Author: Editor

After eight years in the same home, my family needed a change. We planned to rent while we built a new house, imagining a brief transition between the two. Instead, the rental market had other plans.Apparently, it was a very popular time to be looking for a new place to live. With multiple families vying for each house, landlords could be choosy. Being self-employed with dogs put us near the bottom of the list. In the meantime, we were living in an extended-stay hotel. Still, I wasn’t discouraged because…well, how long could it take to find a match?What I thought…

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he arrives on Air Force One, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption toggle caption i Alex Brandon/AP The Justice Department has launched a formal anti-trust investigation into five major U.S. television networks for their actions during a court battle over whether several news outlets should have access to the White House despite angering President Trump. While the five networks — ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News — did not comment, press rights advocacy groups denounced the move. “[S]ummoning antitrust authority, on top of the retaliatory…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Denise Woodard, founder and CEO of Partake Foods. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I spent my career in consumer packaged goods and spent significant time at The Coca-Cola Company. Then my daughter Vivienne came along.She’s 11 now, but right around her first birthday, we had a couple of scary incidents that alerted us to the fact that she had multiple life-threatening food allergies. She was allergic to foods I consider to be super simple: eggs, tree nuts, bananas, and sesame.I started to realize that food allergies were going…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Karen Anderson, 57, a Californian who moved to the UK in 2011 and now lives in a small village in northwestern France. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.I was working as a 911 dispatcher for a California police department when I met my ex-husband, who is English. After dating for a year, we got married in 2011 and eventually moved to his home country, the United Kingdom.I wanted a different life and the chance to experience more of the world. For years, we split our time between the…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Erin Keating, an executive analyst for Cox Automotive. It has been edited for length and clarity.People should scare themselves. In public.I tested that theory out in my mid-40s by taking five seasons of improv classes at the DC Improv Comedy Club. My goal was not to become a comedian — I wanted to take on a challenge that I could easily fail at.And to add to the pressure, I had to perform in front of my family.I work as an executive analyst in the auto industry at Cox Automotive. I distill…

The annual stampede of seasonal retail job openings continues to taper off, with hiring expected to be at its lowest level since the Financial Crisis.As mid-October approaches, some major companies have not said if they will bulk up their front lines to a specific target.”It’s a little bit of chicken right now with retailers and the economy going, ‘Okay, who’s going to move first?'” said Trent Cotton, head of talent-acquisition insights at recruiting-software company ICIMS. “It will be interesting to see this at the end of the year.”This year’s retail industry hiring push is on track to be lower than…

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Jimmy Kibuswa, 32, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya. He works remotely as a healthcare recruiter for a US company and shares what it’s like to work an unconventional shift. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.I work American time from here in Kenya. In Kenya, when it’s 4 p.m., it’s 8 a.m. in Chicago.I’ve always been cautious about my health and well-being. When I got this job about three months ago, I thought, “How am I going to structure my day so that I can go to the…

It’s been over a year since Hannah Bates, 31, was sued by her private student-loan lender — a legal battle she called lengthy, expensive, and confusing.It started in October 2024, when Sallie Mae notified her that she’d made the final payment on her outstanding balance of $55,000. Bates knew that was a mistake. In fact, she was falling behind on her $1,500 monthly payments and had years’ worth left. When she tried to clarify with Sallie Mae, she said she received conflicting information on how to avoid default. Six months later, Sallie Mae sued her to collect.When she’s not working…

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Daniel Harnack, a data analytics professional. It has been edited for length and clarity.About a month ago, I was almost tricked into falling for an elaborate AI scam. A scammer stole a recruiter’s LinkedIn picture, linked to her profile, and created a fake email address for her so they could send me a job listing created with the help of AI.The role was perfectly tailored to my experience, and it sounded like a dream job. Also, the pay was double the reasonable salary for that kind of role.All the person needed…

Everyone in Hanna Miller’s family knew her father as a giving and generous person. But as his dementia progressed, he couldn’t recall that he’d already ordered something online just a few hours earlier. Gifts, like toys for the grandkids, piled up so quickly he couldn’t easily pay for them.Watching his decline was heartbreaking. Miller’s father was a biomathematics Ph.D. who spent his career in pharmaceuticals, living abroad but visiting often, always with suitcases full of presents. Whenever his grandchildren called to ask what he was doing, he would answer, “Sitting and waiting for you.”But as the dementia worsened, his online…