In the 19th century, railroads were everything. And by extension, the businessmen who owned the railroads held a huge amount of power in the United States economy and its political landscape. Jay Gould, a savvy capitalist, was among the most colorful of these characters. Though he was born poor and haunted by illness throughout adulthood, […]
How to Know What You Stand For
Omar Little, the character from “The Wire,” had a famous expression: “A man’s got to have a code.” From the ancient Stoic philosophers to the Internal Revenue Service, codes of conduct have been important to individuals and organizations who want strong values to guide their choices. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a code, too. Former […]
The Brainy Women Who Helped Win WW2
In the depths of World War II, when so many young men were fighting abroad, women across the United States began receiving clandestine letters from the Navy. The military was recruiting smart women who were good at math and languages. As long as they could protect classified information—and didn’t have family members in enemy territory—they […]
Escaping the Parent Trap
The title of Jeanette McCurdy’s autobiography, I’m Glad My Mom Died, has raised some eyebrows since it was released in August. Partly a dark joke, and partly the truth, it was meant to be provocative. McCurdy knows firsthand how hard it is for children who were abused to express complicated and conflicting feelings about the parents […]
What was Musk Like Before He was Famous?
Once again, Elon Musk is making headlines for half a dozen separate reasons. Public interest is at an all-time high for this quirky innovator. But how did Musk get to where he is today? While there are movies about WeWork’s founder and Mark Zuckerberg’s years at Harvard, info on Musk’s early career is much harder […]
Who Killed the Middle Class?
During the Great Recession, there was a historic decline in homeownership across the United States. A small handful of magnates took advantage of the financial crisis and made millions off their risky bets. They benefited from a rigged system that left American taxpayers to bear the cost of substantial losses. The people who benefitted were […]
One Weird Tip For Surviving Disaster
The next time you find yourself in the middle of an emergency, you might want to pour yourself a drink. That’s what the chief baker on the Titanic, Charlie Joughin, did on the day of the disaster. He had been in the kitchen all day. When the ship hit an iceberg, he simply headed to the […]
How do you fix a problem you can’t see?
In New York City, more than 40 percent of residents live around or below the poverty level. There’s also a high homeless population, including 22,000 children. These problems are everywhere, yet they’re easy to overlook. In the hustle and bustle of a city with more than 8 million people, homeless families are all but invisible—and […]
The American Royals
Most of us wouldn’t mind a little more floor space. But we’re guessing that even your wildest Zillow dream house isn’t 175,000 square feet. That’s the size of the Biltmore House, a real American castle built by a Vanderbilt heir and nestled in the verdant mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. Construction began in 1889, and […]
Surviving a Plane Crash
When Larry Shaben regained consciousness, he was still strapped into his seat. The plane had hit the ground upside down, and it took a moment to get oriented. Several of the other passengers were already dead, and more would die before the ordeal was over. But Larry was relatively intact, with broken ribs and a […]
