Technology & Innovation — November 2, 2009

Magnolia Bakery, Uncut

Steve Abrams wouldn’t advise dropping out of college, though it seemed to work for him. He got out of there a semester in, and is now successfully the owner of New York City’s famous cupcake spot, Magnolia Bakery. Does Abrams regret missing those four years of higher education?

Abrams also talked to Big Think about what it’s like to own a popular food joint in the city that never sleeps, while his brother Danny is doing the same thing on the Upper West Side. Is there ever strife between the two siblings as they navigate the fickle waters of New York?

Abrams delves into the push-pull between retaining the integrity of a brand and expanding it. Will we soon be able to buy Magnolia cupcakes in Whole Foods?

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

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