September 29, 2025 "That's funny." — Sir Alexander Fleming (If you see my dad today, wish him a happy birthday!) ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. You can ignore the fact that the webpage might not load — just clicking the link tells me that people aren't seeing ads! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ 'Nature did that' Professor Alexander Fleming was not what you'd call a tidy scientist. His laboratory at St. Mary's Hospital in London was famously cluttered: petri dishes stacked...
8 days ago • 5 min read
September 22, 2025 "Ecco un poco!" — "Here's a little!" called out by Italian pushcart vendors on the streets of Manhattan at the turn of the last century. ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Sponsored by: Brain.fm Ready to Unlock Peak Focus? Brain.fm is music made in collaboration with neuroscientists, to help high performers sharpen their edge. Whether you're coding, creating, or crushing your to-do list, scientifically-optimized audio can help you find your flow state...
15 days ago • 5 min read
September 15, 2025 “I'm going to let the public serve themselves. It's going to work because it makes sense.” — Clarence Saunders. ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. Thanks! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ $500 and a prayer Picture this: You're sitting at your kitchen table in Fresno, California, sipping morning coffee on a perfectly ordinary Tuesday. The mail arrives. Among the bills, you find something unexpected—a piece of plastic with...
22 days ago • 4 min read
August 25, 2025 "The children then were ages 2, 4, 6, 8, 16 and 18. So, no, I wasn't interested in South America." — Betty James ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Sponsored by: Brain.fm Ready to Unlock Peak Focus? Brain.fm is music made in collaboration with neuroscientists, to help high performers sharpen their edge. Whether you're coding, creating, or crushing your to-do list, scientifically-optimized audio can help you find your flow state faster and stay there...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
August 18, 2025 "I saw, unmistakably, in the stomach wall of the mosquito, the parasite of malaria. I could scarcely believe my eyes... I danced for joy." — Dr. Ronald Ross ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. Thanks! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Out of darkness, into light Imagine, if you might, a colonial hospital in late 19th-century India. One thing. we would have seen: patients, laying wracked by fever, shivering under blankets...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
August 11, 2025 "The world's mightiest city marked the end in one tremendous shout of joy and gladness." — Newsreel, 1945 ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. Thanks! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Oh happy day It was just past noon on August 14, 1945, and Virginia Dare Aderholdt, aged 35, was at her desk in Arlington Hall, the Army's codebreaking headquarters just outside Washington. Aderholdt had lived and studied in Japan and served as a...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
August 4, 2025 Sorry for the delay today! Mea culpa: I set the wrong send time for today's newsletter. Hope you find it worthwhile. “It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler. I would melt down all the medals and cups I have, and they wouldn’t be a plating on the 24-karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment.” — Jesse Owens ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Please let me know here if you can't see the ads. Thanks! ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ In...
2 months ago • 4 min read
July 28, 2025 I tried a couple of things differently this week, hopefully cleared up the issue for readers who were unable to read this in weeks past. Please let me know if you still have trouble! "Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world." — Frederick Banting ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Hey look, a chance to support the newsletter! Sponsored by: HubSpot Turn AI into Your Income Engine HubSpot’s groundbreaking guide "200+ AI-Powered Income Ideas" is your gateway to financial innovation in the...
2 months ago • 5 min read
July 21, 2025 Before we dive in, I've been flummoxed trying to fix some formatting issues that seem to affect a small number of readers — but very persistently! If you are having trouble reading this, can you reply and let me know what device you're using (iPhone, Android, laptop, etc?) and what email service (Gmail on the web, Mail for Apple, etc?) Thank you!!! Also, we're trying something a bit different this week. You'll see when you get to the "7 things" at the bottom. "For one priceless...
3 months ago • 5 min read