The real Casanova

The real Casanova Why is the word “Casanova,” which literally means “new home” in Italian, associated with lust and physical love? It’s because a man who lived in the 1700s named Giacamo Casanova wrote a nearly 4,000-page memoir that’s famous worldwide for its descriptions of his many sexual encounters. In 2010, France’s national library bought […]

A young physicist is re-writing history

A young physicist is re-writing history When Jess Wade isn’t “investigating spin selective charge transport through chiral systems,” as her faculty page at world top 10 university Imperial College London says, you’ll often find her changing the face of scientific research. Or, really, faces. Wade, age 35, has a passion for diversifying STEM (science, technology, […]

Simply the breast

Simply the breast: Ruth Handler’s complicated legacy Whether it’s fond reminders of your childhood or unhealthy, unrealistic expectations of women, the name “Barbie” makes you feel something when you hear it. “Ruth Handler” on the other hand, probably makes you shrug.  Ruth Handler is the person who created Barbie (first sold in 1959) and co-founded […]

Musk vs. Zuckerberg

Musk vs. Zuckerberg In this corner, at 52 years old with a net worth of over €230 billion, we have the founder of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla, and owner of X (formerly Twitter): Elon Musk.  And in this corner, at age 39 with a net worth of over €93 billion, we present the co-founder of […]

The radiant life of Marie Curie​

The radiant life of Marie Curie Driving through an active war zone to save wounded soldiers, surviving a husband killed in a tragic accident, becoming the first person to win two Nobel prizes, and being one of the most respected scientists of all time. An interesting resume, no? Come with us as we explore the […]

Devilishly good summer reading

Devilishly good summer reading The world-famous author Salman Rushdie has won the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, which he’ll accept in Frankfurt in October. In this month’s Learning Nugget, you can learn more about this Indian-born, British-educated, naturalized U.S. citizen whose words have enchanted people around the globe while causing others to call […]

Where’s the fridge and my air conditioned closet?

Where’s the fridge and my air conditioned closet? In last month’s Learning Nugget, we looked at a few variations in U.S. and German housing norms. While putting it together, we came across so many interesting distinctions that we couldn’t resist extending the theme to a second month. Keep reading to learn why most Americans would […]

No Rolländen and unlocked doors

No Rolländen and unlocked doors If we asked you to think about cultural differences between Germany and the United States, we’d expect your ideas to revolve around language, food, or how willing people in each culture are to talk to strangers. Some things you probably wouldn’t think about: How windows work and whether or not […]

Pep rallies & diplomas: Surprising facts about the U.S. school system

Pep rallies & diplomas: Surprising facts about the U.S. school system In this month’s Learning Nugget, we’re talking about something close to our hearts: education. If you’ve ever seen a movie about life in a U.S. school, you’ve probably realized there are some big differences in German and U.S. academics. Today we take a look […]

The rebel poet who wrote ‘Auld Lang Syne’ 

The rebel poet who wrote ‘Auld Lang Syne’ We twa hae run about the braes And pu’d the gowans fine; But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot Sin auld lang syne. This is an original verse from the song “Auld Lang Syne” that’s sung around the world at New Year celebrations. Don’t worry if you […]

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