Curated playlist

American founders

Michael JacksonMichael Jackson bought a music catalog with most of the Beatles's material in 1985. He paid 47.5 million dollars.
John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy spent hours in the water towing a burned crewman after a destroyer cut his boat in half.
MadonnaMadonna arrived in New York in 1978 with thirty-five dollars. It was her first plane ride and first taxi.
Lady GagaLady Gaga's name may have come from a phone typo. Producer Rob Fusari said autocorrect turned "Radio Ga Ga" into "Lady".
Disco King MarioDisco King Mario helped launch hip-hop without ever releasing a record. He threw Bronx park jams in the early 1970s.
Whitney HoustonWhitney Houston sold more than 220 million records and carried a nickname that needed no first name: "the Voice". She was born in 1963 and died in 2012. In between, she became one of the most awarded performers in history. In 2023, Rolling…
David LynchDavid Lynch began as a painter who just wanted his canvases to move. That wish led him to film.
Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter once was lowered into a crippled nuclear reactor for 90 seconds at a time. He later ran for president.
Eliezer YudkowskyA 2023 Time op-ed by Eliezer Yudkowsky reached the White House press briefing room.
Charles MansonOn the first day of testimony in his 1970 murder trial, Charles Manson arrived with an X carved into his forehead.
Elizabeth Cady StantonElizabeth Cady Stanton's father once told her he wished she were a boy. She spent decades answering him.
Susan B. AnthonySusan B. Anthony voted in 1872, waited, and was arrested days later. She then refused to pay her $100 fine.
Poul AndersonPoul Anderson's typewriter now sits in a Berkeley bookshop. His widow donated it after he died in 2001.
Malcolm XMalcolm X left the Nation of Islam in 1964 and flew to Mecca. There he saw Muslims of all colors treated as equals.
Cyndi LauperCyndi Lauper wore almost a pound of necklaces to the Grammy Awards ceremony in 1985. The excess suited the woman wearing it. Lauper is an American singer, songwriter and actress, born on the 22nd of June 1953. She is known for eccentric…
Jane FondaJane Fonda sat on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun during a 1972 visit to Hanoi, and a photograph of that moment outraged a large number of Americans. It earned her a nickname that has followed her for decades: Hanoi Jane. For many…
Miley CyrusMiley Cyrus was eight years old when she grabbed her father's arm in a Toronto theatre. In 2001 the family lived in Toronto while Billy Ray Cyrus filmed the television series Doc. He took her to see a Mirvish production of Mamma Mia! at…
Afrika BambaataaAfrika Bambaataa turned a street gang into a global peace movement. He wanted hip-hop to draw angry kids out of gangs.
Milton FriedmanMilton Friedman argued the Federal Reserve let the money supply shrink by one-third between 1929 and 1933.
Helena BlavatskyA 1885 report accused Helena Blavatsky of faking paranormal phenomena. It was retracted in 1986.
Jim JonesJim Jones was an American preacher who founded the Peoples Temple. On the 18th of November 1978, 912 people died at his jungle commune in Jonestown, Guyana. Among them were 304 children. Jones called the event "revolutionary suicide," a…
Melania TrumpMelania Trump holds a set of firsts that no earlier first lady of the United States shares. She is the first naturalized citizen to hold the title. She is also the first first lady whose native language is not English. Other names mark…
Cesar ChavezCesar Chavez was born Cesario Estrada Chavez on the 31st of March 1927 and died on the 23rd of April 1993. Many Mexican Americans came to speak of him as a "folk saint." California farm owners saw something else entirely, a communist…
Nick FuentesNicholas Joseph Fuentes, born on the 18th of August 1998, is an American far-right commentator and live streamer. In October 2025 Tucker Carlson interviewed him and opened by predicting the backlash. "I don't think Fuentes is going away,"…
Halsey (singer)Halsey, the stage name of Ashley Nicolette Frangipane, once looked at a bank account holding nine dollars. She spent it on a four-pack of Red Bull. The caffeine kept her awake for two or three days, because she judged sleeping somewhere…
W. E. B. Du BoisW. E. B. Du Bois died in Ghana the day before the March on Washington. He was 95 and had renounced his U.S. citizenship.
George SorosAt 14, George Soros posed as the Christian godson of a government official to survive the Nazi occupation of Hungary.
Steve BannonSteve Bannon still earns money every time Seinfeld airs. His bank took a stake in five shows instead of a fee.
Timothy LearyTimothy Leary escaped prison in September 1970 by climbing a telephone wire over the wall.
Henry Steel OlcottHenry Steel Olcott was the first well-known American of European ancestry to formally convert to Buddhism.
Larry HooverLarry Hoover Sr., born on the 30th of November 1950, is an American former gangster who founded the Gangster Disciples, a street gang from Chicago. On the 28th of May 2025, President Donald Trump commuted his federal prison sentences. Yet…
Marcus GarveyMarcus Garvey was declared Provisional President of Africa in August 1920, even though he had never set foot on the continent. The title came during a conference organized by his Harlem-based movement, while an estimated 25,000 people…
Judea PearlJudea Pearl gave computers a way to reason when facts are incomplete.
Shia LaBeoufShia LaBeouf, the American actor and filmmaker born in 1986, walked the red carpet at the Berlin Film Festival on the 9th of February 2014 in a tuxedo with a brown paper bag over his head. Across the bag were written the words "I am not…