system and an easy-to-empty dirt tank. While it doesn’t lay flat or have a swiveling head, it’s still easy to maneuver around furniture and corners.

How we tested it

Before they got down and dirty in the Testing Lab, Sheri Kaz, associate product reviews editor, and Dylan Fischer, associate product tester, led the Product Testing Team in assembling, measuring and weighing the Bissell PowerForce Helix. They were pleased to discover that at 10.10 pounds, this vacuum is actually lighter than initially advertised. They also noted that while it is very light, this machine does have a bulky appearance. Additionally, they did question the quality of the on-board storage. “The storage setup for the hose feels a bit janky,” quips the Product Testing Team. “It doesn’t fully settle into place, so it’s always sticking out in a lopsided way.”

Once they finished inspecting the machine, they jumped right into their first test, which involved spilling crumbs on the floor to assess the machine’s edge-to-edge cleaning capabilities. According to our testers, this vacuum gave a perfect performance, cleaning up all of the crumbs from straight ahead and from the side. Next, they took it around the testing lab’s furniture obstacle course. “This doesn’t have a swivel head, but it’s lightweight enough to maneuver easily,” says the Product Testing Team.

From the obstacle course, it was onto test this vacuum’s performance. Our testers spilled cereal, glitter, long hair and short hair over vinyl flooring, medium-pile carpet and high-pile carpet. They ran the vacuum over each mess for three passes and evaluated how much had been cleaned. Overall, the team found this machine to be a quality vacuum with notable suction, using words like “perfect,” “great job” and “intense suction” in almost every report. In fact, the suction is so strong that our testers found it hard to push and pull at times and noted that it was easiest to move around on carpeted floors. They were pleased with how much this vacuum could clean up in just three passes. However, our testers felt that this machine was loud and whiney, especially while being used on the vinyl floors.

Our long-term tester, Christine Rukavena, disagrees with the Product Testing Team on this front. “This vacuum performed well on the bare-floor setting with tile floors and linoleum tiles,” explains Rukavena. It gave a satisfying and quiet performance—much quieter than my old vacuum.” That said, the disagreements end there.

Rukavena, who used this vacuum in her one-bedroom apartment, found it to be lightweight, easy to maneuver and a great value overall. “It did a great job, especially at this price point,” she says. “It’s quiet, lightweight and collects a satisfying, surprising amount of dirt.” In fact, she pointed out that the suction was so strong that it actually raised the pile of her carpet, making it feel softer underfoot.

What she didn’t like, however, was the placement of the power-on foot lever. “Even though the power-on foot-lever is red, I was looking for a button—not a foot-lever. It’s also located right next to the pedal that adjusts the height and angle of operation, which is a bit awkward,” Rukavena explains. “I inadvertently turned it off a couple of times because the power lever is down where you adjust the angle and move the vacuum around.” She also agrees with the Product Testing Team’s assessment of the onboard storage, noting that they don’t join well to the hose, which results in some loss of power.

When it comes to emptying the canister, both the Product Testing Team and Rukavena agree that it couldn’t be simpler. Our testers describe the process as “easy peasy” and note that there was no need to stick hands inside to get all of the debris out. Rukavena also describes the process as easy and intuitive. “I expected it to be messy or that I’d end up breathing in some of it, but that was not the case,” explains Rukavena. “It was very clean and easy to handle, and no dust or dirt got loose into the environment.”

Pros

• Affordable
• Powerful suction
• Lightweight at 10.10 pounds
• Five pile settings
• Easy to maneuver

Cons

• Attachments aren’t easy to secure
• Power foot lever is awkwardly located

Why you should trust us

Our editors and Product Testing Team have years of experience testing and evaluating every type of vacuum cleaner on the market. We’ve tested everything from handheld machines to robot vacuums and even vacuum-mop combos. Hundreds of hours and dozens of machines later, we’re confident in our recommendations for the best vacuums. We strive to recommend the very best products using honest and fair testing practices regardless of a product’s price point or popularity.

For this story, our product-testing experts on the Product Testing Team spent around 40 hours conducting firsthand research in our Testing Lab on upright vacuum cleaners. They performed roughly 15 tests on 12 different machines, including the Bissell PowerForce Helix. We also sent this machine home with a tester for long-term use to see how it held up against everyday messes in a real home.

Many travelers, myself included, favor soft-sided luggage for its flexibility and ease. When comparing hard vs. soft luggage, soft-sided options make packing more efficient due to their flexible fabric, unlike rigid plastic shells. This kind also expands, accommodating those of us prone to overpacking. While hard-sided luggage offers superior durability and protection, soft-sided bags are lighter and minor blemishes are less noticeable.

Since Away launched its signature hard luggage in 2015, it has become a stylish staple in many people’s luggage arsenal. In July 2024, Away debuted soft-sided luggage. Like Away’s signature hard luggage, the soft-sided luggage has many consistent features, including smooth-rolling wheels and an interior compression system. If possible, I strive not to check a bag, as it’s time-consuming during travel. Since this is ideal for soft luggage, I got my hands a couple pieces and put them to the traveling test in this Away soft-sided luggage review.

What is Away soft-sided luggage?

For years, Away has produced beloved hard shell luggage. Away’s new Softside Luggage collection comes in four sizes: carry-on, bigger carry-on, medium and large. You can shop it in five colors: jet black, navy blue, coastal blue, cloud gray and clay pink.

The carry-on measures 21.9 inches by 15 inches by 9.1 inches, weighs 9.2 pounds and holds 32.2 liters (37.2 liters when expanded). The bigger carry-on measures 23 inches by 15.7 inches by 9.1 inches, weighs 9.8 pounds and holds 38.3 liters (44.3 liters when expanded). The medium measures 26 inches by 18.9 inches by 10.6 inches, weighs 12.6 pounds and holds 69 liters (76 liters when expanded). The large measures 28.7 inches by 21.5 inches by 11.8 inches, weighs 14.8 pounds and holds 101.3 liters (111.5 liters when expanded).

Away soft-sided luggage features

Away’s designs capitalize on modernity and luxury. Like Away’s hard luggage, the soft-sided luggage features a structured, rectangular shape and elegant lines on the front, complying with the brand’s signature clean aesthetic. The Away Softside Luggage collection is crafted from durable, water-resistant nylon, and the exterior is soft and flexible, but protects against the elements and resists abrasions.

Away luggage veterans love the bag’s central compartment, which features a compression system to optimize space. Other handy features include a drawstring laundry bag that separates clean and dirty clothes, an ergonomic handle with two adjustable height settings and four 360-degree wheels.

Away is well-known for its expansion features. When the zipper expansion is activated in its soft-sided luggage, bag capacity increases by 15%. As a chronic overpacker, I’ve always valued this feature. Plus, the suitcases come with a luggage tag (personalize it for an extra $10!) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA)-approved lock. When storing, Away suitcases nest inside each other and save space.

Away’s warranty and return policy is astounding. Unused items can be returned or exchanged within 100 days if not personalized. Additionally, a limited lifetime warranty covers damages to key functional components, such as the shell, wheels, handles and zippers, along with many other elements of the luggage.

How I tested it

I tested Away’s soft-sided bigger carry-on and soft-sided large in coast blue at five airports: Charleston, Atlanta, Dallas, Birmingham and Waco. The luggage arrived safely packaged, each piece in its respective box and covered in a plastic sleeve for protection.

The bigger carry-on measures 23 inches by 15.7 inches by 9.1 inches, and I worried it would exceed some domestic airlines’ carry-on restrictions. For example, United Airlines’ guidelines follow 22 inches by 14 inches by 9 inches. I flew on Delta and American Airlines and didn’t encounter any issues. Luckily, it fit safely into the overhead bin (I didn’t place it in the bag sizer before boarding the plane).

In a traveling blunder, I spilled coffee all over my luggage, which wiped away right off the weatherproof nylon. It also rained throughout my time in Alabama, and my luggage contents remained dry and protected. I traversed several terrains with Away’s luggage, including gravel and uneven sidewalks. I sprinted through the airport to make my flight—and the bags followed me with ease.

In total, I packed six outfits and two pairs of shoes without any spacing issues (though I could’ve used the zipper expansion if I did). Plus, my 13-inch laptop fits comfortably in the front sleeve pocket. The zippers on Away’s soft-sided luggage don’t slide as smoothly as their signature hard bags. Older Away bags featured a built-in lock. While this bag includes a TSA lock, it fastens on and off.

Pros

• Weatherproof, easy-to-clean, durable nylon
• Expansion system increases storage by 15%
• Sizes store easily and nest inside each other
• Sleek design
• Two exterior pockets
• Comes with a TSA-approved lock and luggage tag
• 360-degree smooth-gliding wheels
• Bigger carry-on fits safely in the overhead bin
• 100-day return policy
• Limited lifetime warranty

Cons

• Fragile zippers
• TSA lock isn’t built-in, but it fastens on and off

Why you should trust us

As a senior shopping editor at Trusted Media Brands, I’ve spent years testing a wide range of travel gear, from durable luggage to versatile boots that can handle any adventure. With countless road trips and flights across the Southeast, I’ve put my luggage through extensive real-world use. Over the past decade, I’ve rigorously tested products, and since 2020, I’ve specialized in writing in-depth shopping guides. My hands-on experience with travel essentials ensures that my reviews, including this one on the Away soft-sided luggage, are backed by thorough testing and firsthand insights.

FAQ

Does Away make soft-sided luggage?

Yes, Away launched soft-sided luggage in July 2024. The brand has produced hard luggage since 2015.

Do airlines prefer hard or soft luggage?

Rather than the type of luggage, airlines care more about luggage weight and size. They don’t have a preference.

Are Away suitcases TSA-approved?

Yes, TSA welcomes Away suitcases with TSA-approved locks and standard luggage dimensions.

What other reviewers had to say

The Away soft-sided luggage is still pretty new, but early birds are already praising the pieces in their Away reviews.

“I’ve had the opportunity to use this both as a carry-on and as a checked bag, and I am beyond impressed at the durability,” says Elizabeth, a five-star reviewer. “I’m no stranger to the trendy hard-sided luggage and have tried most competitors out there. My #1 complaint across all of them is the unsightly scuffing after the very first use. With the Softside, that’s no longer an issue, and Away did a fabulous job designing it to maintain the trendy hardside aesthetic. I love that this is like your old soft luggage from the 90s with a facelift for 2024. It’s sturdy and has awesome compression dividers, and I had ample packing room for a five-day trip as a chronic overpacker. I think Away knocked it out of the park with this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to see soft-sided luggage make a comeback.”

Another five-star reviewer, Elle, raves, “I was very impressed by the smoothness and sturdiness of this little bag. The 360-degree wheels were very smooth and never gave me a problem once; it was the most reliable bag for my two-week trip. I especially loved the pockets. This bag has two pockets on the front, a small one on top, which is great for stashing ID, etc, for quick retrieval, and a larger one for other documents or flat tech. It was roomy and still fit perfectly in the overhead bin in the plane. It also doesn’t look too large, and a flight attendant never asked me to measure it to ensure it was the right size. The monochromatic zippers and accents make the bag look very modern.”

Product comparison

Compared to Travelpro or Briggs & Riley, Away’s soft-sided luggage has a smaller capacity and a less effective compression system. However, Away bags are cheaper than these brands, so it’s a win in terms of price.

Those who know and love Away’s hard luggage often complain about how dirty the exterior gets. Aside from a minor white mark on the exterior, my soft-sided luggage is scotch-free (this mark appeared when the entire plane was forced to check bags. I tried, but failed, to scrub out the stain).

Final verdict

Away’s soft-sided luggage is a worthwhile addition to your suitcase rotation. A modern, elegant design, durable nylon build and expansion system make it my go-to when flying and not checking a bag.

Where to buy Away soft-sided luggage

Away’s soft-sided luggage is only available directly on the brand’s website and costs from $225 to $325. The carry-on costs $225, the bigger carry-on is $245, the medium is $295 and the large is $325. It just might be time to cross into the Softside.

Sometimes I’ll be having a stressful phone call, glance at my dog Tux and see him staring at me intently. Other times, I’ll be frantically cleaning before dinner guests arrive and realize that he’s rushing around alongside me. If, like me, you’ve noticed your dog seems particularly attuned to your emotions when you’re feeling overwhelmed, you might wonder, Can dogs smell stress?

The answer to that question is yes. Numerous studies have shown that dogs can detect the stress hormone cortisol, but it hasn’t been clear whether that stress actually upsets them. A new study published in Scientific Reports may have the answer to your pooch’s level of empathy and reaction to your stress.

“I think it’s the first study that shows that the odor of human stress affects dogs’ emotional state—more specifically, how optimistic and pessimistic they are when they’re faced with an uncertain decision,” says veterinary surgeon Zoe Parr-Cortes, BSc, BVSc, MRCVS, the study’s lead researcher.

Read on to find out how your stress affects your dog’s behavior—and what it means for your dog and for you.

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How did researchers determine if dogs felt human stress?

To establish a baseline answer to “Can dogs smell stress?” for the purposes of the study, Dr. Parr-Cortes and her team taught 18 dogs that one bowl in a room held a food reward, and one did not—then timed how quickly each dog approached a third mystery bowl to see if it contained a food reward. That mystery bowl contained human breath and sweat samples from people who either completed stressful tasks like public speaking and math tests under pressure or engaged in relaxing activities like listening to soothing music and watching calming videos.

The researchers then gave the dogs a cognitive bias test to measure their emotional response to smelling these odors. Dr. Parr-Cortes compares this component of the study to an “Is the glass half full or half empty?” experiment. “If you show someone a glass that’s filled halfway, whether they think it’s half full or half empty is going to depend on their mood at the time or their outlook, that sort of thing,” she explains.

Instead of half-filled glasses, the canine study used food bowls to reveal how optimistic or pessimistic dogs felt. If dogs approached a mystery bowl quickly, it showed optimism about finding a food reward. But after smelling a jar with a stress odor—”short bursts just before each decision,” according to Dr. Parr-Cortes—the dogs were less likely to approach the bowl.

“It suggests that the stress smell might have decreased how willing dogs were to risk approaching that bowl,” she says. “They might have thought it was unlikely to have a reward in it, and it might have been a way for them to avoid being disappointed if they approached the bowl.”

Does human stress make a dog sad?

While it might seem like there’s a cause-and-effect relationship between stress and sadness, researchers can’t say for sure whether human stress actually makes dogs sad—at least in terms of how we would think of that word, according to Dr. Parr-Cortes. “We can’t directly measure emotions like sadness in animals because specific feelings like those can only be self-reported,” she explains. “As humans, we can assign different names to positive and negative emotions—sadness, anxiety, fear—and they make us behave differently.”

While we obviously can’t ask animals to name their feelings, we can assess their behavior and decisions to suggest whether they’re in a positive or negative state—and the study did find that after smelling human stress, the dogs entered a more negative state.

“We can say that they’re being pessimistic, or they’re being risk-averse, or they’re not wanting to risk something—which we know are associated with negative emotions,” Dr. Parr-Cortes says. “But we can’t know for sure whether that’s sadness, stress or being scared.”

What are the signs you’re stressing out your dog?

To figure out if your dog is exhibiting signs of stress as a result of your actions and mood, it helps to understand dog behavior, from the weird noises your dog makes to its facial expressions. Common dog stress signals include exhibiting whale eye (when the whites of the eyes are pronounced), licking their lips, yawning, averting their eyes, tucking their tail between their legs and flattening their ears. Dogs may also lick their paws when they’re anxious.

If you notice that your dog seems stressed, use it as a reminder to take a deep breath and try to reduce your stress levels before engaging with your pup—particularly before a training session. We can all use less stress in our lives!

How long are dogs affected by a human’s stress?

The study didn’t test how long dogs are affected by a human’s stress—simply whether they were immediately affected by smelling a jar with the scent of human stress. Each dog would smell the jar for 20 seconds before being released into the room with three bowls. “We know that a short exposure was enough to influence their response,” Dr. Parr-Cortes says, “but we don’t know how long these effects might last.”

It’s worth noting that in this study, the stress samples came from strangers—not the dogs’ owners. Separate studies published in Scientific Reports have found that popular herding dog breeds mirror the long-term stress levels of their owners and that long-term stress in dogs is related to the human-canine relationship and owners’ personality traits.

How can you help your dog feel less stressed?

A couple important ways we can help decrease dog anxiety and stress are by using only positive training methods, which involve rewards instead of punishment, and training our pets when we’re feeling calm, according to Dr. Parr-Cortes. In fact, she says the study is a reminder of how close dogs and humans have become; our moods affect one another. She’s personally witnessed it in her relationship with her dog, Darwin, a retired racing greyhound.

“It’s quite fascinating that, as species, we’ve become this close. I think it’s just important to appreciate that emotional intelligence—that dogs seem to have both negative and positive emotions,” she says. “So I think the main takeaway is to be considerate and compassionate about your dog’s emotions, avoid negative punishment and increase your positive, fun interactions. Go do something fun with your dog, and it’ll make you both feel better.”

Try taking a long walk with your pup, visiting a local pet store to pick out a toy or treat, engaging in a proper play session or even giving your dog a puzzle toy to figure out while you engage in some R&R.

Do dogs smell other emotions?

Since we know dogs can smell stress, it’s natural to wonder, Can dogs smell emotions? Sure enough, dogs can smell emotions like anger, happiness and fear, and their behavior will change in response. This intuitive species can take cues from scent and other clues like our body language, facial expressions and vocal tones. Empathy may also be at play; another recent study published in Animal Behaviour found dogs became stressed listening to recordings of humans crying.

Dr. Parr-Cortes hopes to expand on her research in the future. “I think moving forward, it would be interesting to test things like happiness odors or really deep-relaxation human odors on this cognitive bias test and see if that has a positive effect on their mood,” she says.

As a former therapy-dog handler, I spent five years visiting hospital patients with my Labrador retriever mix, Rio. My loving, loyal dog seemed to intuitively know when to calmly lay his chin on a patient’s knee when they were feeling sad and when to wiggle with excitement to meet a happy child—whatever would offer the most comfort in any situation. So even as science continues to expand our knowledge of dogs, there’s something special about the power of the human-canine bond that I’m not sure can be quantified.

Ultimately, what dogs want is often what we want: to be happy together. Can dogs smell stress and be negatively affected by it? Yes. Does spending time with dogs decrease our stress? Of course (and science proves it)! So do yourself and your dog a favor and spend as much time as you can unwinding from daily stress by exercising, playing and relaxing together.

About the expert Zoe Parr-Cortes, BSc, BVSc, MRCVS, is a veterinary surgeon who was the lead researcher on the study “The odour of an unfamiliar stressed or relaxed person affects dogs’ responses to a cognitive bias test,” published in Scientific Reports in July 2024. She is a contributor to the book Olfactory Research in Dogs and a PhD candidate in clinical veterinary science at Bristol Veterinary School at the University of Bristol in Langford, England.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. For this piece on whether dogs can smell stress, Jen Reeder tapped her experience as a longtime pet journalist, the former president of the Dog Writers Association of America and a dog owner. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Zoe Parr-Cortes, BSc, BVSc, MRCVS, veterinary surgeon, contributor to Olfactory Research in Dogs, PhD candidate in clinical veterinary science at Bristol Veterinary School at the University of Bristol in Langford, England; Zoom interview, Sept. 4, 2024
• Scientific Reports: “The odour of an unfamiliar stressed or relaxed person affects dogs’ responses to a cognitive bias test”
• Frontiers in Allergy: “Can scent-detection dogs detect the stress associated with trauma cue exposure in people with trauma histories? A proof-of-concept study”
• PLOS One: “Dogs can discriminate between human baseline and psychological stress condition odours”
• Scientific Reports: “Long-term stress levels are synchronized in dogs and their owners”
• Scientific Reports: “Long-term stress in dogs is related to the human–dog relationship and personality traits”
• Animal Cognition: “Interspecies transmission of emotional information via chemosignals: from humans to dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)”
• Animal Behaviour: “Family pigs’ and dogs’ reactions to human emotional vocalizations:a citizen science study” 
  
• PLOS One: “Psychophysiological and emotional effects of human–Dog interactions by activity type: An electroencephalogram study”

Standing on a stage, belting out a ballad ata local Chinese festival, is a core memory for Kien Vuu. When he was just 6 years old, he was the youngest member of his family band—and one of its star singers. While he was too young to understand the words he was singing—from “Part of the Game,” a 1970s song about heartbreak by Hong Kong pop group the Wynners—he did understand how much he loved performing music, especially with his family.

Vuu did not grow up to become a professional singer. Instead, he chose medical school and became Kien Vuu, MD, a longevity doctor and assistant professor of health sciences at UCLA. Yet he never lost his love for singing, so he makes time regularly for karaoke sessions with his own children.

“Singing with people has always been one of my favorite hobbies. In fact, I can still remember all the words to that old song,” he says. “Karaoke is one of those things that just lights me up and brings me joy.”

Such things are vital. There are actually many benefits of hobbies, and we do mean in a medical sense. Just ask Dr. Vuu: “In my work as a doctor and researcher, I’ve become convinced that having hobbies is an essential part of living and aging well,” he says.

Sanam Hafeez, PsyD, a neuropsychologist at New York’s Columbia University, agrees. “I feel very strongly about the importance of having hobbies,” she says. Hers include practicing Pilates and learning Italian. “The benefits are immense, both physically and cognitively.”

Dr. Vuu easily rattles off the benefits he gets from singing: In addition to boosting his mood, he says, singing helps him bond with his family and feel connected to his Chinese heritage, improves his memory and mental health, lowers his stress and even gives him a bit of cardio.

“I’m a very active performer when I sing! It definitely gets my heart rate up … and probably embarrasses my kids,” he says, laughing.

For a small investment, that’s a lot of return. And the best news is that all these great mental and physical health benefits can come from any activity that “lights you up,” as Dr. Vuu puts it.

The positive health outcomes of hobbies are available to everyone, says Scott Kaiser, MD, the director of geriatric cognitive health at the Pacific Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California. Dr. Kaiser’s passion project is traveling, but whether you prefer hiking, sudoku, dancing, watercolor painting or playing piano, know that your hobbies are not only making you happier—they’re also making you healthier.

Reader’s Digest asked Dr. Vuu, Dr. Hafeez and Dr. Kaiser more about the benefits of hobbies and how they can make your life better in so many ways. Read on to get inspired and find the perfect hobby for you!

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How do hobbies benefit your body?

A pervasive and harmful myth is that engaging in hobbies is self-indulgent or even a waste of time. Nothing could be further from the truth, Dr. Kaiser says. The benefits you reap will depend on your hobby—taking up jogging, for instance, will benefit your cardiovascular health more than, say, crossword puzzles, which may improve your cognitive health. The point is that nearly all hobbies can provide measurable positive health benefits.

“Doing an enjoyable hobby releases endorphins, the feel-good chemicals in the brain, while lowering cortisol,the so-called stress hormone,” Dr. Vuu says. “This then lowers blood pressure, reduces systemic inflammation, im­­proves sleep, boosts the immune system, improves cardiac health and increases energy—which in turn can kick off a whole positive cycle of healthier behaviors.”

The science backs this up. A 2021 meta-analysis of multiple studies found strong evidence that engaging in leisure activities can improve health by protecting against coronary heart disease, cognitive decline and dementia, as well as age-related physical decline including chronic pain, frailty and disability. The report, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry, found that for people who were suffering from a chronic illness, doing a hobby helped them manage their symptoms and even slowed the progression of their illness.

But another of the researchers’ findings is perhaps the most compelling: the strong relationship between doing leisure activities and increased longevity. A different study conducted last year quantified the impact, finding that older adults have a 19% lower risk of mortality when they engage in regular leisure activities.

How do hobbies benefit your brain?

In addition to providing protection against dementia, hobbies improve our neuroplasticity: the ability of the brain’s neural networks to change, adapt and make new connections. Dr. Hafeez explains that hobbies take advantage of this flexibility and help your brain create new connections, which can help you in areas beyond just that particular skill. This may be the reason why people who play a musical instrument often do better in math.

“One of the coolest things I’ve learned is that regularly doing things you find enjoyable causes biochemical changes in the brain, and we can measure these in the lab,” Dr. Vuu says.

“With the brain,” adds Dr. Hafeez, “it’s a ‘use it or lose it’ type of situation, especially as we get older. So you always want to be exercising it to keep it strong, and hobbies are a really fun way to do that.”

How do hobbies benefit your spirit?

In many ways, hobbies make us happier. People who made a conscious effort each day to spend time doing hobbies (no matter what they were) showed an average boost of 8% in well-being and a 10% drop in stress and anxiety, according to a 2023 study published in the Journal of Personality. Similarly, folks who reported having at least one hobby were found to have fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of happiness, health and life satisfaction, according to a 2023 study published in Nature Medicine.

“On a fundamental level, humans need meaning, something that gives them a sense of purpose. And being able to do what you’re passionate about really contributes to that,” Dr. Hafeez says. “Engaging in hobbies lowers your risk of depression and boosts your self-esteem.”

And perhaps the most underestimated benefit of hobbies is their impact on our social well-being. “Humans have always thrived within a community; we need that,” Dr. Kaiser says. “When we don’t get it, all aspects of our health can suffer.” Indeed, chronic loneliness is worse for your health than smoking 15 cigarettes per day, according to a 2020 analysis published by the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Hobbies are a perfect way to find that sense of community, make new friends and catch up with old ones. Many hobbies are done in a group—think choirs, knitting circles and recreational sports teams. And even when you’re not actively doing the hobby, it can still provide opportunities to be social, by taking classes to improve your skills, say, or participating in online chat groups.

How do hobbies lower stress?

To answer this, you’ll first need to know that the brain operates in different states, measured in five main categories of brain waves: alpha, beta, gamma, theta and delta. Most of the time, our brains are in a default “work” state, characterized by beta and gamma brain waves. This is when we’re using our brains to solve problems and focus on tasks, which requires us to stay in an alert, active state. This is an essential role, for sure, but not one you want to stay in for too long, as it raises cortisol levels in the body, increasing feelings of stress and anxiety, Dr. Vuu explains.

“Stress, and the effects it has on the body, is one of the main drivers of chronic disease and depression today,” he says. “Chronic stress fries your nervous system and increases inflammation, which then causes a cascade of negative effects, both mentally and physically.”

How, exactly, does that work? High stress and systemic inflammation impact every system in the body, increasing the risk of almost every type of major disease. A 2015 study published in Future Science OA found that stress caused physiological changes in the brain and the cardiovascular, immune and musculoskeletal systems. This, in turn, increased the risk of everything from mood disorders to autoimmune diseases and dementia.

In all, hobbies are a powerful antidote to stress, causing a cascade of positive changes. “Doing a hobby you enjoy puts your brain into a ‘flow’ state, characterized by alpha and theta waves, which cause you to feel relaxed, less stressed and less anxious,” Dr. Vuu says. These brain states are characterized by feelings of deep relaxation, passive focus, creativity, intuition and ­daydreaming.

What is (and isn’t) a hobby?

A hobby is anything you do in your leisure time that brings you joy or pleasure—and a lot of activities fit the bill. But not all hobbies are created equal when it comes to health and happiness. Many people, for example, will cite scrolling through social media or binge-watching Netflix shows as a hobby, but the reality is that they feel numb or even worse after doing it. These kinds of mindless activities give more of a short-term high and can leave you feeling emptier and more exhausted afterward.

“I call it popcorn brain, where you go from site to app to site looking for something new because our brains crave novelty,” Dr. Hafeez says. “But this is detrimental to your cognitive health in the long run and can very easily become addictive. You’re not really learning anything new; you’re just temporarily distracting yourself.”

The other downside of these types of electronic hobbies, including video and mobile games, says Dr. Kaiser, is that they require you to be sedentary, which increases your risk of many health issues. “You need to be aware of that and strive for balance,” says Dr. Vuu.

How do I pick a hobby?

Perhaps you already have a passion and just need permission to do that thing a little more often. (Permission granted!) But maybe you haven’t found a hobby you really love doing yet, or you’d like to add another activity to your roster.

So how do you choose a hobby? “I look at it through the lens of the seven pillars of health: sleep, nutrition, movement, emotional mastery, thoughts/mindset, relationships and purpose,” Dr. Vuu says. “We need all of those for a healthy lifestyle.”

Creating an “ensemble effect”—doing a hobby that engages you in multiple domains of health and well-being—will compound the positive effects, Dr. Kaiser adds. Fortunately, most hobbies check multiple boxes.

Plus, what hobbies are right for you will vary greatly based on your personality, interests, abilities and resources, but most of us have a gut instinct of our likes and dislikes. A good way to choose a hobby is by considering which areas of your life you’d like to improve right now. For instance, if you’d like to add more movement to your life, improve your memory and build friendships, you might enjoy a group exercise hobby like Zumba, paddleboard yoga, “star tour” night hikes or an Ultimate Frisbee league. Or, if you’re interested in improving your mood and finding a sense of purpose, look into a philanthropic hobby like helping immigrants learn English, starting a community garden or knitting baby hats for NICU patients. Your options are limited only by your imagination.

How many hobbies should I have?

The answer is individual, Dr. Hafeez says. Some people thrive focusing all their energies on the one thing they are super passionate about, while others enjoy a variety of activities. Regardless, it’s a good idea to challenge yourself to try something new every once in a while, as the novelty is good for stimulating new connections in your brain—and with other people.

How do I make the most of my hobbies?

Hobbies are fun, so why is it so hard to find the motivation to do them? With our busy lives, it can be challenging to find the time and energy. But it’s worth it! Our experts offer these tips for making the most of your hobbies:

• Schedule time on your calendar, just as you would for an appointment. Prioritize your chosen activities by setting a recurring weekly or monthly event.
• Find a friend or a group to do things with. You’ll be much more motivated to go if you know that others are expecting you.
• Adapt to what you have available. Don’t have all the supplies you need for your art project? It’s better to improvise than to cancel.
• Go out of your comfort zone and push yourself to take your hobby to the next level or try something new to keep it fresh.
• Check out free classes or free trials before you commit to an activity or program you have to pay for.

The trick to enjoying any hobby is to adopt a “no-fail” attitude, Dr. Hafeez says. If you’re trying something new, remind yourself that everyone is bad at something the first time they try it, so focus on having fun. For established hobbies, remind yourself that any time spent doing your hobby is beneficial, even if it doesn’t result in an amazing work of art or aria. And even if everything goes sideways, at least you’ll have a good story to tell.

Making the time to do something enjoyable on a regular basis will have a great impact on your life. “I’m a bit of a workaholic,” Dr. Kaiser confesses, “but one thing I really love is travel. When taking a trip, I increase my curiosity, learn new things and try new foods. I feel excited and have something to look forward to. I spend time with people I love. I feel challenged and enjoy the adventure. I get to learn about other cultures and connect with a wide variety of people. And I build so many great memories, the kind that last a lifetime.”

Now it’s your turn: Whether you decide to revive an old hobby or start up a whole new one, go find the thing that lights you up and do more of it. Doctor’s orders!

About the experts Kien Vuu, MD, is a longevity doctor and assistant professor of health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also known as “Dr. V,” he earned board certification from the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine and is the founder of VuuMD Performance and Longevity, which offers counsel to elite athletes, Fortune 500 companies and more. Dr. Vuu is also the No. 1 bestselling author of Thrive State. Sanam Hafeez, PsyD, is a neuropsychologist at New York’s Columbia University. She’s also the founder and director of Comprehend the Mind, which offers neuropsychological assessments for adults and children. Scott Kaiser, MD, is the director of geriatric cognitive health at the Pacific Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California. He received his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and later trained within the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency, with additional fellowship training within UCLA’s Primary Care and Health Services Research Fellowship as a Health Media Fellow.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experience where appropriate. For this piece on the benefits of hobbies, Charlotte Hilton Andersen tapped her experience as a longtime journalist who often writes about health. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Kien Vuu, MD, longevity doctor and assistant professor of health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• Sanam Hafeez, PsyD, neuropsychologist at New York’s Columbia University and the founder and director of Comprehend the Mind
• Scott Kaiser, MD, director of geriatric cognitive health at the Pacific Brain Health Center at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California
• National Library of Medicine: “How leisure activities affect health: a narrative review and multi-level theoretical framework of mechanisms of action”
• Frontiers in Public Health: “Effects of leisure activities and general health on the survival of older people: a cohort study in China”
• Neuroscience News: “Chasing Hobbies Over Achievement Boosts Happiness”
• Nature Medicine: “Hobby engagement and mental wellbeing among people aged 65 years and older in 16 countries”
• National Library of Medicine: “Insight into Potential Mechanisms Linking Loneliness and Cognitive Decline: Commentary on Health Factors as Potential Mediator the Longitudinal Effect of Loneliness on General Cognitive Ability”
• National Library of Medicine: “The effects of chronic stress on health: new insights into the molecular mechanisms of brain–body communication”

More is definitely better when it comes to certain things—job offers, binge-worthy Netflix series, chocolate—but the same cannot be said about passwords. In fact, the more logins you have, the greater the security risk. Alarmingly, the average American now has a whopping 168 passwords, according to a recent survey from password-management company NordPass, and that number is up 70% compared with just three years ago.

If you can’t possibly believe you have that many passwords, let us take you on a trip down memory lane to your very first Hotmail account, the wedding site you created for the big day and your Tumblr account, for starters. While you might have forgotten about these abandoned accounts, cybercriminals have not. “Your forgotten online accounts may seem harmless, but they’re actually a big security liability,” says Wes Gyure, an executive director with IBM Security. And if you want to keep your information safe from hackers, it’s essential to get rid of them.

Ahead, we’ll walk you through what to do with your old accounts and provide some important tech tips that will protect the ones you decide to keep.

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Why does having so many logins put you at risk?

“Each one is a potential target for hackers seeking sensitive information stored within, like your credit card or bank account numbers,” says Gyure. “Even if your account doesn’t have sensitive data tied to it, it’s still a liability, as many people reuse passwords across accounts, allowing hackers to swipe the password from one and gain access to another, like your bank account.”

In fact, for the second year in a row, IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach report found that compromised credentials were the top way cybercriminals access your data. “Each of a user’s forgotten or abandoned accounts becomes a potential attack vector at compromising your personal information,” Gyure says.

Businesses are reeling from these cyberattacks as well, and if hackers break into one of their systems and get hold of your login information, all of your accounts could be compromised. The bottom line: Even if you think you’re being responsible about online safety, a company’s data breach could still put you at risk.

Which accounts have you likely forgotten about?

Sure, you probably remember that you had (and, er, may still have) an AOL or Snapfish account, but there are also the logins you used only a handful of times—maybe even just once. Yep, every time you create an account, even for a quickie appointment or vacation booking, that account stays there … forever. Here’s a partial list of accounts you’ve probably created over the years:

• Email (Hotmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Gmail, etc.)
• Social media
• School accounts and emails
• Health sites (hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices and labs)
• Concert and theater ticket sites
• Transportation (train, bus or plane services)
• Travel sites
• Loyalty plans and rewards cards
• Online-shopping sites

How to find and delete old accounts

If you’re no longer using an account, delete it. While there’s no set time frame in which you should review your online accounts to decide if you should delete or deactivate them, try doing so at least once a year. The good news is that it’s easier than you think. Just follow these steps:

• Look for your login credentials to various online accounts on your computer’s web browser. On Chrome, click the three vertical dots at the top right of the screen, go to “Passwords and autofill” and then select “Google Password Manager” to see a list of the accounts the browser has stored for you. The process will be similar for other browsers.

• Check if any of your passwords have shown up on the dark web due to a data breach. You may see a pop-up from Chrome or Microsoft Edge that tells you which passwords you should change. If you don’t see a pop-up, that doesn’t mean there’s not a problem. To check yourself in Chrome, click the three vertical dots at the top right of the screen, go to “Passwords and autofill,” then click “Google Password Manager” and finally “Checkup.” Alternatively, go to the free (and safe) website “Have I Been Pwned?” to see if any of your passwords have been breached.

• Check your PC, Mac or mobile device’s operating system for login credentials to various accounts. Do a search for the word “password,” and you should be able to find a password manager (called “Keychain access” on a Mac) to see a list of accounts. From here, you can delete them or change the passwords if you want to keep them. You may also see installed password manager apps—such as NordPass, Dashlane, Roboform, LastPass, 1Password or Bitwarden—here.

• Log on to each site to review or change your password, or officially deactivate or delete accounts you no longer use. Make sure you’ve backed up anything you want, such as info and photos, before you do.

An important note: Don’t just uninstall apps from your phone or tablet. This removes the program from your device, but your information will still be on the service it’s linked to (such as a site like Hotels.com). You need to go through the steps above to delete your account, or it will remain on the site’s server indefinitely. FYI, you’ll also want to go through a similar process when deleting apps.

♦ Pro tip

If you’re using a website or service just one time, consider checking out as a guest rather than creating a permanent account.

How to keep your passwords safe

A good password can make it more difficult for hackers to access your accounts. Reader‘s Digest reached out to McAfee, a leading cybersecurity company, for some tips to create a strong password and manage them all. If you decide to keep an account, follow the recommended best practices below for setting secure passwords and changing them at least every 90 days.

• Use a unique password for each account. We know—it’s more convenient to use the same password for everything or a slight variation of one password that’s easy to remember, but this also makes it easier for hackers to get into all your online accounts.

• Don’t write passwords in a notepad or keep them all in a document on your computer. These are not secure storage solutions. Instead, consider a trustworthy password-manager app for all your devices, such as NordPass, Dashlane, Roboform, LastPass, 1Password or Bitwarden. Find one you like best, and install it on multiple devices (phone, tablet, laptop and desktop) so it’ll synchronize between them all.

• Create a strong password. That means one that is at least 12 characters long, isn’t a common word or sequence of numbers, and has a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Alternatively, McAfee says a passphrase is a good idea too. Try a lyric from a song or poem (for example, “andtherocketsredglare”), or make an abbreviation from the words in a sentence (changing “the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog in the backyard” to “tqbfjotlditb,” for instance). Also resist using personal information that people who know you or look at your social media can guess, such as your birthday, your kids’ or pets’ names, and so on.

• Use multifactor authentication for your important online accounts, like online banking. Logging into an app or website with two-factor authentication doesn’t just require your password but also a one-time code sent by text or email to confirm it’s really you. If offered, a secondary “biometrics” option to log in—which uses a part of your body to identify you, such as your fingerprint or face scan—adds another layer of protection.

About the expert Wes Gyure is an executive director at IBM Security. He has 25 years of experience across tech topics such as data security, online fraud and online identity management.

Why trust us

Reader’s Digest has published hundreds of articles on personal technology, arming readers with the knowledge to protect themselves against cybersecurity threats and internet scams as well as revealing the best tips, tricks and shortcuts for computers, cellphones, apps, texting, social media and more. For this piece on old online accounts, Marc Saltzman tapped his 30-year experience as a technology journalist, the author of several books (including Apple Vision Pro for Dummies) and the host of the syndicated Tech It Out radio show and podcast to ensure that all information is accurate and offers the best possible advice to readers. We rely on credentialed experts with personal experience and know-how as well as primary sources, including tech companies, professional organizations and academic institutions. We verify all facts and data and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Wes Gyure, executive director at IBM Security; email interview, Aug. 31 and Sept. 3, 2024
• NordPass: “Juggling security: How many passwords does the average person have in 2024?”
• The Wall Street Journal: “Those Online Accounts You No Longer Use? For Your Own Safety, Get Rid of Them”
• McAfee: “Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Passwords Secure”
• IBM: “What is the True Cost of a Data Breach?”
• Morgan Lewis: “IBM/Ponemon Study Finds Average Cost of Data Breaches Continued to Rise in 2023”

Healthy hair isn’t only in your strands, it’s about your scalp health, too. In an interview with InStyle, Jennifer Aniston—yes, that Jennifer Aniston, the actress from too many shows and movies to count—explains that she used to view a scalp scrub as just an extra step. But her outlook changed when someone broke it down to her like skincare.

“You do a scrub on your face once a week. You exfoliate your skin because, over the course of a week—with lotions, potions and makeup—you build up a residue, and your pores get clogged. So think of that same exact thing happening on your scalp,” Aniston says. “Our follicles get clogged with all the shampoos, conditioners, leave-ins, sprays and styling, especially for someone who works in my industry, where you’re being styled on a daily basis.”

The best product for keeping a healthy scalp? Aniston added one to her haircare brand, LolaVie, just for that purpose: the Exfoliate & Detox Scalp Shampoo. It aims to remove buildup and nourish the scalp, all while boosting volume and shine. Prepare to add this scalp shampoo to your weekly routine.

What is LolaVie Exfoliate & Detox Scalp Shampoo?

Launched on August 19, the LolaVie Exfoliate & Detox Scalp Shampoo works to remove greasy buildup, nourish and balance the scalp, soothe irritation, reduce flaking and boost volume and shine.

This scalp shampoo is filled with activated charcoal powder, which deep cleans impurities on the scalp; alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), which unblock and cleanse pores; B-Pro3 Bond Technology, which protect and repair signs of aging and damage and other benefit-packed ingredients. This cruelty-free formula is made without silicones, sulfates (SLS/SLES), parabens, gluten or phthalates.

In a pre-clinical study with nine subjects, this scalp shampoo reduced scalp flaking after just one use. It also increased scalp hydration by up to 157% after just one use. This all relates back to healthy hair, because a hydrated scalp is an optimal environment for hair follicles to promote healthy hair growth.

In fact, Aniston used this scalp shampoo after she got doused in oil when filming The Morning Show this past July. “It was 98,000 degrees outside, and humidity was at an all-time high. You’re with 400 extras, and you’re all sardines in the street. It was just, ‘Ah!’ I scrubbed top to bottom that day!” Aniston tells InStyle. “You have no idea how much I detoxed my scalp after that.”

How to use LolaVie Exfoliate & Detox Scalp Shampoo

Thoroughly wet your hair, then section it out using the LolaVie Exfoliate & Detox Scalp Shampoo nozzle as a guide and apply the scalp shampoo. The brand advises “vigorously massaging” the product into your roots, causing a lather. Once done, rinse out the scalp shampoo, and that’s it! There’s no waiting around for it to do its thing.

LolaVie recommends using the scalp shampoo once a week. The brand also advises following the scalp shampoo with LolaVie’s Intensive Repair Treatment or Restorative Conditioner.

“The Exfoliate and Detox Scalp Shampoo brings my hair back to life—with ingredients like activated charcoal and AHAs, I think of it like skincare, but for my scalp. Plus, it leaves my hair looking so shiny and bouncy! It really is true that beautiful hair starts with a healthy scalp,” Aniston says in an Instagram caption.

Where to buy LolaVie Exfoliate & Detox Scalp Shampoo

The Aniston-founded LolaVie brand is available at Ulta. You can shop the Exfoliate & Detox Scalp Shampoo for $39 for a 6-ounce bottle. If it’s good enough for Rachel Green, it’s good enough for us.

If you’ve ever shopped for a vacuum cleaner, then you’re sure to have heard whispers of the Shark vs. Dyson debate. Of course, both brands are total powerhouses, renowned for making some of the top models on the market. But no matter what your position may be, you’ve got to give it to Shark for creating some of the most versatile vacuum cleaners out there, including the brand’s lift-away vacuums. In particular, we’re talking about the Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away ADV upright vacuum.

This vacuum is a game-changer when it comes to cleaning your home. That’s because it can be used as both an upright vacuum and a handheld vacuum, making it one of the best vacuums for stairs. But this convenience and versatility doesn’t come cheap. In order to see if this vacuum cleaner is worth the splurge, we brought it into our Testing Lab for a closer look. We also sent it home with a tester to see how it fares against real messes over time. We then compiled all of our findings into this detailed Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away review. Here’s everything you need to know.

What is the Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away upright vacuum?

The Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away is an upright vacuum cleaner designed for use on all flooring surfaces. It’s fairly light and has a swiveling head, so it’s easy to maneuver around corners and furniture. It also has the ability to lay almost completely flat in order to get under furniture. What makes this one of our favorite Shark vacuums, however, is the lift-away feature. All you have to do is step on the pedal to lift away the pod, and voilà! Cleaning your stairs, furniture and other small or hard-to-reach spaces around your home is infinitely easier. “I appreciate well-designed products, and this vacuum isn’t over the top with needlessly sophisticated gadgets or settings. It’s user-friendly for all types of messes on multiple surfaces. The lift-away feature is nice because it easily converts to a handheld. The cord is generous, and I can adjust the suction control to use on draperies or lightweight rugs,” says associate product reviews editor, Sheri Kaz.

Since this Shark vacuum was designed for homes with pets, it’s loaded with features that pet parents find especially useful. Light-emitting diode (LED) headlights allow you to see hidden hair and debris on your floors while its self-cleaning, and atwo-brushroll system digs deep into carpets to suck up pet hair and messes that may have been tracked in by muddy paws. It also has a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, which traps 99.97% of dust and allergens inside the vacuum, an anti-allergen dusting brush and odor-neutralizer technology to keep your home smelling, well, not like pets.

This vacuum includes three attachments: a crevice tool, an upholstery tool and an anti-allergen dusting brush. Everything is neatly stored on the machine and, according to our testers, easy to use. Our Product Testing Team especially loved the placement of the cord on this vacuum cleaner. They note that the cord is on the side of the machine, so when you release the wand, you don’t have to completely unwind the cord like you would on other models.

How we tested it

Our Product Testing Team, led by Kaz and Dylan Fischer, associate product tester, for this test, was immediately intrigued by the Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away. “It’s boxy and a bit obtrusive, but it’s very cool-looking,” says the Product Testing Team. “We especially like the wine color.” They also appreciated the convenience of having the suction control on the handle and the cord management on the side of the machine. Additionally, they liked how well the attachments fit for on-board storage. “Attachments fit directly onto the handle without having to use the wand extender, but can also use the wand for extension if desired,” explains the team.

Once their initial assessment was complete, they got to work testing the machine’s performance. They began by taking it for a spin through a furniture obstacle course to test its maneuverability and dumping seasoning onto the floor to evaluate the machine’s edge-to-edge cleaning capabilities. According to our testers, it maneuvered nicely, thanks to the swiveling head, and did a good job sucking up the seasoning from both angles.

For the next round of testing, our team dumped cereal, glitter and hair onto vinyl floors, medium-pile carpet and high-pile carpet and assessed how much debris was removed after three passes. This vacuum also proved to be a top performer on vinyl floors, sucking up everything in its path in just three passes. It also performed well on both carpets, though a few additional passes were required in order to pick up all of the cereal on the medium-pile carpet. Our long-term tester, Taylor-Max Tesch, also had a similar experience.

Tesch, who shares his two-bedroom home with a very hairy Golden Retriever, felt that this vacuum really allowed for a deep clean. “I enjoyed using this to really deep clean the rugs and hard-to-reach areas. The dusting attachment is one of my favorite features,” he raves. “It eliminates the need to have a duster as the vacuum lifts away and allows you to reach higher shelves, ceiling fans and other tall dusty spots.” He did point out, however, that the vacuum was loud on his hardwood floors. “But I think that’s because of how powerful it is and isn’t too bothersome,” Tesch adds.

In addition to its powerful performance, Tesch appreciated the machine’s intuitiveness and how easy it was to clean—or, in his case, not clean. “I would have to cut out hair in my previous old hand-me-down,” he explains. The dual rollers help prevent dirt and hair from getting caught. Additionally, the main container is smooth without any weird angles, so dust and debris fall right out into the trash.”

When it comes to this vacuum’s overall value, our Product Testing Team and Tesch all agree that it doesn’t get much better than the Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away upright vacuum. “This machine seems durable enough to last. It’s expensive, for sure, but you’re getting that Shark seal of quality,” says the Product Testing Team. According to Tesch, this machine is on par with its high-end competitors. “I would note that the performance is above its price point. I’ve used other cordless and corded models, and the construction is on par with other high-end vacuums,” he says. “It performs well without being $500 or more.”

Pros

• Converts to a handheld vacuum
• Suction control on the handle and on extension wand
• Quick-release wand
• Odor neutralizer
• Pile adjustment
• Swivel head with LED headlight
• Cord management is on the side of the machine

Cons

• Pricey

Why you should trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we know how important it is to find quality products that simplify your life. This especially applies to cleaning products, as our editors and testers all have homes to keep clean. Many of us are also pet owners who understand the challenges of managing errant pet hair. We have years of experience testing all sorts of vacuums, including the best vacuums for pet hair, car vacuums and hands-free robot vacuums.

Our product testing experts on the Product Testing Team spent hours in our Testing Lab getting up close and personal with a dozen upright vacuum cleaners. Several of those hours were spent carefully examining and testing the Shark Rotator Pet Lift-Away ADV upright vacuum. After the lab, we sent it home with a tester for long-term use in order to see how it holds up to real-life use. Our goal is to recommend only the very best products using honest and fair testing practices, and we’ll never recommend a product we don’t love, regardless of how popular the brand or model.

One clever way to help prevent pickpockets from ruining your day? Investing in an anti-theft bag. The best anti-theft bags have special security features, like anti-slash materials and straps, locks and radio frequency identification (RFID)-blocking capabilities. We tested over a dozen anti-theft bags in our dedicated Testing Lab and one stood out as being safe, stylish and suitable for different types of travelers: the Pacsafe Go crossbody bag.

To see if this bag is worth adding to your Amazon cart, our Product Testing Team took it into the Testing Lab for closer inspection. Once our team completed their work in the lab, we sent it out into the world with one of our testers to see how it holds up to everyday use. We then evaluated our team’s findings and our tester’s notes and used them to create this comprehensive Pacsafe Crossbody review.

What is the Pacsafe Go crossbody bag?

The Pacsafe crossbody is an anti-theft bag that can be worn on the shoulder or across your body. It is sustainably made using post-consumer recycled polyester and has a minimalistic, gender-neutral design. Measuring 6.3 inches tall by 9.5 inches wide by 2.8 inches deep, this Pacsafe crossbody holds up to 2.5 liters, which is enough room for your phone, wallet, sunglasses and other odds and ends. It even has enough room for a 7-inch tablet or e-reader. But more importantly, this bag is loaded with anti-theft features to keep your items secure.

Pacsafe’s crossbody bag may be made of recycled fishing nets and plastic bottles, but its eXomesh anti-cut stainless steel barrier makes it slash-resistant. It also has a slash-resistant strap with locking snaps to keep it from being ripped away. Locking zippers, along with RFID-blocking pockets and material, keep the contents of your bag safe from even the most savvy thieves.

How we tested it

Sheri Kaz, associate product reviews editor, led the Product Testing Team in their efforts to assess the quality, durability and effectiveness of this Pacsafe crossbody. They were immediately impressed by the overall look and feel of the bag, noting that it seems durable and well-made. However, they did initially question the strap. “There is nothing luxurious about the straps,” observes the Product Testing Team, noting that it feels rough. But in spite of this initial impression, our testers actually found that the bag did not feel uncomfortable or heavy on Kaz’s shoulder. Our testers examined the bag’s locking zippers. They noted that the dock lock, which serves as a lockdown point for zippers, takes a little maneuvering but works well. Meanwhile, the brand’s patented TurnNLock security hook seems durable and easy to use.

Finally, it was time to see what this bag was really made of. To do this, our testers took a box cutter to the strap and fabric. They were amazed to find that there were virtually no marks left behind. With their testing complete, they sent this bag home with tester Jessi Rhine to see how it fares with a real-life user.

Rhine liked the overall look and feel of this bag, noting that it feels similar to a backpack. “It has a great casual look. I rarely dress up so this fits my style,” she says. “And the blue color is pretty neutral. It will match most outfits.” Moreover, she was impressed by the fact that it took her about a week before she noticed the marks left behind by our box cutter. “Not sure how hard you tried cutting it, but it took me about a week until I saw the small score on the front of the bag,” says Rhine. “I think this bag will last.”

Rhine packed up this bag and brought it with her to a local state fair. She found that the durable fabric made this bag slightly heavier than the average bag, but says it was comfortable to wear for the five hours she spent at the fair. “It was great,” she raves. “It was a nice length (adjustable, too) and easy to swing out of the way if bending over.” She also appreciated the fact that this bag is water-resistant since it rained while she was out. “I didn’t have to worry about the items inside,” she says.

Speaking of the inside, Rhine carried her phone, credit card pouch and keys with her. Unfortunately, she found that the RFID pocket was too small for her credit card pouch. In order to make the most of it, she would have had to remove her cards from the pouch. And in spite of the brand suggesting you store your passport in the RFID pocket, Rhine doesn’t believe that a passport would actually fit. The other pockets, however, were a hit. “The other inside padded pocket is perfect for my phone. I like that it’s padded to keep keys away from the phone screen,” Rhine explains.

While the padded interior pocket was perfect for her phone, Rhine would have preferred to stash it in the bag’s outside pocket instead. However, she found that it was too cumbersome to access. “I wish the outside pocket was a little easier to get into because I’d like to use it for my phone,” she explains. “But if I’m going in and out of that pocket a lot, I almost want it less ‘theft proof’ so it’s easy to grab a phone.” She also found that the locking zippers took more effort than she would have liked and opted not to use them on a daily basis. “They add a little bit of fumbling to easily open the bag but I would use them if I was in NYC on the subway,” she says. “It’s nice that you don’t have to lock them if you don’t want to.”

In spite of her general reluctance to spend more than $50 on any bag, Rhine agrees with our Product Testing Team that this Pacsafe crossbody is a good value. “I am not the average girl who likes to have a lot of bags,” she explains. But even she admits that this bag is a great deal, especially considering that this bag can often be found on sale. Our final verdict? The Pacsafe crossbody bag is well-made and has effective anti-theft features that’ll keep all of your belongings safe and secure while you travel.

Pros

• Slash-resistant panels and strap
• RFID-blocking capabilities
• TurnNLock security hook
• Securable zippers
• Sustainably made
• Great value
• Minimalistic, gender-neutral design

Cons

• Interior RFID pocket is on the small side
• Fabric isn’t stain-resistant

Why you should trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we know how important it is to have peace of mind while you travel, whether you’re embarking on your dream vacation or running errands around town. That’s why we love products that deter thieves like anti-theft bags and zipperless luggage. As a diverse mix of travelers, parents and pet owners who know how easy it is to become distracted or disoriented while out and about, our editors and testers have years of personal experience trying to keep our purses safe and avoid pickpockets. As shopping experts, we are always excited to share our winning products and will never recommend anything we don’t love, regardless of a product’s popularity.

Our product testing experts on the Product Testing Team spent around 36 hours in our Testing Lab carefully inspecting 15 anti-theft bags and considering each bag’s anti-theft capabilities, comfort and wearability, durability, capacity and functionality. Several of those hours were spent with the Pacsafe crossbody bag. We also had one of our testers carry this bag with her daily to see how it holds up to real-life use. “It’s not a large bag and not too heavy. A man might even wear this as it almost looks like a fanny pack,” says Rhine. “I think if they added an option to convert it to a fanny pack, it would be even more versatile.”

When Viktoria Koskenoja was in college, she sat in the hospital at the bedside of her mother, who lay dying of leukemia, and studied for her medical school entrance exams. She was determined to one day speak the language of the doctors who swooped in and out of the room discussing the case. Later, in medical school and then in residency, Koskenoja found herself drawn to emergency medicine, with its unpredictability, its tapestry of characters and its imperative to establish immediate trust with the constant stream of brand-new patients coming through the door. She had found her calling.

Her first position out of residency was her dream job, working in a Level 2 trauma center at a hospital in rural Michigan, where she’d grown up. And at first, it truly was a dream. “Small community, really great group of physicians, really great group of nurses,” she recalls. “It just felt like we had everything that keeps the hospital running.”

But the facility had just been bought out by a private equity firm, and Dr. Koskenoja watched in real time as things began to change. “Cuts were made everywhere in every possible way,” she says. Cuts that seemed harmful to patients, the very people they were there to help.

This was just the start of what lay ahead for Dr. Koskenoja, and it’s what medical professionals across America deal with every day. To understand the challenges shaping health care today, Reader’s Digest interviewed several leading medical professionals, including David Sherer, MD, author of Hospital Survival Guide; Rebekah Bernard, MD, author of Patients at Risk; Sharon Ortega, MD, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist; and Mitchell Louis Judge Li, MD, a board-certified emergency physician. Their insights reveal the pressures and realities impacting health-care providers and their patients—and what you need to know before your next trip to the hospital. 

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Change sets in

According to Dr. Koskenoja, doctors and nurses were let go or had their hours drastically reduced. “I’d walk into a room,” she recalls, “and see a patient with a blood pressure of 60/40,” which is dangerously low. Before the buyout, “the nurses would have been all over that,” she says. “But I would have to find a nurse, if I could, and try to get them to start fluids, or start them myself.”

When her ER pediatric patients needed to be admitted to the hospital, Dr. Koskenoja would request a bed upstairs, only to be routinely denied by administrators. Confused, she asked a pediatrician what was going on. Pediatric admissions don’t pay well, her colleague said, explaining that the hospital could bill the insurance company more for adults who have been admitted.

As a result, the children would often remain in the emergency room for up to four days at a time, she says. The same thing happened with elderly patients, many with dementia, who stayed even longer while awaiting a spot in a long-term-care facility. It was, she says, an untenable situation.

“We didn’t have a system designed for taking care of someone for monthlong stays in an emergency department where it’s just supposed to be for a few hours,” Dr. Koskenoja says.

She describes sleepless nights agonizing over the responsibility of trying to care for patients in what struck her as impossible conditions. Children and the elderly stuck in the ER risked missing treatments because the drastically cut nursing staff was now so overstretched.

The hospital denies ever basing patient admission decisions on cost or reimbursement, and says its staffing models fall well within industry standards. Any issues, the spokesperson told Reader’s Digest, must be viewed in light of the broad challenges facing the health-care industry.

Dr. Koskenoja and her medical colleagues pushed back, but they were largely ignored, she says. Demoralized and ashamed, she and many others quit.

“I still get emotional when I think about it,” she says. “Most of us went into medicine because we love taking good care of people. When you’re set up by a system to not be able to do that just so some MBA can have a bigger bonus, it makes you sick.”

A prescription for burnout

America’s doctors are in crisis. Six in 10 physicians say they’re burned out, with burnout rates for some specialties, such as primary care, reaching 70%. When polled by the American Medical Association, 40% of doctors said they were considering leaving their practices in the next two years. Another study, conducted by health-care-industry publisher Elsevier, revealed concerns about mental health and burnout: 63% of med students in the United States reported that they had no intention of practicing clinical medicine after graduation and will instead work as lab researchers or academics. This is despite a predicted shortage of 124,000 physicians over the next 10 years.

Perhaps most concerning, suicide rates among doctors are alarmingly high. Male doctors are nearly one and a half times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, while female doctors are more than twice as likely to take their own lives.

“Doctors are fewer, and they’re more stressed,” says Dr. Sherer. “And when you get that combination, you’re going to have more medical errors. You’re going to have more mistakes made. I mean, it’s just not a good time to be a patient in the United States.”

You may recall a time when you enjoyed a closer relationship with your doctors. They took their time, got to know you, answered the phone, stuck around. Today, many factors have made those things appear increasingly quaint.

Thanks to ever-more-powerful insurance companies, doctors spend precious hours jumping through hoops to obtain prior authorizations from insurers so they can order tests, procedures or medications. During an exam, their gaze is often more focused on a computer screen than the patient because a 2009 law requires that all medical charts be kept electronically.

Far from making things more efficient, says Dr. Bernard. The way the law was rolled out “just really felt slapped together.” So, paradoxically, “the paperwork workload went crazy.” And because of corporate takeovers in the medical field and their mandates to grow profits, doctors are spending less time with patients in order to squeeze in more appointments. The result is that the average primary care doctor now spends two hours on paperwork for every hour spent with patients.

The time crunch on doctors has gotten so bad that even physicians often can’t get each other’s attention to make referrals. “Five years ago,” says Dr. Sherer, “I used to be able to pick up a phone and within a few minutes, the doctor would be on the phone with me. Now, it’s phone jail. You can’t do it.”

While the drivers of dissatisfaction among doctors are many, the growing influence of corporations has done more to change the practice of medicine than anything else. Today, about three-quarters of U.S. physicians work for hospitals, health systems and other corporate entities (up from about 25% a decade before), often clashing with administrators over a host of issues that boil down to profits versus patient well-being. Money, many doctors say, has now so infected health care that doctors are losing control over decisions that impact care, to the detriment of patients.

The result for physicians, says Dr. Koskenoja, is known as “moral injury,” the psychological trauma of being forced to act in ways that violate one’s ethics. It is, she says, likely a major source of doctor burnout.

“Just sign the chart”

Dr. Ortega worked happily for more than a decade at a community-based hospital in a midwestern city. But when the facility was acquired by a large corporation, executives began pressuring the physician group that employed Dr. Ortega to make severe staffing cuts. At the same time, despite a lack of demand for higher-level services, the company upgraded its ERto a Level 1 trauma center—a head-scratching hospital decision that made sense to Dr. Ortega only when viewed through a purely financial lens. “When you have that additional trauma status,” she explains, “you can bill at a higher level, even if you’re not using all those resources.” Great for the corporation’s bottom line, terrible for the finances of the patients’ families.

“It was shortchanging the kids in the community,” Dr. Ortega says. After her group pushed back, the hospital’s new owners put out a request for proposals to contract with another group. The final straw for Dr. Ortega was when her group conceded to furlough its pediatricians who had worked at the hospital for more than a decade, replacing them with nurse practitioners, or NPs.

These nurses receive from 18 months to four years of training to perform more advanced health-care functions than registered nurses, or RNs. To become certified, NPs must complete at least 500 supervised clinical hours. That’s significant, but far from the required 12,000 to 16,000 clinical hours, four years of medical school and three to seven years of residency before a physician is able to practice unsupervised.

While NPs were initially conceived of as assistants to doctors, practicing only under supervision, recent years have seen a push toward more autonomous practice. But in some states, doctorsare often expected to sign off on NPs’ work despite having not examined the patients. That’s exactly what Dr. Ortega saw happening at her facility—pediatricians being replaced by NPs, and the remaining few doctors being pressured to certify their work sight unseen.

To be sure, NPs play an important role, especially in parts of the country where there is a shortage of doctors. And Dr. Ortega, whose parents are both nurses, has deep respect for the profession.

“I’m not opposed to a collaborative type of practice with nurse practitioners,” she says. But she chafes at “being told, ‘Oh, you just need to sign the chart. It doesn’t matter if you have time to see the patient.’ No. If I’m signing the charts and my name is legally tied to a patient, then I want to be able to see them.”

If the corporation plays its cards right, it still can charge patients just as much as if they’d seen a physician. “A nurse practitioner who sees a patient alone is reimbursed 85% of Medicare fees,” says Dr. Li, who is also the founder of an advocacy organization dedicated to taking the profession of medicine back from corporate interests. But if a physician signs off, he says, “they can charge 100%.”

Making NPs even more attractive: They earn roughly half a doctor’s salary, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The prospect of signing charts without seeing patients represented a legal liability to Dr. Ortega, but she was also concerned about patient safety and the ethical considerations. So she quit—without ever signing a chart for a patient she hadn’t seen. She now runs a private practice.

How did we get here?

More than half of U.S. hospitals today are structured as corporations—and others have been called nonprofit in name only—mostly with nonmedical executives calling the shots. And 56% belong to chains of three or more facilities. Health-care entities make attractive investment targets for companies, seeing as how an aging population and surging health-care costs provide a stable and substantial source of revenue.

Given the prevalence of the ­corporate-owned model, it can be surprising to learn that, in most states, only doctors who have sworn the Hippocratic oath can make decisions affecting care. That would seemingly rule out large conglomerates run by those without medical degrees. But these norms have become eroded. Exploiting legal loopholes, corporations have overwhelmingly reshaped the health-care landscape, says Dr. Li. A provision of 2010’s Affordable Care Act effectively banned physicians from owning hospitals, out of concern that doctors might have a conflict of interest, while waving through a new breed of corporate overseers.

Before, hospital administrators were traditionally motivated by ­community ties rather than the profit-driven demands of distant corporate owners, whose imperatives can result in the erosion of the medical decision-making power of independent physician groups.

Sometimes, corporations come in to a situation and shake things up for the better. Struggling health-care firms may seek out private-equity buyers because they need an injection of cash to keep the lights on or to introduce innovations and new technology. And sometimes, greater size makes for more bargaining power when it comes to pharmaceutical pricing and negotiations with insurance companies.

But of late, as health-care giants have become behemoths by consuming smaller competitors, the Federal Trade Commission has begun to express concern that such growth can breed anti-competitive behavior. Some conglomerates have “vertically integrated” patient care, with pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers, insurance and related services all under one roof. Consider, for example, Optum, a subsidiary of the massive health-insurance company UnitedHealth Group. Optum operates health-care delivery, labs, pharmacy services and a bank offering health savings accounts—and is now the largest employer of physicians in the country. Or CVS, which delivers health care via its Minute Clinics, owns a pharmacy benefits manager, owns Aetna Insurance and recently acquired an in-home patient evaluation company called Signify. (Neither UnitedHealth Group nor CVS is run by physicians.)

Such corporate models can maximize profits—one company with its own doctors in its own clinics prescribing medications for patients on its own insurance, at prices negotiated with its own pharmacy benefit manager, to be picked up in its own pharmacies. Another key benefit: A company could now charge Medicare more for some procedures by using directly employed physicians rather than those working for independent, physician-owned groups.

Proponents of the corporate model say they’re making health care more convenient and efficient while safeguarding safety. Responding to a Senate committee inquiry, a spokesperson for Envision, a private equity–backed physician staffing group, wrote, “Our number-one priority is always the well-being of our clinicians and the patients they serve.” And the American Hospital Association says that in rural areas, where many independent hospitals have closed, “mergers and acquisitions have played a critical role in preserving access to care.”

That may well be, but a study by Harvard doctors, published in December 2023 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that when private equity companies buy out hospitals, the rate of harm to patients rises sharply, with falls increasing by 27% and dangerous infections by 38%—likely the result of “reductions in staffing after acquisition,” according to Zirui Song, MD, a co-author of the paper.

Another study by researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government looked at the narrow question of how colonoscopy patients fared when hospitals integrated physician groups instead of working with independent doctors. The corporations imposed measures such as scaling back expensive anesthesiologists and increasing the number of patients treated per day. Maybe unsurprisingly, the number of post-procedure complications, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, increased ­significantly.

After being acquired by a for-profit company, Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, has become a poster child for the perils of the corporatization of health care. “Mission Hospital used to be where everyone would go if they wanted good care,” former psychiatric and cardiac nurse Nancy Jaquins told NBC News. But after the acquisition, the facility began attracting the wrong kind of attention. In a scathing report, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the health and safety of Mission’s patients as being in “immediate jeopardy.” Investigators cited a string of deficiencies in care, including the case of a 78-year-old woman who showed up at the ER with a leg fracture, abnormal heart rhythm and low oxygen, and was found dead in the hallway after languishing for four hours. A spokesperson for Mission’s corporate owner HCA Healthcare points out that the state has recommended that the “immediate jeopardy” status be lifted, and says the facility’s quality of care is confirmed by various ratings organizations despite “national challenges, like staffing shortages, that are affecting hospitals across the country.”

Taking medicine back

A movement is building among physicians to regain control of their profession. Dr. Li founded an organization called Take Medicine Back, whose goal is to reinstate the historical prohibition against the corporate practice of medicine. The fight is playing out in various ways and on numerous fronts across the country, supported by political allies on both sides of the aisle.

In her state, Dr. Ortega successfully pushed for legislation requiring all emergency departments to keep a physician on staff at all times. She was motivated after reading about a 19-year-old college athlete named Alexus Ochoa-Dockins, who visited an ER where no doctor was on duty and who later died from a misdiagnosed pulmonary embolism. Other states are considering similar legislation.

In Arizona, at the state House level, ­physician turned politician Amish Shah, MD, successfully sponsored bills addressing the hassle of prior authorization and corporate retaliation against whistleblowers, both of which became law. As a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, he has his sights set on similar accomplishments in Washington.

Late last year, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) opened a Senate Budget Committee investigation into the private equity ownership of hospitals. A similar inquiry was launched this past April by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

And in Oregon this March, a bill that would have closed the loopholes allowing corporate control over health care in the state died in the Senate Rules Committee after resoundingly passing in the House. The bill’s sponsor says he will reintroduce it next year. If passed, it may serve as model legislation for other states.

The goal of all these actions is to reduce the influence of the profit motive so that more health-care settings operate the way they used to. It’s a proven model, as evidenced by the success of the non-corporatized facilities and physician-owned practices that still exist. “There are places where you can practice and still feel like you’re able to deliver great care,” says Dr. Shah.

Dr. Koskenoja, whose story ends happily, is living proof. Unlike many of her colleagues who have left the field, she found work in a county hospital that she loves. “It’s run by the community,” she says. “So the people running it, it’s their neighbors that they’re taking care of. It’s not people making decisions in some fancy business suite states away who don’t really care.”

She agrees with Dr. Shah that good jobs for doctors still exist. “But,” she says, “a lot of us are worried that those jobs are going to get fewer and fewer.”

About the experts Viktoria Koskenoja, MD, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician practicing in Boston. She completed her medical training at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine and her residency at Harvard’s MGH/BWH program. She is licensed in both Massachusetts and Michigan. David Sherer, MD, is the author of Hospital Survival Guide, which offers practical advice to help patients navigate hospital care. He earned his MD from Boston University and completed his residency in anesthesiology at the University of Miami. His latest book, What Your Doctor Isn’t Telling You, was released in 2021. Rebekah Bernard, MD, is the author of Patients at Risk, which exposes issues in health care involving underqualified practitioners. After serving in rural Florida, she opened her own primary care practice, Gulf Coast Direct Primary Care. She also mentors medical students. Sharon Ortega, MD, is a pediatric emergency medicine physician with a background in pediatric intensive care, primary care and nurse education. She holds a master’s degree in nursing education and has extensive experience in critical care and education. Mitchell Louis Judge Li, MD, is a board-certified emergency physician and the founder of Take Medicine Back. He advocates for health-care reform and has spoken on the effects of mergers in health care. Dr. Li earned his MD from the University of Massachusetts and completed his residency in Detroit.

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experience where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Sources:

• Viktoria Koskenoja, MD, board-certified emergency medicine physician
• David Sherer, MD, author of Hospital Survival Guide
  
• Rebekah Bernard, MD, author of Patients at Risk
  
• Sharon Ortega, MD, pediatric emergency medicine physician
  
• Mitchell Louis Judge Li, MD, board-certified emergency physician and founder of Take Medicine Back
• Chief Healthcare Executive: “Doctors aren’t the only ones battling burnout. Many medical students are hurting.”
• AMA: “40% of doctors eye exits. What can organizations do to keep them?”
• Elsevier: “Majority of medical and nursing students planning careers outside patient care, as fears of burnout and clinician shortages leave them worried about the future”
• National Library of Medicine: “Physician Suicide: A Call to Action”
• Physicians Advocacy Institute: “PAI-Avalere Report on Physician Employment Trends and Acquisitions of Medical Practices: 2019–2023”
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: “Physicians and Surgeons”
• Journal of the American Medical Association: “Changes in Hospital Adverse Events and Patient Outcomes Associated With Private Equity Acquisition”
• NBC News: “Some workers at U.S. hospital giant HCA say it puts profits above patient care”

There are few fast-food treats as beloved as McDonald’s McFlurry. I mean, it’s nearly impossible not to love this frozen dessert with Oreo crumbles, M&Ms or other limited-edition toppings swirled into creamy vanilla soft serve. Do you remember this summer’s Grandma McFlurry with the butterscotch crumbles? I do! In my humble opinion, the McFlurry is quite simply the best of the best when it comes to fast-food desserts. So I was a little nervous when I heard that McDonald’s was giving the McFlurry a makeover. Why would the powers that be mess with perfection? Well, as it turns out, the McFlurry’s latest glow-up might be the best thing that could have happened to my favorite treat.

Read on to find out how McDonald’s is changing its signature dessert—and when you can expect to see the new McFlurry in McDonald’s locations across the country.

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What will the new McFlurry look like?

Starting on Sept. 10, McDonald’s will serve the McFlurry in an environmentally friendly four-flap cup, phasing out plastic McFlurry cup lids once and for all. The new sustainable packaging will help cut down on waste, which is a lot better for the planet. This move comes nearly one year after McDonald’s discontinued its iconic McFlurry spoons in an effort to reduce single-use plastics.

The restaurant chain set a goal of making all of its main food packaging out of renewable, recycled or certified materials by the end of 2025, and the McFlurry’s latest change gets the company one sweet step closer to achieving its goal. The four-flap cups are already available in Canada, Europe and Indonesia, and with more than 14,000 McDonald’s locations in the United States, this has the potential to make a real impact on the environment.

What other McFlurry changes are in the works?

In addition to its packaging makeover, the McFlurry menu will be getting a little extra deliciousness—emphasis on little. Meet the Mini McFlurry, a smaller version of the classic McFlurry, which will also hit participating U.S. McDonald’s on Sept. 10. About half the size of the standard McFlurry, it’s perfect for when you just want a little something sweet.

The new Mini McFlurry is available in all of the same flavors as the regular McFlurry, but since it’s half the size, that translates to half the calories. It will also come in the new four-flap packaging design, so that’s yet another reason to feel better about indulging. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the ice-cream machine is working when we pull up to the drive-thru!

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions, as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.

Source:

• McDonald’s: “Meet the New Mini McFlurry and Sustainable 4-Flap Cups”

They say that even the smartest dog breed‘s brain is about the size of a tangerine; a cat’s is about the size of a walnut. As a result, we humans would like to think (keyword: think) that we’re the beings of superior intelligence in our master-to-pet relationships. But our readers shared some real-life moments about their dogs, cats, chickens, cows and birds that seriously challenge that idea. After you read about these smart pets, you’ll realize that a human’s brain size equaling about two clenched fists held together doesn’t sound quite as boastful or as much of a lead.

If you’re curious about the smartest animals around, scroll down for some truly incredible stories. Then see how your own furry (or non-furry) companions compare.

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No birdbrains here

I should’ve known our cockatiel Sara Lee was a smart pet when we introduced her to our new baby, and the bird immediately began speaking in a gentle baby voice rather than her usual booming squawks. In the coming days, Sara Lee would squawk every day in the late afternoon. I checked the door and found no one. Then, five minutes later, I’d hear my daughter stir. After several days of this, whenever Sara Lee squawked, I went to check the baby instead of the door. Sure enough, our bird was letting me know that the baby was beginning to wake up from her nap. I loved getting to be there as my daughter woke up each afternoon. Sara Lee was the best babysitter a mom could ask for. —Susan Heitsch, Palatine, IL

Sticking to the schedule

Every day at 5 p.m., my Sheltie Penny stands in front of my recliner and lets me know it’s time for dinner. Not her dinner—mine. She won’t even glance at her food until she sees I’ve eaten mine. Then, at9 p.m., she gets in my bed and waits for me to come settle down. Once I do, she heads off to her bed in the living room. —Janis Endsley, Eatonville, WA

Purring inspection

We call our Siamese cat Monty the Inspector. That’s because he doesn’t let anything—from a package to your purse—through the door without a proper search. Last summer, I cleaned a bathtub that almost never gets used, then went upstairs. Monty was soon pawing at my elbow. I figured he wanted food, so I followed him downstairs, but was surprised when he turned into the living room instead of the kitchen. There was water everywhere! Apparently, the tub’s pipes had cracked from lack of use. Monty came up to get me, then led me down two flights of stairs to show me the problem. —Cathy Brooks, Huntington Beach, CA

A measure of intelligence

I bought a load of 150-foot-long rubber tire strips to build a padded fence for my horses. The strips were extremely heavy and needed to be cut into 50-foot sections. I set a marker in the grass and began laying out the strips so I would know where to cut. My Great Dane Banner joined me, grabbing the ends of the strips and dropping them right at the marker as he saw me do. He worked the entire day with me, just as well as a human helper could have. —Dorothy Lee, Hiram, OH

When opportunity knocks

Our 27 hens spend the day foraging in the yard, then return to the warmth and shelter of the henhouse at night. One night, a hen named Pullet must have roamed farther afield than usual and missed reentry to the coop. Finding herself locked out on a brisk night, she did what any bright young hen would do: knock. My wife heard someone at our front door and was surprised to find Pullet flapping her wing against the door, waiting to be collected. —Jerrold Kuyper, Salem Lakes, WI

Self-cleaning crew

One day, we were out of the house for much longer than expected, and our very smart Chihuahua Pixie had an accident on the floor. When we got home, we found her next to the puddle looking very guilty—with a sponge at her feet and the cabinet door under the sink open. I always wondered: If we had come back even later, would she have tried to mop it up herself too? —Betty Hass, La Mesa, CA

Buddy system

One of our calves came down with pink eye and was temporarily blinded, so it relied on the rest of the cow herd to lead it around. One day, when the herd was returning to the barn, one of the other calves suddenly stopped and ran back the way it had come. Five minutes later, it reappeared with the blind fellow following close by its side. It was the sweetest—and sharpest—thing I’d ever seen from these big beasts. —Trudy Olsen, Tarrs, PA

Waiting for the shoe to drop

Our dog Chase­—aptly named—runs after our cats when they’re left alone, so we put him in his kennel when we leave for the house. One day, I noticed that Chase was waiting by the kennel as I got ready for work. But on weekends, when I was getting ready to go out and feed the horses, he’d wait by the door. It seemed he knew what day it was—but how? In time, I realized it was my footwear. Shoes mean I’m going to work and he’s going in his kennel. Boots mean we’re going to the barn. I switched my footwear a few times to test him and confirmed I was right. —Rande Blanchard, Elmwood, WI

A lightbulb moment

Our cat Charlie wants attention when he wants it. When he feels ignored, he walks to the nearest light switch, looks back at us several times (one last chance to change our minds) and flips the switch. Having successfully forced us to get up to turn the lights back on or off, he offers a meow that seems to say, “Are you paying attention now?” —Rebecca Smith, Pittsboro, NC

After the beep

My husband found Lester as a kitten. Lester loves my husband so much. He follows him everywhere and watches intently no matter how dull the task. For years, my husband’s alarm went off at 5 a.m., and Lester was right there to make sure he got up for work. Eventually, my husband retired, but Lester did not—he still jumped on the nightstand at 5 a.m. every day, meowing until my husband got up. One day, by accident (so we thought), Lester pressed the button on our answering machine that announced the time and day. He did it day after day at exactly 5 a.m. until we replaced the machine. —Carol Roesemann, Levittown, NY

Her best trick yet

When our Doberman pinscher was a puppy, we trained her to tap the basement door when she needed to go out. One day years later, she tapped the door, but when I opened it, she ran back upstairs. I returned to the kitchen to find she’d just needed a few unsupervised seconds to scarf my lunch. Imagine my surprise when weeks later, just as she had regained my trust, she pulled the same stunt. Now, I put my plate in the microwave (which we call the safe zone) if she taps the door during mealtime. —Jane Woldring, Hamilton, MI

Do you have a tale to tell? Find out below what type of stories we’re looking for next, and submit yours for consideration.

Now that’s a first date!

Why trust us

At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experience where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.