Opinion

What makes a hero? – Matthew Winkler

Source: TED-Ed

What do you have in common with heroes in literature, movies, and television? It may be more than you think. Watch this short video to learn about the the hero’s journey myth.

Do Women Take as Many Risks as Men?

Source: Harvard Business Review

Author Doug Sundheim was surprised when he realized his book, Taking Smart Risks, included far fewer stories about women. In this article he investigates how that happened.

Where’s Bobbi Fischer?

Source: Aeon

Writer Hana Schank analyzes the lack of women who play chess and argues that it’s important for females to participate in male-dominated fields.

Are Family Traditions Important?

Source: How Stuff Works

As our lives become ever fuller with individual commitments and distractions, it’s easy to let go of family traditions that might not seem as pressing. But what might we lose in the long run when we skip out on things that were once important enough to have become traditions?

Overexposed? Camera Phones Could Be Washing Out Our Memories

Source: National Public Radio

If you really want to remember something, you take a picture of it. But a new study reveals that using that strategy may actually work against you: people remember more details about something if they don’t take a picture of it. NPR digs into the details and the implications.

“Slaves of the Marriage Union”

Source: The New York Times

This article profiles Elizabeth Packard, a woman forced into an insane asylum by her husband during the Civil War. After her release, she became a women’s rights activist who argued that the condition of women was similar to slavery.

A Dual Mission

Source: The Atlantic

Amy Guttman’s brief essay describes the tension between the individual and society, detailing the somewhat contradictory American goals of advocating for the individual’s rights while ensuring the common good.