Strangers helping strangers. Neighbors lifting neighbors.
Iceland is renowned for its stunning landscapes and rich history. A short drive from the famous Skógafoss waterfall is a lesser-known museum offering insights into how Icelanders lived in years gone by and how technology helped them survive in one of the world's most rugged and inhospitable landscap...
A pair of snowy owls spotted along a Lake Michigan beach has drawn curious crowds and sparked happy speculation about how long the Arctic birds of prey will call Chicago home....
Monk parakeets ease into new friendships, slowly approaching strangers to avoid aggressive encounters. Researchers watched how birds shared space, groomed each other, and escalated to deeper social bonds over time. The results show a clear pattern of cautious exploration echoing similar studies in o...
Goldie Hawn is a national treasure. With more than 60 years in Hollywood, she’s done it all. Goldie’s mast has made us laugh, and she’s made us cry. While Goldie entertained us on screen, at home she raised a family. She shares Oliver Hudson and Kate Hudson with her ex-husband, Bill Hudson, and son ...
Hosting Thanksgiving is not an easy task. When the cooking giant Allrecipes asked its readers how many hours on average it takes to prepare for the holiday, they said that cooking the meal itself takes around seven hours! So, it s understandable why someone wouldn t want the burden of hosting. Howev...
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There is an informal, yet sacred social contract many women follow instinctively. You won’t find a manual on it, per se, but it lives in bathrooms, parking lots, parties, doctors' offices, group chats, and chance encounters with strangers, known to women as “girl code.” This solidarity takes on many...
Most people believe that both parents have an equal right to choose their baby’s name and that this decision should be reached through agreement between both parties. That doesn't mean it’s always easy for both people to agree on the same name, but look, if you’re going to be a successful parent, yo...
Little kids are the most honest people on the planet. They tell it like it is, and sometimes their reactions are pretty darn funny. Teenagers, on the other hand, are stone-cold critics, particularly of their parents. If you want to be emotionally eviscerated, make a change to your appearance and the...
As Americans, many grew up with the consistency of a McDonald's menu: Big Macs, Egg McMuffin, and only on special occasions, the McRib. Since their first store opened in California 85 years ago, they've got the formulas down pat, so whether you're in Los Angeles or Wichita, you essentially know what...
From Morelia to Querétaro and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Acueducto Padre Tembleque, aqueducts are a common feature of colonial architecture in Mexico. It is also known that the Aztec/Mexica people built aqueducts to supply cities like Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City) with water, although li...
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A long-unseen, 12-foot-wide painting by artist Martin Wong, who created a unique visual vocabulary in the steaming cauldron of 1980s New York alongside artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, will go on view next month at the Art Basel Miami Beach fair, courtesy of New York–based gallery...
The Christmas season is a wonderful time of the year. The smell of pine, red bows everywhere, and a bit of shopping can get even the grinchiest person into the season. Christmas music is one of the easiest ways to spread holiday cheer. We all have our favorite songs and artists that just make the se...
Movies are an essential part of the Thanksgiving holiday. When family and friends gather, movies make the perfect buffer for the time between—and after—the festive meal. (And, of course, they’re a great alternative to football.) Thanksgiving movies are a tradition for many families, who often return...
In 1978, Eligio Peña, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, opened his first family-owned grocery store in Queens, New York: Compare Foods. The chain grew quickly, expanding to neighboring boroughs in New York, and by the early 2000s, it was operating in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,...
Parenting is an extremely difficult job. It’s even harder for those who do it on their own. Single parents deserve special recognition. Not only are they doing everything for their children physically, but they also carry 100% of the emotional load. It’s a lot to take in, and sometimes, parents brea...
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Tinworks Art, an enterprise that garnered attention last year with an ambitious resurrection of Agnes Denes’s storied Wheatfiled Land art work in Bozeman, Montana, is making its next move with a newly acquired historic theater to be inaugurated with screenings of Matthew Barney’s 2018 film Redoubt. ...
Socializing often requires small talk, but many people hate it because it can feel forced and unnatural. However, using one simple phrase may be the key to making small talk flow more smoothly. In a discussion about social skills on Reddit, people explored how to make small talk easier by using a si...
We’ve all been there: you’re out at a restaurant with 10 other people for a birthday party, you’re famished, and your food arrives. However, you’re first, and it could be 10 minutes before everyone at the table, especially the guy who ordered the meatloaf, will get their food. What do you do? Appear...
Gwen Watkins, in her 70s, launched Shower the People, a mobile hygiene nonprofit that has delivered over 25,000 showers to underserved populations in San Luis Obispo County, California. Gwen recognized the need for accessible hygiene services and built a sustainable, volunteer-run model to provide people with a sens...
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Dignity and wellness access for underserved populations Welcome to the fourth installment of The Optimist Daily’s Annual Local Changemakers series.
