Stacy Innerst

Over the last forty years, Aaron Lansky has jumped into dumpsters, rummaged around musty basements, and crawled through cramped attics. He did all of this in pursuit of a particular kind of treasure, and he's found plenty. Lansky's treasure was any book written Yiddish, the language of generations of European Jews. When he started looking for Yiddish books, experts estimated there might be about 70,000 still in existence. Since then, the MacArthur...

Retells, in tall-tale fashion, how Levi Strauss went to California during the Gold Rush, saw the need for a sturdier kind of trouser, and invented jeans.

"To become the first female Jewish Supreme Court Justice, the unsinkable Ruth Bader Ginsburg had to overcome countless injustices. Growing up in Brooklyn in the 1930s and '40s, Ginsburg was discouraged from working by her father, who thought a woman's place was in the home. Regardless, she went to Cornell University, where men outnumbered women four to one. There, she met her husband, Martin Ginsburg, and found her calling as a lawyer. Despite discrimination...

A man of the soil, Abraham Lincoln cleared many paths throughout his lifetime, determined to make life easier for others. As a boy, Abraham Lincoln helped his family break through the wilderness and struggle on their frontier farm. As a young man, Abraham Lincoln entered politics on the American prairie and campaigned for better schools and better roads. As president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln cleared paths for better farming, transportation,...

"When Carolina Giddle moves into the Blatchford Arms, no one knows what to make of her sequin-sprinkled sneakers and her trinket-crusted car. But the parents are happy there's a new babysitter around, and Carolina seems to have an uncanny ability to calm the most rambunctious child with her ghostly stories. Armed with unusual snacks, candles to set the mood, and her trusty sidekick - a tarantula named Chiquita - Carolina entertains the children with...

George Washington and artist Gilbert Stuart didn't always see eye-to-eye, but both men knew the importance of legacy and the power of art. Though George disliked having his portrait painted -- which took days and days to complete -- he knew his place in history would require people to know his face. Fortunately, Gilbert Stuart's unique way of painting didn't compel his subjects to sit for hours on end -- in fact, he encouraged them to move around...

Chronicles the legendary band's rise to prominence and highlights the humor of each member.