In 1841, in New Orleans, William Alexander Leidesdorff passed as a white man. (His father was Jewish and his mother was Black.) When his fiancée learned his secret and called off their engagement, William sold everything he owned and bought a ship. He traveled to California to start a new life. On the West Coast, […]
Seventy-five Years of Russian Containment
As Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine, the United States has found itself in an awkward position. On one hand, there’s the call to protect democracy in Europe. And on the other, well, there’s Vladimir Putin, who no one really wants to provoke. This is not a new dilemma. In 1947, President Harry Truman faced […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Next Cultural Revolution
What is Critical Race Theory? According to James Lindsay, an author and mathematician, it’s a vehicle for the new Communist agenda. It’s difficult to define CRT, in part because many of its adherents disagree about what it is. According to Lindsay, this is a deliberate strategy to blur the line, move goalposts, and invent new […]
Is the US Losing its Military Advantage?
The year before his death in 2018, Senator John McCain wrote a letter to the US secretary of defense that proposed a new national defense strategy. McCain, who was famously a war hero, strongly believed that if the US continued its military spending without making significant changes, it would lose future wars. The new strategy […]
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 […]
The Life-Changing Magic of a Great Disguise
You may think of magicians as entertainers at children’s birthday parties, or the characters in the Harry Potter universe. But historically, some magicians have had very serious jobs, including John Mulholland, who was on staff at the Central Intelligence Agency. It makes sense if you think about it. Like magicians, spies need to do a […]
Where does Equality Come From?
The French economist Thomas Piketty says that history bends toward equality. Since 1820, life expectancy has been rising all over the world, along with literacy rates. A college education, which was once considered class privilege, is now accessible to almost everyone. Across the world, the average income has been multiplied by 10. But some of […]
