Forestall: The Art of Getting There First
The best move is sometimes the one you make before the problem arrives. Forestall is the word for that — for the wisdom of anticipation, and the power of acting before you have to react.
The Plague of Justinian: When a Pandemic Changed the Ancient World | Close Reading
The Plague of Justinian was the first pandemic in recorded history — and its impact on the Byzantine Empire, the Mediterranean world, and the trajectory of Western civilization was devastating and lasting.
Turn Over a New Leaf: The Permission to Begin Again
Change is hard. Not the wanting of it — we all want it at some point. The doing of it. ‘Turning over a new leaf’ is an old expression with a surprisingly vivid history, and it holds something most of us need to hear: the beginning is always available. No matter when. No matter why.
The Absurd Story of Danny and Avi
Dive into the deeply human story of Danny and Avi—two solopreneurs living on opposite sides of the Israel-Lebanon border. An editorial exploring the daily realities of war, unrequited patriotism, and the tragedy of unlived friendships.
The Art of the Con 1 | The Confidence Game
Where the word “con” really comes from, why first impressions are decided in milliseconds, and how to build instant rapport and read a room — the first job in your apprenticeship.
Why We Can’t Stop Loving Villains: The Psychology Behind Our Obsession with Fictional Evil
From Shakespeare’s Iago to Walter White, from video game bosses to literary anti-heroes, our relationship with fictional antagonists reveals something profound about the human mind. Explore the psychology, culture, and craft behind why we root for the villain.
Halcyon: The Word That Turns Memory Into Gold
There’s a word for those chapters of your life that seem to glow when you look back at them — warmer, calmer, more golden than anything since. In this episode, we unwrap halcyon, and ask why the past sometimes feels more alive than the present.
Prolix: On the Art of Saying Less to Mean More
Some people take ten minutes to say what could be said in thirty seconds. There’s an elegant word for that — and learning it might make you a sharper, more powerful communicator than you ever expected.
The Omniscience Illusion: Why Keep Learning When AI Knows Everything?
AI can answer any question in seconds, so why bother learning? Explore the cognitive, psychological, and deeply human reasons we must keep pushing our minds—and how we need to learn differently in the age of artificial intelligence.
Loki: The God Who Was Never Just One Thing | Close Reading
The Norse myth of Loki is a masterclass in moral complexity — a god who was simultaneously indispensable and catastrophic, whose trickery and transformation shaped the fate of all the gods and ultimately the world.
