Dead Sea, landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan in southwestern Asia. Its eastern shore belongs to Jordan, and the southern half of its western shore belongs to Israel. The northern half of the western shore lies within the Palestinian West Bank and has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The Jordan River, from which the Dead Sea receives nearly all its water, flows from […]
Castro’s greatest spy
Ana Montes had a long run as a spy. She spent 17 years as a top analyst for the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, all the while funneling top-secret info to Cuba. Her double life caught up with her eventually, but not before Montes had been celebrated and promoted by her unsuspecting colleagues. Lies, Lies, Lies […]
Escaping Scientology
The Church of Scientology is notoriously controlling and secretive, and little is known about its inner workings. Mike Rinder was a high-ranking exec in the church until one day he’d finally had enough—and left. In A Billion Years, he recounts his unusual life story, offering a peek into a world that most of us will never see. […]
A star witness comes forward
Imagine you’re an ambitious young staffer in the White House. Now imagine that you’re in that role under Donald Trump, on January 6, the day of the violent riot at the Capitol. Cassidy Hutchinson lived through that exact scenario, and was faced with a choice between her country and her career. She chose her country…eventually. […]
The new art of the deal
Your personal and professional lives are full of opportunities to negotiate. Compromise is an art, not a competition. By unlocking the power of empathy and understanding, you can develop strategies to influence positive outcomes every time. Humanize Yourself Establishing a personal connection means a lot in a world where people can feel like anonymous entities. […]
Sensitive kids are cool
As a child, Andre Sólo spent a lot of time alone in an old storm sewer pipe. (Bless his heart.) He was a gifted reader and writer, but he was bullied for being such a sensitive guy. As an adult, he came to understand his gentle nature as more of a superpower than a fault […]
Jerry Seinfeld voice: “What’s the deal with Bitcoin?”
Stones. Beads. Feathers. Shells. Fur. Salt. No, we’re not assembling supplies for a weird craft project. These were different forms of currency used throughout history, before people settled on the forms of money we use today. The History of Money The global monetary system has lagged behind the large technological gains that we’ve enjoyed more […]
Is what you’re eating really food?
The first artificial sweetener, saccharin, was discovered by a chemist who was studying coal tar. This discovery marked a new era in synthetic food chemistry that introduced a large-scale addition of synthetic compounds to our diet. In industrialized countries like the United Kingdom, people ingest as much as 17.6 pounds (8 kilos) of food additives […]
The Republican Party, explained
Perhaps you’ve noticed that the Republican Party has been in the headlines lately? Their comical journey to find a new speaker of the House may be fresh news, but the root of that crisis has been many years in the making. Our latest Instaread examines the history and current state of conservative politics in the […]
Get it done!
If you’re always waiting for the perfect moment, that time may never come. And putting things off comes with a steep price; research shows that procrastination has harmful effects that are comparable to alcohol and drug abuse. To overcome chronic procrastination, willpower isn’t enough. You’re going to need a system. Try These Techniques You can […]
