Radicals, Renegades, and Rebels showcases the lives of courageous men and women who dared to live life on their own terms. Some will be names you recognize, others, not so much. Whether they wrought good or evil, we can learn something of value from them.
When does innovation cross the line between brilliance and catastrophe? Alfred Nobel comes to mind with his invention of dynamite and subsequent endowment of the Nobel Prizes. But few men have affected Earth’s atmosphere more than inventor Thomas Midgley Jr. – and he did it twice. Today’s Radicals, Renegades, and Rebels entry profiles an American…
The “Day that will live in infamy” unleashed several more days of chaos and despair. The survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor sustained varying degrees of injuries and trauma. Medical personnel and other military staff sprang into action immediately, but those conditions required even more hands and hearts. The unexpected response came from the…
To Western culture, it may seem outrageous to imprison a woman, but not a man, for exposing a face. It sounds like a law from centuries ago, and yet it’s in force today. In 2017, Vida Movahed stood on a utility box in a public street in Tehran, protesting Iran’s compulsory hijab law. Authorities arrested…
It was a voyage in which everything that could go wrong, did. A Dutch fleet of five ships left Rotterdam in June of 1598. The destination was the Spice Islands, what we call Indonesia today. Over the next two years, four of those ships were lost to mutiny, storms, and hostile encounters. Ultimately, the lone…
When we imagine the Athens of the third century BCE, we think of marble columns, togas, and deep thinkers unmoved by material things – a world apart. Ancient Athens wasn’t so different from our own life, technology notwithstanding. Wealth meant status. Public image mattered. Citizens competed for influence in politics, philosophy, and even generosity. Homes…
What happens when one determined journalist goes head-to-head with the most powerful company in America? More than a century before Zuck built Meta, Bezos built Amazon, and Apple reached the trillion market cap mark, took on a man with more power than Mark and Jeff combined – but without the charisma of Steve Jobs. Today’s…
A poor blacksmith’s son builds an empire that revolutionizes mobility worldwide — sounds like the epitome of the American Dream, doesn’t it? But this isn’t a story from the U.S. It’s the story of Soichiro Honda — a man who defied corporate conformity, academic tradition, and conventional thinking. And that makes him a perfect fit…
I’ll confess that it was an episode of Gossip Girl that reignited my interest in Josephine Baker. However, I remember seeing part of The Josephine Baker Story in the early 1990s. Like the other subjects in my Radicals, Renegades, and Rebels series, Josephine Baker was never just one thing. She was a dazzling singer, a…
She walked 1,700 miles behind a wagon train, arrived in California enslaved, and died one of the richest women in Los Angeles. In today’s Radicals, Renegades, and Rebels segment, I introduce you to Bidget “Biddy” Mason. Biddy rose from the bonds of slavery and became known for her generosity as much as her wealth. A…
History remembers those who played by the rules—but it doesn’t always do justice to those who shattered them. I introduced the section Radicals, Renegades, and Rebels to tell the stories of the people who pushed boundaries, broke molds, and defied convention, whether for better or worse. These are the figures who refused to blend in,…
Want a weekly recap of posts for Oakwood Experience? No need to check every day for new content, and I won’t spam you with junk. I may send out occasional notifications of special pricing at my art shops, but I respect your time and attention.