The Best of InsideHook: 2017 Edition

Lingerie, the apocalypse and Bruce Willis. Let’s review.

December 26, 2017 9:00 am

It wasn’t an easy year. But even in tough times, we found plenty to love.

Our best stories of 2017 include a guide to surviving the apocalypse, the 22 rules of lingerie (as told by lingerie models wearing lingerie) and a ranking of the best ‘90s action films.

Plus: an app that’ll help you accomplish almost anything you want in 30 days.

That’s to help you kick off 2018 right.

How to survive the end of times
We told you how to survive the apocalypse. We talked literal life hacks (as in, apps that will help you not die … or at least help you pass away peacefully). But in January, we also visited EPIC Hybrid, the nation’s premier obstacle-course-race training facility, to build the ultimate 30-minute high-intensity workout. Because we’re not gonna perish that easily.

The 22 rules of lingerie …
As told by lingerie models. Wearing lingerie.

There’s a (luxury) watch for you
“Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time.” Extremely loose translation: If you’re gonna buy a nice watch, make a statement. And have fun with it. Our watch guru figured out the best luxury timepiece for every luxury budget, be it six grand or a million.

Essential lessons on the art of dressing sharp
If a man writes a bestseller entitled Men and Style, we’re inclined to think he knows a thing or two about putting on clothes. We sat down with author and well-traveled style aficionado David Coggins to tackle some of life’s big sartorial questions, from the world’s best tailor to the most ridiculous thing that a man can buy.

The 50 war books every man should read
This year marked the 100th year since the United States entered World War I. A grievous anniversary, it gave us the opportunity to consider how war has evolved during the 100 years since, as told by the literature it inspired. These 50 books tell the story of warfare from all perspectives: soldier and citizen, prisoner and guard, warrior and philosopher.

You can learn to do anything in a month, according to this app
Entrepreneur Max Deutsch decided to master one expert-level skill each month. Every 30 days, he takes on a new project: improved memory, solving a Rubik’s Cube in 17 seconds, landing a standing backflip, playing a five-minute improvisational blues guitar solo, holding a 30-minute conversation in a foreign language — hell, he even built a self-driving car. And then he created an app to help you accomplish the same.

Yippee-ki-yay, Mr. Falcon
The ‘70s had gritty crime sagas. The ‘80s, maudlin teen melodramas. And then the ‘90s came along and said, “Forget character development, strong dialogue and/or logical, coherent plot lines — let’s just blow some sh*t up.” So we counted down the 30 Best Action Movies From the ‘90s. James Cameron and Bruce Willis make an appearance.

7 cocktails that require zero effort
Omne trium perfectum. “Everything that comes in threes is perfect.” Exhibit no. 1: the three-ingredient cocktail. It’s memorable, it’s well-structured and it has just the right amount of emphasis. So we asked seven of the country’s most talented mixologists to reveal their favorite triumviral recipe.

The future of the Internet, in one brilliant book
Louis Rossetto co-founded Wired, the wildly influential publication that pretty much wrote the blueprint for today’s digital world. We spoke with him about his newest project, Change Is Good, a book that draws on his publishing past to chart our cybernetic future.  In its own way, it’s the most disruptive thing you’ll read in a long, long time.

These 55 tips will save you 1,000 hours
In our annual Productivity Guide, we asked dozens of successful but potentially time-starved people — CEOs, restaurateurs, business owners, parents, managers — about the one thing they do that saves them the most time. For some, it was an app. For others, it involved exercise or meditation. And for a few people, it was just looking at their calendars a little differently.

Why an affair is not the end
In her new book The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity, renowned couples therapist and NY Times best-seller Esther Perel reexamines betrayal. She doesn’t offer simple answers, but she does look at the common denominators that precipitate affairs, the evolution of relationship expectations and the steps couples can take to recover from infidelity.

How to survive holiday travel
Shame the airlines have such nefarious plans to keep you grounded this holiday. But fret not, intrepid traveler: we found 10 apps to get you through the airport as painlessly as possible. Cut long lines. End your luggage woes. And rebook your (inevitably) delayed/canceled flight in three taps.

Why vasectomies make you a stronger, harder, better man
A recent study claimed a little outpatient snippity-snip can lead to a higher sex drive, stronger erections and better orgasms (plural). Intrigued, we dialed Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt — a nationally recognized urologic surgeon, TEDx speaker and frequent on-air health expert — for his opinion on the validity of the study, who should get one (and when) and why everything you know about the procedure is wrong.

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