To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. On May 12, 1935, William Griffith Wilson journeyed to Akron, Ohio, to try to close a business deal. The deal flopped. A familiar feeling of dread began to engulf him. He was a failure, and everyone surely knew it. Wilson needed an escape – a way to survive this sharp moment of disappointment. As… Read more »
Healthcare experts estimate that 80-90% of Americans are dependent on a chemical substance called trimethylxanthine. Most of us know it as caffeine. Botanists have long guessed that caffeine – which occurs naturally in the foliage of coffee trees, cacao beans, and several varieties of tea leaves – functions as a pesticide. Its bitter taste seriously discourages leaf-munching insects. But what… Read more »