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Business Insider
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Here's the best advice for the Class of 2025 from 10 notable graduation speakers
High-profile writers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and actors are making their annual rounds through college commencement ceremonies. They're dispensing some of their best advice to new grads preparing to take on the challenges that lie ahead, talking about everything from taking chances, surrounding yourself with the right people, and understanding your place in an AI-enabled workplace. Here are some standout pieces of advice to the Class of 2025 from 10 commencement speakers. Tech journalist Steven Levy "You do have a great future ahead of you, no matter how smart and capable ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Llama get," author and tech journalist Steven Levy told graduates at the Temple University College of Liberal Arts on May 7. "And here is the reason: You have something that no computer can ever have. It's a superpower, and every one of you has it in abundance," he said, according to Wired. "The lords of AI are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to make their models think like accomplished humans. You have just spent four years at Temple University learning to think as accomplished humans. The difference is immeasurable," he said. Actor Jennifer Coolidge "When you find the thing that you want to do, I really want to highly recommend — just friggin' go for it," Jennifer Coolidge, the star of HBO's White Lotus, told graduates at Emerson College on May 12. "You really have to psych yourself up into bleeding absurd possibilities, and you have to believe that they are not absurd because there's nothing foolish or accidental about expecting things that are unattainable for yourself." Kermit the Frog Everyone's favorite Muppet shared "a little advice — if you're willing to listen to a frog" at the University of Maryland's commencement ceremony on May 22. "Rather than jumping over someone to get what you want, consider reaching out your hand and taking the leap side by side. Because life is better when we leap together." Actor Elizabeth Banks "You're about to enter the incredibly competitive job market, so I can understand why you believe that life is a zero-sum game, that there's only so much opportunity to go around," actor Elizabeth Banks told graduates of the University of Pennsylvania on May 19. "And if one person takes a bigger slice, everyone else has to make a smaller slice, and the total size of the pie remains the same. And that is true with actual pie," she said. "But not with life, not with opportunity. So my advice to you is, as much as possible from here on out, take yourself out of that mindset." Physician and author Abraham Verghese Physician and author Abraham Verghese told Harvard graduates on May 29 to "make your decisions worthy of those who supported, nurtured, and sacrificed for you." "The decisions you will make in the future under pressure will say something about your character, while they also shape and transform you in unexpected ways," he said. Verghese also encouraged the Class of 2025 to read fiction. "To paraphrase Camus, fiction is the great lie that tells the truth about how the world lives," he said. "And if you don't read fiction, my considered medical opinion is that a part of your brain responsible for active imagination atrophies." Actor Henry Winkler Actor Henry Winkler spoke about the power of positive thinking in his May 17 address to graduates of the Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences. "A negative thought comes into your mind, you say out loud — you say out loud — 'I am sorry, I have no time for you now,'" he said. "Yes, people will look at you very strangely. But it doesn't matter. Because it becomes your habit." Instead, when faced with doubts and negative thoughts about your goals, "you move it out; you move a positive in," he said. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told graduates of Princeton University on May 25 that "the combination of luck, the courage to make mistakes, and a little initiative can lead to much success." "We risk failure, awkwardness, embarrassment, and rejection," he said. "But that's how we create the career opportunities, the great friendships, and the loves that make life worth living." He reminded graduates that "each of us is a work in progress" and "the possibilities for self-improvement are limitless." "The vast majority of what you need to know about work, about relationships, about yourself, about life, you have yet to learn," Powell said. "And that itself is a tremendous gift." Y Combinator cofounder Jessica Livingston Jessica Livingston, cofounder of startup accelerator Y Combinator, told Bucknell University graduates to "find the interesting people." "Talk to people. Get introduced to new people. Find the people that you think are interesting, and then ask what they're working on. And if you find yourself working at a place where you don't like the people, get out," she said in her May 18 speech. She also advised the Class of 2025 that "you can reinvent yourself" at any time. "If you want to, you can just decide to shift gears at this point, and no one's going to tell you you can't," she said. "You can just decide to be more curious, or more responsible, or more energetic, and no one's going to look up your college grades and say, 'Hey, wait a minute. This person's supposed to be a slacker!'" S&P Global CEO Martina L. Cheung "Don't collect promotions. Collect experiences," S&P Global President and CEO Martina L. Cheung told graduates of George Mason University. In her May 15 address, Cheung shared how lateral moves in her own career later prepared her for promotions. "Most people think of their careers as a ladder," she said. "They see the goal as climbing the ladder with promotions or leaving one job to take a bigger one elsewhere. The truth is, moving up is not the only direction. It's not even always the best direction. Sometimes it's the lateral move." YouTuber Hank Green Writer and science YouTuber Hank Green reminded MIT graduates in his May 29 speech to stay curious. "Your curiosity is not out of your control," he said. "You decide how you orient it, and that orientation is going to affect the entire rest of your life. It may be the single most important factor in your career." Green also emphasized the importance of taking chances on your ideas. "Ideas do not belong in your head," he said. "They can't help anyone in there. I sometimes see people become addicted to their good idea. They love it so much, they can't bring themselves to expose it to the imperfection of reality. Stop waiting. Get the ideas out. You may fail, but while you fail, you will build new tools." He closed his speech on this inspiring note: "Do not forget how special and bizarre it is to get to live a human life. It took 3 billion years for the Earth to go from single-celled life forms to you. That's more than a quarter of the life of the entire universe. Something very special and strange is happening on this planet and it is you."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Temple credits new crime fighting tool in arrest of suspect wanted in several states
The Brief An arrest has been made in a multi-state investigation, as a 20-year-old man, wanted for several burglaries is caught. The arrest is thanks to new license plate reading technology and is proof the technology is going to be a game-changer in fighting crime. NORTH PHILADELPHIA - Temple University's security team is crediting a new crime-fighting tool with leading to an arrest of a suspect wanted in several states. How it works A small solar panel sits above a camera tethered to a pole at Temple University. It's one of nearly 1,500 security cameras eyeing the North Philly campus. Temple said these cameras, part of the Flock Safety system, have a long reach. Jennifer Griffin is the Temple University Chief of Police. She said, "If you flag a vehicle registration in the system, when it hits on the camera, the system sends multiple alerts to investigators, police dispatch and other people." Timeline Temple reports that's how its officers were able to collar 20-year-old Jahid Robinson on campus back in December. New Castle County, Delaware police had linked Robinson, of Delaware County, Pa., to a series of burglaries - where residents were home - in the Greenville section of Wilmington. Master Corporal Richard Chambers is with the New Castle County Police Department. He said, "He was going into people's occupied homes. He was going into houses taking property and car keys, going into driveways, ransacking cars, taking property." Wanted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, New Castle police entered his plate into the Flock system and received a hit on a vehicle near the 1000 block of Diamond Street on campus. Temple police were alerted, and Robinson was arrested. Big picture view Temple called reporters to campus Friday to trumpet the arrest and highlight the success of this computer-powered security system whose cameras FOX 29 spotted in several locations. On hand, U.S. Representative Brendon Boyle is credited with winning Justice Department funding for Flock. Boyle said, "To come full circle and be here today to see the fruits of that labor actually lead to an arrest is incredibly exciting."
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's Most Successful Business Venture
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Paul Walczak didn't have a plausible defense, but he did have a backup plan. As a Florida nursing-home executive, he'd defrauded taxpayers out of almost $11 million, using it to fund a lavish lifestyle. He pleaded guilty last fall, but applied for a pardon after Donald Trump retook office, claiming that he'd been prosecuted because of his mother Elizabeth Fago's support for Trump. Only after she attended a $1 million-per-person April fundraiser, which promised face time with the president, did Trump grant Walczak a full pardon. The press can't declare things 'bribes' without concrete proof, and it's not entirely clear how much of the money Fago donated herself, but even the staid New York Times resorted to snark in describing the case. 'A judge had justified the incarceration by declaring that there 'is not a get-out-of-jail-free card' for the rich. The pardon, however, indicated otherwise,' Kenneth Vogel wrote. A million bucks is, by the standards of this administration, pretty paltry. Trump has made many millions off being president. Earlier this week, my colleague David Frum took stock of the corruption of Trump's second term and concluded, 'Nothing like this has been attempted or even imagined in the history of the American presidency. Throw away the history books; discard feeble comparisons to scandals of the past.' Yet even against this backdrop, the brazenness of the pardon's timing makes it stand out. Whether or not Trump was bought in this case, he's eager to create the impression that he is for sale. And for good reason: What's bad for the integrity of American rule of law has been very good for Trump's bottom line. After a career of high-profile mediocrity, punctuated by flamboyant failures, the selling of the presidency is the most successful business venture of his career. Business prowess is at the center of Trump's renown and political appeal, but the impression that he is a titan of industry is more a creation of The Art of the Deal and The Apprentice than his actual CV. By the time he ran for president for the first time, he'd largely given up on the real-estate development that made him famous, instead concentrating on licensing his name to products and buildings. That was mostly a concession to reality: At that point, Trump was struggling to find lenders because he'd stiffed so many banks. Trump's businesses declared bankruptcy six times, and although he has consistently defended these filings as savvy business moves, an even savvier business move is not needing to declare bankruptcy. Trump managed the impressive task of losing money as a casino owner. Although Atlantic City was in decline as a whole during Trump's time there, a Temple University legal scholar found that Trump underperformed competitors: 'His casinos were not the 'best' and not even average. They were the worst.' The president's lofty net worth was less a product of success than a product of coming into his father's fortune. In 2021, Forbes calculated that he would have made more money if he'd just put his inheritance in an S&P 500 index fund. (And the money that he did make might have been less if he hadn't been committing extensive fraud.) During Trump's first term, he began finding ways to profit from the presidency. He charged the Secret Service big bills to stay at his properties while protecting him (even though son Eric claimed that they stayed at a discount), and had officials like Vice President Mike Pence unnecessarily rack up charges there too. Moreover, the hotel he owned near the White House became an essential location for any officials looking to influence him. There was, it seemed, a benefit to being seen—and probably more importantly, to spending some dosh. Although this seemed like a clear violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause, attempts to enforce it were stymied in court. But in his second term, Trump has far surpassed these relatively petty hustles. The profits started rolling in even before he won reelection, as speculators poured cash into Trump Media and Technology Group—a business with wretched numbers but high upside for anyone wishing to influence the president. Since November, the flow has increased. 'Few if any legitimate investors entrusted their money to Trump's businesses when he was out of office,' Frum noted, but now Middle Eastern governments, Chinese crypto investors, and American corporations are all finding ways to get money into Trump-related businesses. The White House claims that because Trump's sons run these companies, no conflict of interest exists, but experts have noted that Trump hasn't really distanced himself meaningfully from his companies and he continues to profit from them. And nearly everyone involved is winning. Trump is making out like a bandit—perhaps very much like a bandit—and people such as Paul Walczak are getting their pardons. (Notably, Trump seems quick to pardon people charged with either fraud or corrupt use of government positions—both offenses of which he has been accused.) Unfortunately, the losers are the American people: anyone who might want the government to support rule of law, discourage corruption, and operate as something other than a concierge desk for those wealthy enough to buy in. When news emerged earlier this month of Trump's plans to accept a $400 million airplane from the Qatari government, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, a Republican, dismissed any concerns about emoluments. 'I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought,' he said. 'I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?' This is either deeply cynical or painfully gullible. Trump's entire career has been consumed by his quest for more money—this is a man who once cashed a 13-cent prank check from a Spy magazine correspondent—even if he hasn't always been very good at it. Now that he's found a reliable way to keep the cash rolling in, he's not going to turn it down. Related: The Trump presidency's world-historical heist There's no such thing as a free plane. Here are three new stories from The Atlantic: The conversations Trump's doctors should be having with him The perilous spread of the wellness craze Bring back communal kid discipline. Today's News An appeals court temporarily paused a lower-court ruling that had blocked most of President Donald Trump's tariffs. The acting director of ICE gave Harvard University 30 days to challenge the Trump administration's ban revoking the college's ability to enroll international students. Elon Musk announced yesterday that he is leaving the Department of Government Efficiency after saying that he is shifting his focus from politics back to his companies. Dispatches Time-Travel Thursdays: Any recent college graduate will tell you that their head felt heaviest after the cap came off, Amogh Dimri writes. Explore all of our newsletters here. Evening Read How America Lost Control of the Seas By Arnav Rao 'He who commands the sea has command of everything,' the ancient Athenian general Themistocles said. By that standard, the United States has command of very little. America depends on ocean shipping. About 80 percent of its international trade by weight traverses the seas. The U.S. needs ships to deliver nearly 90 percent of its armed forces' supplies and equipment, including fuel, ammunition, and food … In the middle of the 20th century, the U.S. had a thriving, well-regulated ocean-shipping industry. Then the country turned its back on the system that made it all possible. Read the full article. More From The Atlantic Striking down Trump's tariffs isn't a judicial coup. A Swiss village destroyed by a landslide A way to understand Pope Leo XIV's mission of love Xochitl Gonzalez on Diddy's defenders Culture Break Read. These five books will redirect your attention and break the spell of malaise. Make a pledge. Moral courage can result in something beautiful. A lovely paradox of doing good in the world is that it does you good too, according to the happiness expert Arthur C. Brooks. Play our daily crossword. Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter. When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic. Article originally published at The Atlantic
Atlantic
4 days ago
- Business
- Atlantic
The Presidency Is Trump's Most Successful Business
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Paul Walczak didn't have a plausible defense, but he did have a backup plan. As a Florida nursing-home executive, he'd defrauded taxpayers out of almost $11 million, using it to fund a lavish lifestyle. He pleaded guilty last fall, but applied for a pardon after Donald Trump retook office, claiming that he'd been prosecuted because of his mother Elizabeth Fago's support for Trump. Only after she attended a $1 million-per-person April fundraiser, which promised face time with the president, did Trump grant Walczak a full pardon. The press can't declare things 'bribes' without concrete proof, and it's not entirely clear how much of the money Fago donated herself, but even the staid New York Times resorted to snark in describing the case. 'A judge had justified the incarceration by declaring that there 'is not a get-out-of-jail-free card' for the rich. The pardon, however, indicated otherwise,' Kenneth Vogel wrote. A million bucks is, by the standards of this administration, pretty paltry. Trump has made many millions off being president. Earlier this week, my colleague David Frum took stock of the corruption of Trump's second term and concluded, 'Nothing like this has been attempted or even imagined in the history of the American presidency. Throw away the history books; discard feeble comparisons to scandals of the past.' Yet even against this backdrop, the brazenness of the pardon's timing makes it stand out. Whether or not Trump was bought in this case, he's eager to create the impression that he is for sale. And for good reason: What's bad for the integrity of American rule of law has been very good for Trump's bottom line. After a career of high-profile mediocrity, punctuated by flamboyant failures, the selling of the presidency is the most successful business venture of his career. Business prowess is at the center of Trump's renown and political appeal, but the impression that he is a titan of industry is more a creation of The Art of the Deal and The Apprentice than his actual CV. By the time he ran for president for the first time, he'd largely given up on the real-estate development that made him famous, instead concentrating on licensing his name to products and buildings. That was mostly a concession to reality: At that point, Trump was struggling to find lenders because he'd stiffed so many banks. Trump's businesses declared bankruptcy six times, and although he has consistently defended these filings as savvy business moves, an even savvier business move is not needing to declare bankruptcy. Trump managed the impressive task of losing money as a casino owner. Although Atlantic City was in decline as a whole during Trump's time there, a Temple University legal scholar found that Trump underperformed competitors: 'His casinos were not the 'best' and not even average. They were the worst.' The president's lofty net worth was less a product of success than a product of coming into his father's fortune. In 2021, Forbes calculated that he would have made more money if he'd just put his inheritance in an S&P 500 index fund. (And the money that he did make might have been less if he hadn't been committing extensive fraud.) During Trump's first term, he began finding ways to profit from the presidency. He charged the Secret Service big bills to stay at his properties while protecting him (even though son Eric claimed that they stayed at a discount), and had officials like Vice President Mike Pence unnecessarily rack up charges there too. Moreover, the hotel he owned near the White House became an essential location for any officials looking to influence him. There was, it seemed, a benefit to being seen—and probably more importantly, to spending some dosh. Although this seemed like a clear violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause, attempts to enforce it were stymied in court. But in his second term, Trump has far surpassed these relatively petty hustles. The profits started rolling in even before he won reelection, as speculators poured cash into Trump Media and Technology Group—a business with wretched numbers but high upside for anyone wishing to influence the president. Since November, the flow has increased. 'Few if any legitimate investors entrusted their money to Trump's businesses when he was out of office,' Frum noted, but now Middle Eastern governments, Chinese crypto investors, and American corporations are all finding ways to get money into Trump-related businesses. The White House claims that because Trump's sons run these companies, no conflict of interest exists, but experts have noted that Trump hasn't really distanced himself meaningfully from his companies and he continues to profit from them. And nearly everyone involved is winning. Trump is making out like a bandit—perhaps very much like a bandit—and people such as Paul Walczak are getting their pardons. (Notably, Trump seems quick to pardon people charged with either fraud or corrupt use of government positions—both offenses of which he has been accused.) Unfortunately, the losers are the American people: anyone who might want the government to support rule of law, discourage corruption, and operate as something other than a concierge desk for those wealthy enough to buy in. When news emerged earlier this month of Trump's plans to accept a $400 million airplane from the Qatari government, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, a Republican, dismissed any concerns about emoluments. 'I think nobody believes that Donald Trump can be bought,' he said. 'I mean, what does Donald Trump need more money for?' This is either deeply cynical or painfully gullible. Trump's entire career has been consumed by his quest for more money—this is a man who once cashed a 13-cent prank check from a Spy magazine correspondent—even if he hasn't always been very good at it. Now that he's found a reliable way to keep the cash rolling in, he's not going to turn it down. An appeals court temporarily paused a lower-court ruling that had blocked most of President Donald Trump's tariffs. The acting director of ICE gave Harvard University 30 days to challenge the Trump administration's ban revoking the college's ability to enroll international students. Elon Musk announced yesterday that he is leaving the Department of Government Efficiency after saying that he is shifting his focus from politics back to his companies. Dispatches Time-Travel Thursdays: Any recent college graduate will tell you that their head felt heaviest after the cap came off, Amogh Dimri writes. Evening Read How America Lost Control of the Seas By Arnav Rao 'He who commands the sea has command of everything,' the ancient Athenian general Themistocles said. By that standard, the United States has command of very little. America depends on ocean shipping. About 80 percent of its international trade by weight traverses the seas. The U.S. needs ships to deliver nearly 90 percent of its armed forces' supplies and equipment, including fuel, ammunition, and food … In the middle of the 20th century, the U.S. had a thriving, well-regulated ocean-shipping industry. Then the country turned its back on the system that made it all possible. More From The Atlantic Read. These five books will redirect your attention and break the spell of malaise. Make a pledge. Moral courage can result in something beautiful. A lovely paradox of doing good in the world is that it does you good too, according to the happiness expert Arthur C. Brooks. Play our daily crossword. Stephanie Bai contributed to this newsletter.
CBS News
6 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
Philadelphia gun violence prevention advocate calls for united front after Fairmount Park mass shooting
A Memorial Day celebration in Philadelphia turned deadly Monday night as two people were killed and nine others were injured after a mass shooting erupted at Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park. Police believe three shooters are responsible. Following the shooting at Lemon Hill, gun violence is being called a public health crisis, and an upcoming event is aimed at prevention. Advocates say that there needs to be a more united front in finding solutions to gun violence. In the shadow of City Hall, Oronde McClain is working to help other gunshot victims. "I got shot in the back of the head when I was 10 years old," McClain said. "I died for 2 minutes, 17 seconds. I was in a coma for seven weeks." McClain says it was a drive-by shooting 25 years ago in Mt. Airy. He still has headaches, seizures and other medical issues. He says he still has gunshot fragments in his head. "I have scars as well," McClain said. "One bullet altered my whole life." McClain will join doctors and other advocates for the upcoming Hope Symposium on Gun Violence, an effort to turn awareness into action and shape a safer tomorrow. The symposium is scheduled for June 11 at Temple University. "It cannot be addressed by just one sector," Javi Alverado with Intercultural Family Services said. "It really demands a multifaceted united response. It is a public health crisis. Prevention must go hand in hand with healing. And that's why we bring together public and private partners to support youth and families through mental health services, early intervention, education, mentorship and culturally responsive care." "I have emotional scars that will never close," McClain said. McClain says he's turning that pain into action. He works with the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting. Their mission is to bring sensitivity to the stories of victims and their families. "It's horrible what's going on right now," McClain said. One step at a time, he hopes to build a safer future.
