Mark Riechers

Hunting for rocks at the beach seems like a harmless pastime, right? For Katie Prout, it’s been a coping mechanism, a sense of control. But when — at the urging of her partner — she decided it was time to get help with her mental health struggles,…

Once upon a time, Sarah Miller had the perfect dog. A blue heeler named Merle. She was smart, obedient, and always up for an adventure — the kind of dog you can take anywhere. But even the most cherished dogs grow old. And as Merle’s end approached,…

When we have a relationship with animals, we often tell them stories, sing songs to them, tell them about our days — so it should be no surprise that a beekeeper might talk to her bees. Heather Swan is a beekeeper and author in Madison, Wisconsin who…

Imagine driving from Tucson to Las Vegas. You’ve got hours and hours of long, flat desert highway stretched out in front of you. It’s gotta be one of the most boring drives in the world. It’s also a famously boring video game, called "Desert Bus." It…

Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden” has inspired a whole lot of readers to get outdoors, contemplate nature, smell the pine tar. Now you can have your very own Walden Pond experience indoors, on a game console. What would Thoreau say? Developer Tracy…

Mark just built a new house. In fact, he built a whole town. And it's the one place we can actually visit, because it’s inside a game. He’s been taking refuge from the grim reality of a global pandemic...in Animal Crossing.

Not everyone has a nice, big yard to stretch out in while sheltering in place from COVID-19. But maybe you don't need one. People are using virtual spaces to live out the real experiences they miss — like coffee shops, road trips, even building your…

It wasn't that long ago that buying beer meant picking up a six pack for the basement fridge, or a keg for the frat party. Hamms, Coors, Budweiser and Miller — cheap, mass market beer endorsed by celebrities. Craft brewing changed all of that —…

Fun can be had on social media. Remember the dress? Remember Laurel? Or was it Yanny? Unfortunately, another omnipresent feature of social media is targeted harassment. According to a recent Amnesty International report, female journalists are…

An online culture war erupted around Quinn in 2014, when her ex-boyfriend published rumors of unethical relationship between Quinn and members of the press covering the game industry. Arguments over that controversy quickly spiraled into an online…