David Lidsky's Blog, page 128

Memorial Day weekend will see a surge in road trips with record-breaking travel expected

According to AAA, 45 million people will make trips at least 50 miles from home, with many opting to go by car as gas prices dip.

The number of domestic travelers in the U.S. is expected to break a record for Memorial Day weekend that was set in 2005. AAA anticipates that 45.1 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home over the weekend, an increase of 1.4 million travelers compared to last year.

From the boardroom to the basketball court

Leadership lessons from my mom, a CEO and lifelong learner

Growing up, dinner table conversations at our house weren’t just about what we learned at school that day. My mom, Jill, was a CEO for my entire life, leading a nonprofit that made meaningful community impact while she simultaneously raised a family. Our dinner conversations included recaps of board meetings, talk of juggling multiple personal and professional roles, and advice for her kid (me!) on how to do right by others.  

9-to-5 jobs, ChatGPT, and preventive Botox: Gen Z is not falling for any of this ‘propaganda’ in 2025

A trend on TikTok has users declaring the ‘propaganda I’m not falling for,’ but take these viral lists with a grain of salt.

A new TikTok trend, set to a snippet of Charli XCX’s “I Think About It All the Time” featuring Bon Iver, sees users, particularly Gen Z women, sharing lists of “propaganda” they’re not falling for in 2025. 

Should you practice ‘appstinence’? Gen Z and Gen Alpha are embracing this Harvard student movement

The 5-step method aims to help people get off social media and become less attached to their smartphones.

“Appstinence,” which (as you may have guessed) refers to abstaining from using your apps, is a movement encouraging people to get off social media and become less attached to their smartphones. It was founded by Harvard graduate student Gabriela Nguyen. The 24-year-old, who grew up in the center of Big Tech in Silicon Valley, realized she was addicted to both social media and her phone, probably from an early age. So she decided to do something about it and started a club at the Ivy League school for her fellow students, along with the Appstinence website.

The U.S. Treasury will stop minting pennies. Here’s how the math adds up

The Treasury reportedly lost over $85 million producing the one-cent coin last year. It has now placed its final order of penny blanks.

The U.S. Treasury said on Thursday it is phasing out the penny and will soon stop putting new one-cent coins into circulation.

DOE redirects $365 million from Puerto Rico’s solar projects to oil-dependent power grid

Many in Puerto Rico worry that any storm, regardless of how small, could knock out the grid, given its fragile state.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday that $365 million originally slated for solar projects in Puerto Rico will be diverted to improve the island’s crumbling power grid, sparking an outcry just days before the Atlantic hurricane season starts.

Universal Studios’ Epic Universe opens today: Here are 5 hidden secrets in the theme park

What to know about Universal’s massive new amusement park in Orlando and its hidden Easter eggs.

Epic Universe is massive. Spanning over 110 acres, the new Florida theme park from Universal Studios, which opens today, has created four differently themed lands that captivate the imagination and offer a wide array of thrills for park enthusiasts: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon—Isle of Berk, and Dark Universe. That count jumps to five if you count Celestial Park, the hub of Epic Universe, with several restaurants and two big rides of its own.

Is empathy a core strength? Here’s what philosophy says

Epictetus’s and Nietzsche’s worries about pity or compassion carry over to empathy.

In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, billionaire and Trump megadonor Elon Musk offered his thoughts about what motivates political progressives to support immigration. In his view, the culprit was empathy, which he called “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.”

Why the U.S. won’t sign the WHO’s new pandemic response treaty

One contentious issue with the WHO’s pandemic agreement involves how many vaccines manufacturers in each country must share in exchange for access to genetic sequences to emerging infectious diseases.

On March 20, members of the World Health Organization adopted the world’s first pandemic agreement, following three years of “intensive negotiations launched by governments in response to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The U.S., however, did not participate, in part because of its intention to withdraw from the WHO.

FDA restricts COVID-19 vaccines to older adults and high-risk groups. Here’s what to know

Prior to the May 20 announcement, an annual COVID-19 vaccine was recommended for everyone ages 6 months and older.

On May 20, 2025, the Food and Drug Administration announced a new stance on who should receive the COVID-19 vaccine.