Michael Benninger

2020 hasn’t exactly been a banner year but at least great nonfiction books just keep on coming. Here are a few of our favorites.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are dealing with a slew of new restrictions in our lives. We’re not able to spend time with all of our loved ones; we can’t go to restaurants and bars we formerly frequented, and we’re unable to travel to places we long to visit. And there’s yet another way in which these restrictions are affecting us — and that’s right in our own kitchens.
During the past few months, grocery stores have been picked clean by panic buyers, and coronavirus outbre...

Most modern VPNs employ a similar, sleek aesthetic when it comes to their brand marketing and their software’s user interface. TunnerBear, on the other hand, takes an entirely different approach and instead embraces a playful bear-centric theme throughout the company’s website and apps. But does the lightheartedness of this brand mean you can’t take it seriously when it comes to privacy and security? In this TunnelBear review, we’ll tell you everything you need to know.

The co-founders of Giganews, a popular Usenet provider, launched VyprVPN in 2009 after learning about Room 641A, a warrantless surveillance facility operated by AT&T on behalf of the NSA. For this reason, the founders chose to incorporate their business in Switzerland, where privacy laws are stronger than they are in the U.S. But just because VyprVPN was created by privacy advocates, does that necessarily mean their service is safe?

If you’re in the market for a quality VPN, one of the most popular services in use today is IPVanish. With more than 40,000 IP addresses spread across 1,300 servers in dozens of countries, IPVanish makes it easy to mask your internet activity at all times. But is the service trustworthy and reliable? In this IPVanish review, we’ll take a look.

After finding success as the provider of a secure email service called ProtonMail, the Swiss company Proton Technologies expanded its offerings with a high-speed VPN service. But is ProtonVPN good enough to meet your needs? Let’s take a look.

In the midst of massive economic upheaval, and as the threat of a second wave of Covid-19 looms large, many of us remain in relative lockdown with our lives at a standstill. And as millions of people file for unemployment each week, it’s clear that the path forward for many of us will substantially differ from the lives we were leading prior to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is not the first time humanity has been caught off-guard by a devastating, seemingly unstoppable disease. And while it’s safe to say the current circumstances are unlike anything most of us have ever experienced, in actuality, this situation is anything but unprecedented. In fact, pandemics of this scale are nothing new, and they’re actually responsible for shaping our world in many ways.

Coping with the current crisis can certainly be challenging, but these nonfiction books may make getting through this ordeal a little easier.

In our daily lives, many of us experience an inner voice that echoes a mixture of our thoughts, beliefs, and biases. This voice can influence our actions and play a huge role in determining whether we succeed — or fail — in whatever we attempt to accomplish. Few people are more familiar with this phenomenon than big-wave surfer João de Macedo, whose inner monologue can mean the difference between life and death when he’s in the water.

Among the multitude of authors featured on Blinkist, one of the most popular in recent years is Ryan Holiday, whose books have influenced countless people from all walks of life. Today, we’re delighted to release a conversation with the author on our new podcast, State of Mind.

Whether you want to finish a personal project, get a new business off the ground, or simply be better at your job, how you choose to allocate your time, energy, and attention plays a significant role in determining your progress toward achieving your objectives. But actualizing our goals is something many of us struggle with. Despite our best efforts, it can often feel as if we’re getting nowhere.

Barack Obama once remarked that “Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible, from complex word problems and the meaning of our history to scientific discovery and technological proficiency.” Those are words the former POTUS continues to live by, and each year he releases a list of his recommended reads.

If you’ve read any amount nonfiction over the past 30 years, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Bill Bryson. Among today’s most prolific nonfiction authors, Bryson has penned more than 20 books about language, science, history, and his adventures traveling the globe.

This has been a banner decade for publishers of nonfiction, as sales have steadily outpaced fictional literature every year since 2013. So as the curtains draw to a close on the 2010s, what better time than now to take a look back at the most noteworthy nonfiction published since the end of the aughts.