The Waltons was a popular television series in the 1970s that told the story of a large family living in Virginia during the Depression era. In this particular episode, one of the Walton children, John-Boy, aspires to publish his own county newspaper—The Blue Ridge Chronicle. He enlists the help of his younger brother, Ben, and they soon stumble upon their first headline story. The county judge, ...

Resurrecting the Champ is based on the true story of up-and-coming sports reporter Eric Kerman (Josh Hartnett). After rescuing a homeless man (Samuel L. Jackson) from a dangerous fight with some rowdy teens, Kerman discovers that "Champ," as everyone calls him, might be boxing legend Bob Satterfield. Most people in the world of sports had long believed Satterfield had quietly passed away. After Kerman ...

In their book Freakonomics, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner explain how a simple change to U. S. tax rules in 1987 exposed the depth of the public's willingness to deceive for financial gain:

In the 1980s, an I.R.S. research officer in Washington named John Szilagyi had seen enough random audits to know that some taxpayers were incorrectly claiming dependants for the sake of exemption. Sometimes ...

Have you ever gotten yourself in big trouble—really, really big trouble? So big you can't even conceive of how much trouble you're in? That's what 31-year-old Jerome Kerviel is accused of. Jerome worked for a prestigious bank in France. He had worked his way up from the back room to being one of the men who did the bank's investing. In January 2008 he was caught allegedly committing investment ...

In 2007, Spherion, a career recruiting and staffing agency, asked 2,000 employees if they had ever taken office supplies for personal use. Nearly 20 percent of employees admitted they had. Surprisingly, the likelihood that someone would use company materials for personal use increased with education and salary level.

For example, 13 percent of employees with a high school education said they pilfered ...

Thank You For Smoking is about the shameless tactics of pro-cigarette lobbyists and their efforts to both protect and promote the tobacco industry.

Lobbyist Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) and his 12-year-old son Joey are having a conversation as they walk through a Santa Monica amusement park.

"So, you go to an office, then you go on TV to talk about cigarettes. Then you fly out to L.A. to talk to some ...

In the movie Lucky You, Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) plays a hotshot poker player who is trying to raise enough money, $10,000, to enter a poker tournament in Las Vegas. In an attempt to raise the money he makes a bet with Ready Eddie (Horatio Sanz). Huck has to run five miles and shoot 18 holes of golf in 78 strokes or under in three hours. The ball has to be in the cup before the time expires—and ...

Have you ever had high hopes for something and then seen those hopes crumble to pieces? It happened to one man in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His story hit the news wires as one of those sadly humorous, stupid-thief tales. Actually, if you knew him, his story is probably only very sad.

He wanted money. Maybe he desperately needed money. Perhaps he had a substance addiction or owed tens of thousands of ...

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shares this brief moment she shared with Holocaust survivor and author, Eli Wiesel:

Not long after September 11, I was on a panel with Eli Wiesel. He asked us to name the unhappiest character in the Bible. Some said Job, because of the trials he endured. Some said Moses, because he was denied entry into the Promised Land. Some said Mary, because she witnessed ...

One Night with the King is the movie version of the biblical story of Esther. The following scene shows the bravery and devotion of Mordecai, Esther's cousin who served as her only parent. When King Xerxes orders all royal officials to bow before his second-in-command, Haman, Mordecai realizes such an act would be idolatrous for a Jew. In this scene, Haman's processional is making its way through ...