When international affairs icon Madeline Albright died last March, the world lost a powerful political mind. As the first female Secretary of State, Albright served on Bill Clinton’s cabinet and guided the country through many crises. It had been a long path to the top. Albright was born in Prague, just before the start of […]
Manage Your Time Like it’s Money
What would you say if you could give one last talk before you die? This question was the premise of a lecture series at Carnegie Mellon University, where professors were asked to speak as if it was their last lecture. For most professors, it was just a thought exercise. But for Randy Pausch, a computer […]
Was WeWork a Unicorn? Or a Cult?
Adam Neumann, WeWork’s co-founder, never learned to code and rarely used a computer. So how did he seemingly take over Silicon Valley? Moreover, why was he paid so much to leave? It may seem like ancient history now, but more than a decade ago, when WeWork started attracting deep-pocket investors, Neumann was described as the […]
Being Tough Doesn’t Make Things Easier
Adam Brown, one of the most famed Navy SEALs, was born tough. A breech birth necessitated dislocating his shoulder in order to take him out of the womb. The newborn didn’t shed a single tear, but we can imagine how much it hurt. Adam’s tough spirit served him well as a young adult, when he […]
Have You Hit Your Optimal Speed?
Kenyans have dominated the world running scene for decades. Fascinated by their superiority, journalist and cross-country runner Adharanand Finn moved his family from their home in England to Kenya for six months so he could train with the best. One of the techniques that Finn learned was barefoot running. Our bodies are made to run […]
The Other Pandemic
Elton John is accustomed to singing for audiences all over the world. But the scariest performances he’s ever had to put on were for the US government. Over the years, he’s made a number of nerve-wracking presentations to urge leaders to help him in the fight against HIV and AIDS. One of John’s key points […]
Don’t be a Scammer
We’re living through a new age of scammers. How many influencers have tried to sell you some dubious life-changing potion on Instagram? And don’t even get us started on the recent trend of crypto scams. Charles Schwab, the American investor and entrepreneur who built a huge financial services firm from scratch, had a key insight […]
The Two Faces of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince
In Saudi Arabia, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is expected to succeed his 86-year-old father, King Salman. (In practical terms, MBS is already in charge.) The West is watching as Joe Biden’s team negotiates with the Saudis about the terms of the leaders’ first talk, which is expected in the coming months. Over […]
The Third Big Bang
When the Biological Big Bang kicked off hundreds of millions of years ago, complex organisms seriously leveled up. Scientists are still trying to figure out why life on Earth changed so much during the Cambrian Period, shifting from single-cell organisms to the much more complicated plant and animal life we know today. Michael Dell, the […]
What We Know About China’s “Godfather”
With its incursion on Taiwan and zero-Covid policy, China has been all over the news lately. Between its strict lockdowns and tense diplomatic relationships, the country’s political system is frequently discussed. But how much do you know it, really? It may be helpful to think of President Xi Jinping as the CEO of the world’s […]
