Sunday Night Reads

Our essay series of musings and unique historical investigations was created during the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way of providing a moment of respite on Sunday evenings amidst this disorienting period in time. Sunday Night Reads follows events and phenomena of the past to contemporary happenings with an eye towards global linkages.

A Pause in the Presses

Sunday Night Reads takes a break (for now)

First the War, Then the Memorial: The History of the Holiday

Near the end of the Civil War, widows started a ritual. They would decorate their fallen soldiers' graves, marking them wreaths, flowers,...

The Brief Voyage of the Airship America: Walter Wellman's Early Attempt at Trans-Atlantic Flight

At the age of fourteen, Walter Wellman started his own weekly newspaper, serving the community of Sutton, Nebraska. That was momentous...

The Panacea That Wasn't: The Arc of the Tesla Coil

Inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla successfully registered more than three- hundred patents in his lifetime. Although his interests...

Alonzo Church:Unsung Hero of Modern Computing

When Alonzo Church's father's poor eyesight led to removal from the D.C. bench, the young Church found himself in Virginia, far away from...

"Exploration is not a choice... it's an imperative": The Life & Times of Michael Collins

When Michael Collins graduated from the United States Military Academy, he had to make a choice. At the time, a small number of West...

Quick Collection Escalation

Welcome to Tuesday Talks by Metro Group, where we offer insight into issues shaping the current business environment. Metro Group...

Electric Vehicles on the Moon

Over the last decade, engineering teams at electric vehicle makers like Tesla have finally broken through. It didn't happen overnight,...

Time for a Sustainability Moonshot

The world shined a bright light on global supply chains and shipping with the grounding of the Ever Given. Stories of fragility,...

Suzanne Beckstoffer: Making Her Own Way in Maritime

When Suzanne Beckstoffer was in tenth grade, she had not yet decided what she wanted to do with her life. Math and science, however, were...