The Founding Contradiction

From the time we're schoolchildren, we're ranked and sorted based on how smart we are. But what if our assumptions about intelligence limit our potential? This week, we revisit a favorite 2022 conversation with cognitive scientist Scott Barry Kaufman, who proposes a more expansiv ...  Show more

Last week, we talked with psychologist Leslie John about the costs of keeping secrets. Today, Leslie returns with a look at the psychological power of self-disclosure. She says the moments of oversharing that we often consider "TMI" can actually strengthen our relationships. Then ...  Show more

Thomas Jefferson is one of the most complex figures in the whole American Revolution. A child of the enlightenment, it was he who wrote 'we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are born equal'. Yet, throughout his life he possessed over 600 enslaved people and had se ...  Show more

November 5, 1998. Using DNA evidence, the scientific journal Nature publishes findings that put to rest a centuries-old mystery: Was Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at Monticello, the mother of six of Thomas Jefferson’s children? Until then, the historical consensus had been thi ...  Show more

The Declaration of Independence establishes the ideals on which this break away nation founds itself on. But it’s full of contradictions. It complains of white colonists being enslaved by King George III, yet its signatories own enslaved Africans. It declares all men are created ...  Show more

The Revolution was fought for freedom, at least in name. Calls for freedom filled the air. No taxation without representation! Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!

The Marquis de Lafayette, who had fought valiantly at Washington's side throughout the war, spoke fo ...