The personal story of how an energetic lawyer got knocked off from her dream career and what she thinks that might mean for whether the government can attract talented people in the future.
Related Episodes: A 'Fork in the Road' for federal employees (Apple / Spotify) Bailing out the FAIR plan, broligarchs beef, and CFPB RIP? (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
In 1957, a labor leader named Daniel Fignolé was the president of Haiti for 19 days. Just two weeks after his inauguration, he was forced to sign a resignation letter as part of a U.S.-backed coup. But growing up, Rich Benjamin – Fignolé's grandson – didn't know anything about his grandfather's political career. The cultural anthropologist says his family, especially his mother, erected a "wall of silence" around him. A new memoir, Talk to Me, is Benjamin's attempt to fill in these gaps in his family history. In today's episode, the author speaks with NPR's A Martínez about Fignolé's work with labor unions, state-sanctioned silence, and the State Department documents that helped Benjamin piece together his grandfather's story.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. I have recently launched a newsletter. You can subscribe to it at thememorypalacepodcast.substack.com.
Mark Greaney is the author of the Gray Man series, a collection of espionage novels that chronicle the adventures of ex-CIA operative Court Gentry. The latest addition, Midnight Black, follows Gentry as he tries to save the woman he loves from Russian captivity. Greaney is known for conducting extensive research on the elements that make it into his writing. In today's episode, he speaks with NPR's Andrew Limbong about his trip to Russia several years ago, before the latest invasion into Ukraine, and how photos and videos from that trip helped him make his writing realistic.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
The Netherlands is unlike any other country on Earth.
What sets the Netherlands apart from every other country isn’t its size; it's the fact that 17% of the area of the country was once in the sea.
Turning the sea into land is no easy feat, but it is something that the Dutch have been doing for centuries. Not only have they expanded the territory of the Netherlands, but they have also created a system that protects the country from flooding and storms.
Learn about how the Dutch managed to reclaim land from the sea on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
We are back to answer YOUR listener questions. This time, we answer why bananas can be considered the 'unbothered fruit', what a flat income tax would actually look like, and how extended-hours stock trading works. If you have your own question about the economy, please email us at indicator@npr.org.
Related episodes: My Favorite Tax Loophole (Apple / Spotify) The cautionary tale of a recovering day trading addict (Apple / Spotify) So imPORTant: Bananas, frogs, and... Bob's?? (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
In 1582, a Japanese nobleman by the name of Lord Otomo Sorin sent a group of envoys to Europe.
The entire round trip of their journey took eight years, and along the way, they visited several European countries and met multiple European heads of state, including two popes.
It was hoped that their mission would revolutionize relations between Europe and Japan.
Learn more about the Tensho Embassy and the first Japanese mission to Europe on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.