The Caves of Lascaux were lost for 20,000 years. Then a dog fell down a rabbit hole. — Every Journey Begins With a Stumble “We were utterly crazy…” For 300 million years in the Dordogne region of France, a black fungal delicacy slept patiently in the shadows of French Oak, Beech, and Chestnut. The fragrant lumps might be loitering there if not for an 18th-century lawyer turned gourmand who came up with a catchy…

When Queen Elizabeth II was having second thoughts about Brexit she asked a question. — In the summer before the 2016 American election, the people of Britain were engaged in a raucous debate. An Englishman would call it a ‘row’ over Brexit vs. Remain. Small stores and antiquaries along Portobello Road carried placards in the shop windows depending on their preference. London cabbies — who…

“I’m not a social worker. I do it for the church.” — Saint Teresa Mother Teresa was a sinner. It took a few amiable, though pouty and pinch-cheeked, journalists to point this out. Douglas Robertson of the Independent wrote: "Mother Teresa wasn't saintly — she was a shrewd operator with…

Pick Yourself Up and Get Back In The Race — I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet A pawn and a king I’ve been up and down and over and out And I know one thing Each time I find myself Flat on my face I pick myself up and get Back in the race 1938 may…

“The road to achievement is littered with shards of broken glass.” On a sunny September day in 1997, a middle-aged man wearing scuffed boat shoes and stylish flip sunglasses walked up the gangplank, a mop of brownish hair bleached to straw blond where it was thinning. He was dressed in…

“People are the history that matters.” — You never know the full extent of the impact of the ripples produced by chance interactions with people we encounter throughout our lives. David McCullough, the most eminent historian in America, was my ripple effect. Only he was unaware of it. After we met twenty years later, he became my…

The Senator from Massachusetts is threatening to break up Silicon Valley. It could be the best thing that ever happened. — By Jeff Cunningham You can tell the silly season has started when politicians who spend most evenings sipping champagne at $1,000 a plate fundraisers begin to sound like college protesters. In that vein, Elizabeth Warren, the outspoken US Senator from Massachusetts, tried on some tough talk at a campaign rally…

The backstory of Operation Ezra — The incredible story of a mother, an infant, and her 10-year-old boy, who escaped persecution in Iraq and flew to the promised land for just $20.

If you are wondering about the Electoral College, this map explains it. Without electors, New Yorkers and Californians would make all decisions for the rest of the country. Imagine Iowans campaigning in Malibu to reject a tax on corn? Or Oregonians asking New Yorkers to give them fishing limits? The…