This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.

You know America’s most controversial appliance when you hear it: The leaf blower is loud, it’s messy, and it’s a hazard to the environment. But Ian Bogost recently argued that we’re thinking about leaf blowers all wrong: “Excessive use of blowers, not the tools themselves, should be taken as the villain here,” he wrote. A full ban on the appliance is impossible as long as yards are part of American life, so limiting its use would be the best path forward.

Today’s newsletter explores the appliances we’ve relied on for decades, and those that claim to usher in new ways of living—with varied success.

On Our Appliances

A Defense of the Leaf Blower

By Ian Bogost

Reassessing America’s most hated appliance

Read the article.

A $700 Kitchen Tool That’s Meant to Be Seen, Not Used

By Ellen Cushing

KitchenAid’s newest stand mixer seems like a great appliance—for people who don’t actually bake.

Read the article.

The Microwave Makes No Sense

By Jacob Sweet

Every kitchen appliance is getting smart—except one.

Read the article.

Still Curious?

Your TV is too good for you: 4K resolution is a sham, Ian Bogost argues. KitchenAid did it right 87 years ago: Modern appliances are rarely built to last. They could learn something from the KitchenAid stand mixer, Anna Kramer argues.

Other Diversions

The silliest, sexiest show of the year Why you might need an adventure Why are baseball players always eating?

P.S.

Courtesy of John Ambrose

I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. John Ambrose, 72, wrote that he took this photo “looking due west from my front door in Glastonbury, CT. The sky kept changing and went from an orange to a deep pink.”

I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks.

— Isabel