E-bikes can add a layer of richness to your life—especially if you name them. “On a chilly morning last October, my 8-year-old daughter and I took our new e-bike, which she had named Toby, on its maiden voyage to school,” Elizabeth Endicott writes. “To amuse ourselves, we’d brought along a life-size Halloween skeleton, which sat in the back with my daughter, arms outstretched in a friendly wave. Along the way, people honked, smiled, and stopped to chat. I felt connected to our neighborhood in a way I hadn’t ever experienced.”

In addition to being an environmentally preferable alternative to cars, e-bikes are a proven source of joy: “Study after study shows that people with longer car commutes are more likely to experience poor health outcomes and lower personal well-being—and that cyclists are the happiest commuters,” Michael Thomas wrote in 2023. But the machines aren’t for everybody: In 2022, Ian Bogost argued that “something is ontologically off with e-bikes, which time and adoption alone can’t resolve.” Below is a reading list on the beauty and the monstrosity of the e-bike.

On E-bikes

An E-Bike Transformed My Family’s Life

By Elizabeth Endicott

Getting around on one might be a bit slower than in a car, but it’s also so much richer.

Read the article.

The Real Reason You Should Get an E-bike

By Michael Thomas

It’ll cut your emissions. It’ll also make you happier.

Read the article.

The E-bike Is a Monstrosity

By Ian Bogost

Neither bicycle nor motorbike, the two-wheeler’s future demands an identity of its own.

Read the article.

Still Curious?

Other Diversions

P. S.

Each week, I ask readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. Mary Beth, 64, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, writes: “I was sitting on a sunny beach in Croatia and watched as a storm, north of us, was moving our way. How beautiful the dark-gray clouds and rain looked against the blue-green shade of the water and jutting landscape.”

I’ll continue to feature your responses in the coming weeks. If you’d like to share, reply to this email with a photo and a short description so we can share your wonder with fellow readers in a future edition of this newsletter or on our website. Please include your name (initials are okay), age, and location. By doing so, you agree that The Atlantic has permission to publish your photo and publicly attribute the response to you, including your first name and last initial, age, and/or location that you share with your submission.

— Isabel