Meet Erasmus: The Dutch theologian who paved the way for the Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther gets the credit, but Erasmus set the stage, including his emphasis on using the new technology of the printing press.
The Who2 Blog
Joni Mitchell is a Terrific Artist, Too
How much talent can one woman have? Joni Mitchell made her name with catchy singles like “Big Yellow Taxi” (1970) and confessional albums like Blue (1971). But while she was …..
Meet Susan Clark, the First Black Child to Go to a Desegregated School
The first African-American child who won court approval to attend a whites-only school was Susan Clark in Muscatine, Iowa in 1868.
College Football Time is F. Scott Fitzgerald Time
Blustery September Saturdays mean it’s time for an annual reading of F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s sporting masterpiece The Bowl. This is not The Cut-Glass Bowl, Fitzgerald’s more famous (and gloomier) short …..
Apollo 11 Biographies, 50 Years After These Amazing Guys Walked on the Moon
Here they are: the three brave humans who flew to the moon 50 years ago. Two of them walked on its surface. The three are: Commander Neil Armstrong, command module pilot Michael Collins, …..
Jeffrey Epstein Biography — New!
Our biography of once (and future?) convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is now live. Jeffrey Epstein is the mysteriously wealthy money manager who was convicted 13 years ago of the …..
Mister Rogers Gets a Visit from the Wicked Witch of the West
Apropos of nothing: here’s a wonderful episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in which the visitor is actress Margaret Hamilton, better known as the Wicked Witch of the West in the …..
Doris Day and Carol Channing, Linked Forever in Death
Actress, singer and eternal nice girl Doris Day has died of pneumonia at age 97. (She fudged her age for years, but biographer David Kaufman finally pegged her birth year as …..
Pete Buttigieg Biography – New!
Our new biography of Pete Buttigieg is now live. Pete Buttigieg, as has been widely reported, has unusual credentials for a modern presidential candidate. He is: Under 40 years of …..
One Year Later, Sluggo is *Still* Lit
It was the waning days of 2017, and Andrews McMeel was looking to make a change. The venerable comic “Nancy” had been around for eight decades, and the syndicate was …..
Women’s History Month Profile: Jessie Simmons Fought for Years Simply to Get a Teaching Job in Michigan
Guest post by Valerie Hill-Jackson, Texas A&M University/The Conversation Jessie Dean Gipson Simmons was full of optimism when she and her family moved from an apartment in a troubled area …..
Read Michael Caine’s Good-Natured Slag of ‘Jaws 4’
The great Michael Caine drops a quip about Jaws: The Revenge (in which he played “carefree airplane pilot” Hoagie Newcombe): He’s the best. The quote was prompted by a comment from Ricky …..
Alex Trebek Has Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer
Alex Trebek, the host of Jeopardy! since 1984, announced this week that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. In a video released by the show (above), he …..
Jackie Robinson, Happy 100th Birthday!
Happy 100th birthday to Jackie Robinson, one of the true American heroes of the 20th century. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, a racist barrier so strange and …..
Naomi Osaka Biography – New!
She beat Serena Williams, she won the Australian Open, she’s on the cover of Time… and now Naomi Osaka has her own Who2 biography. Congratulations to her on all fronts. …..
Tax Fraud By The Numbers: The Trump Timeline
[Editor’s note: After our earlier post on the New York Times’s allegations of tax fraud on the part of Donald Trump and his family, accountant Ken Boyd asked us if we’d be …..
Martin Scorcese Dumpling Flap Turns Awards Dinner into ‘Cafe Fear’
Stop the presses: 2019 already has its dumbest gossip item. It appears today in the New York Post’s Page Six and stars director Martin Scorsese at the New York Film Critics Circle award …..
Look at These Big Big Birthdays of 2019
Who turns 21 in 2019? Who turns 50? Who turns 100? Or 200? Would you believe that Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris is already 21? That Hangover goofball Zach Galifianakis is already …..
Quiz: Can You Name These Celebrities Who Passed Away in 2018?
How closely were you paying attention to the celebrities who left the stage in 2018? 34 famous people (so far) are featured in Who2’s Died in 2018 list. But don’t …..
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Biography: New!
Our new biography of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is now live. She is, among other things: The new U.S. Representative from New York’s 14th District. At age 28, the youngest woman ever to …..