Let’s face it—there’s precious little in the news cycle these days to encourage risk-taking. Planning on solo skydiving? Might want to examine your company’s recently reduced health care benefits. Want to gamble your tax refund on one crazy night in Vegas? Perhaps you should invest in your 401k instead. more ›

The Society of Midland Authors is kind of like the literary Mensa of the Midwest. Since its founding in 1915, members have included Poetry magazine founder Harriet Monroe, founder of the U.S. Settlement House movement Jane Addams, social theorist Daniel J. Boorstin, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sandburg. more ›