James Redding Ware was a 19th century British novelist best known for creating (pseudonymously, as Andrew Forrester) one of the first female detectives in fiction — the mysterious Miss G — who bursts onto the scene in the rather unsubtly titled The Female Detective. Miss G (sometimes called Miss Gladden) was making brilliant deductions from far too little evidence more than 40 years before Sherlock Holmes got his start in A Study in Scarlet and almost 70 years before the first Miss Marple novel, The Murder at the Vicarage, which makes Ware an important early figure in the relatively short history of detective fiction.

Milton Nascimento wrote “Cancao do Sal/Salt Song” on a typewriter at a desk job, recalling the sight of workers toiling in unforgiving sun at the Cabo Frio salt flat near Rio. The workers were in the news at the time; a strike brought national attention to the low pay and grueling conditions faced by the men, women and children (!) employed there. The song was recorded in 1966 by Elis Regina, and became a hit.

With the 100th pick, and the final pick of the third-round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Washington Commanders selected wide receiver Luke McCaffrey out of Rice. McCaffrey is the younger brother of 49ers star running back Christian McCaffrey, who Commanders GM Adam Peters knows well. Luke is his own man though and Peters didn’t draft him as a favor to his brother. The Commanders drafted McCaffrey to boost their receiving room.

This week, something landed on my doorstep that I had been looking forward to for a long time, something that intrigued me and something that seemed impossible; Chocolate made without cocoa. How is it even possible to make chocolate without cocoa? Would it taste the same, would it have the same texture, why was it being made? I had a lot of questions. Before we get to the product, let’s remind ourselves what chocolate actually is.

Dear Classical Wisdom Kids, First, a quick clarification. I’ve had a few readers write in a bit confused to what belongs to what in the growing world of Classical Wisdom.  Fair dinkum as they say ‘Down Under’.  About a year ago we launched Classical Wisdom KIDS, to help bring ancient wisdom to future minds. The thing is a lot of the ideas, history and concepts obviously work just as well as for adults.