Writer

Todd Ruffner-Schoenfeld

Editor in chief. A knack for the fine print, and likes it.

Todd Ruffner-Schoenfeld has spent his working life being handed things he did not yet understand. He started at the bottom, a developer in a bullpen, and worked his way up to running IT. The places were a strange assortment: consulting firms, accounting firms, a biotech startup, a tech startup in Silicon Valley and, of all places, Chiquita. Four small businesses of his own along the way. The work never really changed. Get into something unfamiliar, find out what is actually going on, and help someone make a hard decision with it. HeadLines Decoded is that job, pointed at the news.

Selected work

Illustration of an abundant farmers market with crates of colorful fruits and vegetables, on the high cost of a healthy diet

Health The High Cost of a Healthy Diet: Organic, Non-GMO, and Whether the Premium Is Worth It One in three people cannot afford a healthy diet. For those who can, the question is whether organic and non-GMO… 24 Jul 2026

A household budget printout on a pale wood kitchen table with keys, a pen, a stethoscope and loose coins scattered across it

Business Wages vs. the Real Cost of Living: A 25-Year Look at Prices and Spending Habits Average pay beat average prices over 25 years. Housing, hospitals, and tuition beat pay, and they are the bills you… 24 Jul 2026

A cluster of dim aged cells among healthier ones, some dissolving into light.

Series Parts Decode Your Wellbeing: The Zombie Cell Theory of Aging Meets Reality Senescent cells sound like a villain with a clean solution. The reality is messier and more interesting. 24 Jul 2026

A modern dental treatment room with the chair and overhead light at left, a wall monitor showing a three-dimensional scan of a tooth, and sterile instruments on a tray in the foreground

Health New Dental Tools: Longer-Lasting Care or a More Expensive Tool Belt? Implants are a real advance. Same-day crowns and lasers often change the experience and the bill more than they change… 24 Jul 2026

A writer’s desk after dark with tall stacks of worn hardback books, an open annotated manuscript, reading glasses and a green glass banker’s lamp

Culture The Overlooked Sci-Fi Novelist Still Writing at 91 Piers Anthony has published more than 180 books and is still writing. The field’s memory of him has not kept… 23 Jul 2026

Illustration of oil tankers on the Red Sea at dusk with a hazy coastline

Business Houthis Strike Saudi Tankers in the Red Sea: Two Chokepoints, One Bill for Households A confirmed strike, a blockade threat, and a second chokepoint under pressure. The transmission from the Red Sea to your… 23 Jul 2026

Title card for the article: Short-Term Changes at Walt Disney World: What Guests Need to Know Through October 2026

Disney Short-Term Changes at Walt Disney World: What Guests Need to Know Through October 2026 Refurbishments, closures and calendar changes at Walt Disney World through October. What to plan around before you book. 23 Jul 2026

Glowing bean-shaped mitochondria with inner folds inside a translucent cell.

Series Parts Decode Your Wellbeing: The Truth About Mitochondria, Your Cellular Power Plants The organelle that turned into a wellness brand. What mitochondria actually do, and what you can honestly do about them. 23 Jul 2026

An illustrated clock face merging with a DNA strand and a glowing pulse waveform.

Series Parts Decode Your Wellbeing: What Your Biological Age Test Is Really Telling You You spat in a tube and a number came back. What a biological age test is really measuring, and how… 22 Jul 2026

A luminous figure of light mid-stride above a glowing heartbeat line.

Series Parts Decode Your Wellbeing: The Six Habits With Real Evidence for a Longer Healthspan Six habits with real evidence behind them, and the reason the list is shorter than the supplement aisle suggests. 21 Jul 2026