Vanessa Williams Part 1: Becoming Miss Americ...

“We’ve always been inventing and reinventing new worlds for taking care of each other. We just have to notice.”We asked our subscribers to send us audio postcards to encapsulate where they live, what makes it special, and what people get wrong about the place that they call home. ...  Show more

What happens when Santa trades his sleigh for a rocket ship? Christmas correspondent Sarah Archer tells Sarah about how the Cold War era affected the image of old Kris Kringle through the rampant consumerism and shiny new technology of a post-war economy. Digressions include R ...

There is bouncing back after adversity, and then there is: Vanessa Williams. The talented multi-hyphenate was only 21 years old when she became the first Black woman to be crowned Miss America. Yet a controversy surrounding the release of unauthorized nude photos led to her ultim ...  Show more

Cécile Fatiman (1771-1883) facilitated a special ceremony that ignited the Haitian Revolution. This month, we’re talking about Mischief Makers: oddballs, chameleons, and nonconformists. Queens of quick wit. History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we ...  Show more

Corazon Aquino (1933-2009) rose above her fears to become the first female president of the Philippines. She led the country to democracy in a way that set a precedent for other countries around the world.You’re probably familiar with rebels without a cause, but what about rebels ...  Show more

In 1983, Vanessa Williams became the first black woman to win Miss America. In 1984, a few weeks from the end of her reign, she was forced to step down when she found out Penthouse was going to publish unauthorized nude images of her in their magazine. Williams went on to have a ...  Show more