NXIVM had personal development seminars that claimed to enlighten people and make them happy. People claimed attending the seminars cured them of their smoking habit or fear of public speaking. The organization had Hollywood celebrities, children of heads of states, and business leaders adding to its credibility. Many saw its leader as a god.

However, in early 2018, NXIVM’s house of cards collapsed. …

When I was a kid, I remember Jared from Subway, who, in commercials, claimed he lost over 200 pounds just by eating Subway sandwiches and constantly presented before and after photos of his progress. He even showed his jeans of when he weighed more than 400 pounds as a comparison to his then much slimmer weight.

While my brother and I knew that you do much more than eat Subway sandwiches to lose 200 pounds, the effects still stuck with us — Subway became our go-to “healthy” fast-food restaurant. …

In the wake of the killing of eight people and six Asian women in the Atlanta spa shootings, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has spoken out about anti-Asian discrimination and harassment during the pandemic. As an Asian-American teacher living in Baltimore City, I was surprised to see Governor Hogan speak out. As a Democrat and proud liberal, I do not agree with many of Hogan’s policies, although I appreciate his early response to the pandemic and breaking ranks with then-President Trump in doing so.

However, Larry Hogan has close ties to the Asian community. His wife, Yumi, is a Korean immigrant…

I try not to write about Medium too much these days, but one recent change within the platform is causing an inconvenience to too many writers and editors is the lack of private note notifications coming through e-mail.

For those who don’t know, the private note is what it sounds like — it’s a note someone can send to a writer that only the writer can see. It’s also a note a publication a writer sends their piece to can see. …

“With Pervitin you can go on working for 36 to 50 hours without feeling any noticeable fatigue,” said Dr. Otto Ranke in Nazi Germany.

Today, Germany is home to two of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, including Bayer and Merck. And the German pharmaceutical industry has historically made long-standing contributions in new medicines like barbituates and analgesics. Bayer originally made and patented heroin, while cocaine was patented by Merck.

The Journal of Clinical Pharmaceutical Therapy states that during World War II, the pharmaceutical industry in Germany took a dark turn as I.G. Farben, a pharmaceutical conglomerate that monopolized…

Satire

Hi there,

I’m the guy who parked inches from your car, which you might think is simply the result of incompetent parking skills or driving. However, I’m here to tell you my parking was purely intentional.

You see, I am a mastermind at ruining people’s days. You have just had a terrible day at work and are rushing home to beat the rush hour traffic. What you don’t know is now, you have to climb across your passenger seat and across the center console just to reach the wheel.

You can’t hold me accountable for parking so close because I’m…

For a long time, I didn’t want to use Strava. I consider myself old-school when it comes to running — I hated using GPS watches. Traditionally, I just don’t like knowing how fast I’m running. I just run, and try not to be ruled and sucked in by the numbers.

However, I got a GPS watch after some coaxing from some fellow runner friends, and by extension, I started using Strava. I can say not only is it cool to keep track of my fitness but keeping track of other people’s fitness too. In some way, it’s how I keep…

SATIRE

Local billionaire, Kevin Sozeb, has a life-changing seminar that can instantly make you a billionaire too. Sozeb recommends inheriting a ton of money from billionaire parents as a 100% foolproof way to get rich.

“Other billionaires give you incredibly unrealistic advice, like biking 300 miles every morning or waking up at 5 a.m. every day,” Sozeb said. “Me? I guilted my parents for not being good enough until they became billionaires.”

Sozeb’s billionaire parents concurred that Sozeb guilted them into becoming billionaires. When he was born, they were an average middle-class family in Cleveland, Ohio. …