In the year since we launched Noted., our network of advisers has played a key role in helping us better understand and meet the needs of young people across the country, and it has provided an opportunity for young readers to connect with one another. 

This fall and winter, we’re planning three new adviser cohorts that will again help us create more reflective reporting and offer our readers the chance to build lasting connections. Our three cohorts will cover topics listed below. Applications will be open through Monday,...

In the year since we launched Noted., our network of advisers has played a key role in helping us better understand and meet the needs of young people across the country, and it has provided an opportunity for young readers to connect with one another. 

This fall and winter, we’re planning three new adviser cohorts that will again help us create more reflective reporting and offer our readers the chance to build lasting connections. Our three cohorts will cover topics listed below. Applications will be open through Monday,...

In the year since we launched Noted., our network of advisers has played a key role in helping us better understand and meet the needs of young people across the country, and it has provided an opportunity for young readers to connect with one another. 

This fall and winter, we’re planning three new adviser cohorts that will again help us create more reflective reporting and offer our readers the chance to build lasting connections. Our three cohorts will cover topics listed below. Applications will be open through Monday,...

In the year since we launched Noted., our network of advisers has played a key role in helping us better understand and meet the needs of young people across the country, and it has provided an opportunity for young readers to connect with one another. 

This fall and winter, we’re planning three new adviser cohorts that will again help us create more reflective reporting and offer our readers the chance to build lasting connections. Our three cohorts will cover topics listed below. Applications will be open through Monday,...

In the year since we launched Noted., our network of advisers has played a key role in helping us better understand and meet the needs of young people across the country, and it has provided an opportunity for young readers to connect with one another. 

This fall and winter, we’re planning three new adviser cohorts that will again help us create more reflective reporting and offer our readers the chance to build lasting connections. Our three cohorts will cover topics listed below. Applications will be open through Monday,...

In the year since we launched Noted., our network of advisers has played a key role in helping us better understand and meet the needs of young people across the country, and it has provided an opportunity for young readers to connect with one another. 

This fall and winter, we’re planning three new adviser cohorts that will again help us create more reflective reporting and offer our readers the chance to build lasting connections. Our three cohorts will cover topics listed below. Applications will be open through Monday,...

Talking to people face-to-face again is thrilling—and also hard.

Let’s face it: Our conversation skills have gotten rusty. We’re struggling with the art of small talk, what to do when one person drones on and how to gracefully exit a conversation that is dragging. Perhaps most vexing of all: How do we answer the dreaded question: “How are you?”

Zoom—where many of us have been chatting during the pandemic—isn’t a natural way for humans to converse. Instead of fluid dialogues, we’ve been participating in a series of mini-monologues. We’ve jettisoned many of the nonverbal cues that are important in a conversation, things like body language, facial expressions and looking at our watch to signal it’s time to wrap up. In their place, we’ve relied on “raise hand” buttons or, worse, clumsy new cues that don’t facilitate real communication. (Ever considered how silly we look grinning and waving frantically as we log off?)

And on Zoom, we don’t even have to pay...

Certain forms of busyness can be delightful. Who wouldn’t want to live in Busytown, the setting of the iconic 1960s children’s books by the American illustrator Richard Scarry? His grocer cats and firefighting pigs are certainly busy. Nobody in Busytown is idle—or if they are, they’re carefully hidden from view by the authorities, Pyongyang-style. What they aren’t, though, is overwhelmed. They exude the cheery self-possession of cats and pigs who have plenty to do but also every confidence that their tasks will fit snugly into the hours available—whereas we live with the constant anxiety of fearing, or knowing for certain, that ours won’t.

Research shows that this feeling arises on every rung of the economic ladder. If you’re working two minimum-wage jobs to put food in your children’s stomachs, there’s a good chance you’ll feel overstretched. But if you’re better off, you’ll find yourself feeling overstretched for reasons that seem, to you, no less compelling:...

MANY OF US re-emerged from Covid lockdown world with two intense urges. The first: a compulsion to be outside—to binge on open space and soothing scenery. The second: to shed some of the Quarantine 15—also cheekily called “the Covid 19”—the unwelcome weight gain accrued by stress-eating and marathon stints of lying motionless on the coach or slumping over a keyboard.

To help meet both goals, we’ve assembled five vacation ideas that help straighten your spine, burn calories (at least a modest number) and deliver eyefuls of natural beauty in untrodden settings. Some, like a 500-mile mountain bike trip in Idaho, require well-honed physical stamina. But others, such as a paddling excursion around Wisconsin’s Door Peninsula or a running tour of Morocco, accommodate all skill levels, even habitual coach potatoes. All seem likely to reinvigorate and inspire you far more than an online spin class could possibly do. On your marks, get set, go pack!

The Future of Everything covers the innovation and technology transforming the way we live, work and play, with monthly issues on health, money, cities and more. This month is Education & Learning, online starting Aug. 6 and in the paper on Aug. 13.

Not all robots are good at math. Take ProJo, a program that researchers are testing to help students of all ages spot their math and science mistakes, embodied in a small, humanoid robot. Instead of standing in for an instructor, ProJo acts as a peer, inviting the students themselves to help it solve problems. “Let’s take turns,” it might say. “I’m not so good at this.”

ProJo can also help students work together and assess their growth and weaknesses, in both robot form and on a computer screen. It is one of a variety of teaching aids in development, boosted by artificial intelligence, that scientists and educators say could support tomorrow’s classrooms.

Typically, AI education products serve one...

AFTER A LONG and lonely lockdown, Theresa Causa was ready for love.

To find it, the 40-year-old nurse practitioner in San Antonio turned to the new dating app “S’More,” which helps users pair up by literally shifting the focus from physical appearances to mutual goals and interests. When matches first connect, they see only blurred versions of each other’s profile photos, along with bios, hobbies and answers to prompts like “What are your top 3 qualities in a match?” As they exchange messages, their photos gradually un-blur.

“I was, like, ‘This is for me,’” said Ms. Causa. “I wanted to look for something less superficial. I didn’t want any games. I’m done with games.” After a few weeks, she matched with her now-partner. “It’s what I prayed for, I’m not kidding you.”

Now that singles of all ages can date again less riskily in much of the country—including those rebounding after a spike in the divorce rate during the pandemic’s early months—an...

Millions of people have quit their jobs this year, and many more are expected to join them.

The wave of resignations has presented a quandary for workers headed for the exits—namely, how honest to be with their soon-to-be-former employers about why they are leaving, where they are going and what is happening inside the organization.

In interviews with more than a dozen workers who recently quit their jobs, some said their former employers seemed acutely aware of burnout issues and wanted to know how to be better bosses. A few said their exit interviews seemed perfunctory, as though human-resources personnel were going through the motions.

While it might feel satisfying to air job-related grievances, exit interviews aren’t intended to be venting sessions, says Jane Oates, president of WorkingNation, a nonprofit focused on the challenges facing U.S. workers.

“A company that really wants to learn and grow and be a better employer is going to make...

Fans of fund manager Cathie Wood have built websites that track her every investment move. They sell T-shirts with her picture in the style of the Barack Obama “Hope” poster and with the ticker symbol of her flagship exchange-traded fund, ARK Innovation. On social media, they call her “Mamma Cathie,” “Aunt Cathie” and, in South Korea, “Money Tree.”

Behind the adoration is her unchecked enthusiasm for a certain kind of speculative investment: companies that generate little or no profit but have what she says is the potential to change the world through “disruptive innovation.” Her asset-management firm, ARK Investment Management LLC, has bet heavily on buzzy sectors including alternative-energy businesses, space exploration and digital currencies.

Her focus on meme-worthy investments and her ubiquitous presence on Twitter and financial news channels have thrust her alongside market influencers such as Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk, venture capitalist...

Hundreds of thousands of college and graduate students at public universities have been given a choice: Get fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or don’t show up to campus in the fall.

More than a dozen students have opted for a third option: Sue their school.

Students have brought federal lawsuits challenging the vaccination requirements at major public university systems in Indiana, Connecticut, California and Massachusetts. The students, in several cases backed by antivaccine groups, are insisting they have a constitutional right to go to college in person and unvaccinated.

The odds against the lawsuits are considerable, public-health law scholars say. Already a federal appeals court has affirmed Indiana University’s vaccine requirement, a decision cited by other school defendants. When balancing public-health interests against individual liberties, courts historically have given state entities much deference.

Still, the antivaccine legal effort...

AFTER A YEAR in my apartment, I’ve changed my mind on a few things,” said Matthew Kehoe, 42, “one of which is dating attire.” Mr. Kehoe, a film producer in New York, is among the many single men re-entering the in-person dating game after months of relative isolation. But just as work, travel and socializing have evolved unpredictably since February of 2020, so too has the quest for a mate. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

For starters, as men emerge from their quarantine caves into a wobbly world, splashy suit-and-tie formality no longer feels appropriate. “Now may not be the time to show off your brightest custom blazer or loudest Robert Graham print,” said Tammy Shaklee, a certified matchmaker and the founder of H4M Matchmaking. Ms. Shaklee finds casual dressing for dates refreshing and more “comfortable for a more subdued, face-to-face, getting-to-know-you type introduction.” In other words, after what we’ve been through, let’s be gentle with each other and...

Business leaders broadly agree they need to get more workers vaccinated to keep the U.S. economy humming in the face of the fast-spreading Delta variant.

But they’re split over how best to do that. Some are dangling bigger bonuses or other incentives to cajole employees into getting the Covid-19 vaccine. Others have started requiring workers get the shot.

In recent days, companies from Arkansas-based Walmart Inc. to Microsoft Corp. in Seattle have imposed vaccine mandates mostly on white-collar workers returning to offices. Meatpacker Tyson Foods Inc. on Tuesday took a harder line, saying all its workers must get the vaccine by Nov. 1.

“We did not take this decision lightly,” Donnie King, Tyson’s chief executive, wrote in a memo to the company’s roughly 120,000 U.S. employees. “We have spent months encouraging our team members to get vaccinated—today, under half of our team members are.”

Both strategies come with risks for employers, their...

TOKYO—The first sign that all was not sweetness and light in the sport formerly known as synchronized swimming was when a chilling voice blared across the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.

“Why do you seem so scared? All I wanted to do is play with you.”

The duet from Austria was performing to a medley called “Evil Dolls,” which resembled the haunting tenor of the line spoken by beckoning twin girls in “The Shining”: come play with us.

Like the horror film’s hotel, the arena sat mostly empty. 

Sisters Anna-Maria and Eirini Alexandri—who say they have never seen the film—then took their interpretation of terrifying siblings to its logical bedazzled underwater conclusion, complete with sequined faces shedding a blood-red tear on their swimsuits.   

TOKYO—Ecuador’s David Hurtado walked thousands of kilometers on treadmills, tracks and roads lined with snow-capped mountains to prepare for Thursday’s 20-kilometer race walk in Sapporo. 

“Vamos por mas”—Let’s go for more—the 22-year-old posted on Instagram in June, along with a photo of his credentials for the Games and a bicep emoji.

“The preparation continues,” he said. 

Exactly a month later, Hurtado on July 24 posted another message on Instagram. “Today is my turn to confront Covid-19 in a hotel room in Tokyo,” he wrote. “It’s impossible not to think that this will put me at a disadvantage or even take me out of the Olympic Games.” He included a picture of himself, alone and holding up his country’s flag as he walked through an empty stadium. 

After all of the preparation that goes into getting to the Olympics, there was one thing Hurtado and more than 20 other unlikely athletes could not be prepared for: the mental strain of...

Before you leave the house, don’t forget to take your phone, keys, wallet, mask—and some form of Covid-19 vaccine record.

New York City will require proof of vaccination for many indoor activities, such as dining, gyms and events, starting Aug. 16. Where I live in San Francisco, many bars require vaccine documentation for entry. Yelp announced it will allow users to filter local business listings by two new attributes: “Proof of vaccination required” and “All staff fully vaccinated.” (If you aren’t vaccinated, there are other reasons to consider it, beyond this new damper on your social life.)

Your phone can already replace most of your wallet: your subway pass, credit card, plane ticket, hotel keys and soon even your driver’s license. It’s a great place to store your Covid-19 vaccine record, too.

Digital vaccine options vary from state-to-state. A national vaccine passport hasn’t taken off in the U.S., so states like California and New York are taking...

WASHINGTON—President Biden insisted that the only way to extend an expiring eviction moratorium was for Congress to pass a new law. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said that the only way was through the executive branch.

Then Rep. Cori Bush (D., Mo.), in office just seven months, stepped in. Frustrated that the House had adjourned late Friday for a long break without trying to extend the moratorium, Ms. Bush made a decision in the moment. She put a chair on the steps outside the Capitol and began a nearly round-the-clock sit-in—sleeping there some nights. By the fifth day, the Biden administration had reversed course and issued a new moratorium covering most of the country until Oct. 3.

“Am I supposed to just go home? No,” said Ms. Bush, who said she has been evicted herself three times. “I’m an organizer. I’m an activist. That is what I do. I fell back on what I know to do, which was be visible, put your body on the line, use whatever you have.”

Amazon.com Inc. said it would delay corporate employees’ return to offices until next year as conditions around the Covid-19 pandemic evolve.

The company adds to the wave of businesses adjusting their return-to-work plans as the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus drives a surge in coronavirus cases.

Amazon said Thursday that it was pushing its return to offices to at least Jan. 3, 2022. The online retail giant previously had targeted early September for regular office work to resume. The decision affects office workers both in the U.S. and other countries. The Seattle Times earlier reported on Amazon’s change in plans.

“We will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our work spaces are optimized for the safety of our teams,” Amazon said.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. said Thursday...

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Federal student loan payments are set to resume in September, leaving millions of Americans on the hook for payments that were frozen at the beginning of the pandemic. But, how did borrowers become hobbled with more than $1 trillion in federal student debt? Join Wall Street Journal editor Bourree Lam in conversation with reporter Joshua Mitchell, author of "The Debt Trap," and Andrea Fuller as they break down how student debt swelled over the years and the current plans to provide forgiveness to borrowers.