OZY Daily Dose

Every morning, we profile the people, places, trends and technology that are ahead of their time and worthy of yours. A SpokenEdition transforms written content into human-read audio you can listen to anywhere. It's perfect for times when you can't read - while driving, at the gym, doing chores, etc. Find more at www.spokenedition.com

Every morning, we profile the people, places, trends and technology that are ahead of their time and worthy of yours. A SpokenEdition transforms written content into human-read audio you can listen to anywhere. It's perfect for times when you can't read - while driving, at the gym, doing chores, etc. Find more at www.spokenedition.com

Every morning, we profile the people, places, trends and technology that are ahead of their time and worthy of yours. A SpokenEdition transforms written content into human-read audio you can listen to anywhere. It's perfect for times when you can't read - while driving, at the gym, doing chores, etc. Find more at www.spokenedition.com

Because surviving the South in the ’60s as the first Black athlete at UNC with a scholarship took a special kind of magic.

Every morning, we profile the people, places, trends and technology that are ahead of their time and worthy of yours. A SpokenEdition transforms written content into human-read audio you can listen to anywhere. It's perfect for times when you can't read - while driving, at the gym, doing chores, etc. Find more at www.spokenedition.com

John McLaughlin is the former deputy director of the CIA. He writes a regular column on OZY called “Global Eye: Foreign Affairs Through an Intelligence Lens,” and teaches at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). President Donald Trump’s decision to remove the small contingent of United States troops remaining in Syria is a disaster on multiple levels.

When Haley Pavone, founder of Pashion Footwear, pitches her innovative high-heeled shoe business to (overwhelmingly male) sneaker-wearing venture capitalists, she often suggests that they discuss the idea with their wives. Those who follow the 23-year-old's advice tend to return less skeptical and more intrigued, she says. "It's worked every time, it's really funny."Pashion produces heels that turn into flats.

In 2016, Justin Lippert bought a bike off Craigslist and competed in his first triathlon. Three years later, he's won five national championships, mostly wearing nothing but a smile and a pink watermelon Speedo. On the surface, he's a bit of a caricature: half-naked, tan, muscled with a handlebar mustache and backward trucker hat. His voracious joy is palpable via social media posts peppered with bro-isms like "stoked," "yeet," "gnarly" and "hype." He radiates equal parts silly, giddy and cocky.

Winding up at a Malay wedding in a village close to the Batu Caves, dressed in Adidas running pants and a zip hood ... it's not how I thought the afternoon would pan out after joining a local climbing group in Kuala Lumpur and completing one of the most challenging climbs of my life. But that's the Malaysian tradition of hospitality, boleh ("can-do"), an attitude of a carefree spirit. It's there waiting for you even at the top of one of Malaysia's best-kept secrets.

It was my friend Ciccio who got me to go there, and the fact that I was even there was crazy."There's a great gym in my neighborhood. You wanna go?"I had been lifting weights in the playroom of my Brooklyn home since I was 9 years old; by age 16, after multiple viewings of the recently released springboard for Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pumping Iron, it had occurred to me that if I was ever going to make my bodybuilding dreams come true, I'd have to make them come true in a place built for it.