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Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shares the poem she's kept in every one of her offices

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Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shares the poem she's kept in every one of her offices

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is sworn-in during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 21, 2022.

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In every office she’s ever had, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has kept a copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “The Ladder of Saint Augustine.” There’s one stanza in particular that she likes:

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.

“I love the idea that in order to be successful, it takes hard work,” Jackson says. “You can’t always control whether you’re the smartest person in the room, for example, but you [can] commit to being the hardest worker.”

Jackson traces her interest in studying law back to her childhood. When she was 4, her father enrolled in law school at the University of Miami. She remembers sitting at the kitchen table with her coloring books, across from her father and his stack of law journals.

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“We would work together and he’d ask me questions,” she says. “It was really a bonding moment for me.”

Jackson went on to attend Harvard for both undergrad and law school. As a young lawyer, she says, she was often at the office before anyone else — and then she’d stay until everyone else had gone home. Working as a public defender helped shape the type of judge she would become.

“One of the things I discovered very early on was how few of my clients really understood what had happened to them in the trial process,” Jackson says. “And so when I became a judge, I really focused on being clear.”

In 2022, Jackson became the first Black woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court. During her first year on the bench, she spoke more than any other justice in that same term — a marked departure from past justices who sometimes take years before becoming vocal. Now Jackson is sharing her story in a new memoir, Lovely One. (The title of the book derives from a translation of Jackson’s West African name, “Ketanji Onyika.”)

Lovely One

Lovely One

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Interview highlights

On learning about Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court

Judge Motley was appointed to the court in the ‘60s, I believe. And this is the court in the Southern District of New York. And I was born in 1970. And when I was in late elementary school, early middle school, I came across an article about her in Essence or Ebony, one of the Black magazines that my parents subscribed to. And, gosh, I mean, it was such an eye opener for me, in part because I learned that we share a birthday, September 14th. We were born on exactly the same day, 49 years apart. …

And so here we had this woman who was a lawyer and who had gone on to be a judge, and the thought of being a judge just kind of planted in my mind. And it was something I guess I’d always wanted to do. And this was also around the time when Justice O’Connor had been appointed to the Supreme Court. So now we had a woman judge on the Supreme Court. I just remember those things being very motivational for me, early on.

On growing up in D.C. with parents from the South, who wanted her to be proud of being Black

I was born at this very, very pivotal time in American history. I was a first inheritor of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream … if Dr. Martin Luther King presented America with a metaphorical check come due, my generation reaped the first installment. So what it meant for my parents, who were now young people with a baby coming of age in this really, sort of time of opportunity after being so limited in their upbringing, they wanted me to do all of the activities that they had been restricted in doing. But they also felt pretty strongly that it was important to shore up my own self-esteem. Having grown up in a society in which there was so much negative imagery and messaging about African Americans, they were worried that that would undermine my ability to perform in white spaces. And so they carefully monitored what I watched and worked on the inputs.

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On what she was like in high school

It was a predominantly white school. … I was popular. I was the student body president three years in a row. So I had a lot of friends and people who liked me, but no dates, which got to be a little bit of an issue my senior year because the student body president, one of the things you’re responsible for is planning the prom. And I wasn’t going to go until a friend of mine who was a junior said, “Who are you going to go to prom with?” And I was like, “No one.” And he was like, “Well, why don’t I take you? Why don’t we go together?” So I went with him, just so I could go and not be totally left out of an activity that I was planning. But it was not easy to be a high school student and feeling like everybody else is dating and people have crushes, and not being a part of the culture was a little challenging.

On how she met her husband at Harvard

So I am in this class, and he’s cute. He’s sitting behind me. He’s chatting with me and tapping on my shoulder and doing silly things. And afterwards we start to develop a friendship, talking about the material. And he would walk me to my next class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then on Tuesday and Thursday, I thought I saw him in our government class, and I would lean down the row and wave and he would, like, roll his eyes like, “Who is this lady?” And I thought, this is kind of weird. Like, why would this guy be so nice to be on some days and not on the others? And I told my roommates about it and they were like, “Leave him alone. He’s crazy. You don’t want to be with a crazy person!” One of the nice days … I went up to him and I said, “Why don’t you speak to me in our government class?” And he said, “I’m not taking a government class.” And I said, “Yes, you are.” And then it dawned on him that I must be talking about his twin brother.

On how she had her husband have both balanced career and family

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I think very early on we kind of decided to take turns. We could see how there would be different points in each of our careers where the other person’s professional needs would have to take precedence. It’s like we could have it all, but not at the same time. And so there were periods when he was in his surgical residency, for example, he couldn’t do anything more than the 20 hours of service that they required in the hospital, sleeping overnight, doing [it] all. And so then I took a lot of the home responsibilities. And when I was clerking for the Supreme Court, it was flipped. He took time out of his residency to do research in Washington, came down and supported me. He brought me dinner at the Court.

Sam Briger and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Krishnadev Calamur adapted it for the web.

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After weeks of speculation, Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce wed in New York

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After weeks of speculation, Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce wed in New York

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, pictured at a basketball game in May, announced their engagement in August 2025.

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NEW YORK — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are officially married.

After three years of dating, The pop icon and Super Bowl-winning football player, both 36, tied the knot in New York, according to a statement from Swift’s publicist, Tree Paine.

There were neither bridesmaids nor groomsmen. “Instead, her brother Austin Swift served as Taylor’s Man of Honor and Jason Kelce was Travis’ Best Man. The ceremony joined both families together,” Swift’s publicist said in the statement released Friday evening.

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The ceremony was officiated by comedian and a friend of the couple, Adam Sandler, the statement added.

The singer’s rep said that the couple was dressed in Christian Dior Haute Couture.

“The bride and groom’s wedding ceremony looks have been created by Christian Dior Haute Couture. They are designed by Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director of Dior Women’s, Men’s and Haute Couture Collections, in close collaboration with the Bride and Groom,” the statement said. “This is the designer’s first couture wedding dress for a world-renowned celebrity. Their shoes were custom made by Christian Louboutin and the bride wore Cartier jewelry.”

Security around the event was intense, so it remains unclear if the wedding was charming, if a little gauche. But the night before the ceremony the 20,000-person stadium was bathed in a lavender haze.

Details gleaned from a city permit obtained by The Associated Press, showed details of a “special event at MSG” scheduled to begin Friday evening and running overnight Saturday.

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As speculation built, fans began gathering in front of the stadium ahead of the expected wedding, despite the couple’s efforts to keep details of the celebration under wraps.

Superfans and sleuths appeared to have their hunches confirmed on Friday, as dozens of black cars dropped off elegantly dressed guests outside of Madison Square Garden in New York City.

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How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Ken Marino

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How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Ken Marino

Ken Marino loves living in L.A.

Living here has certainly been good for his acting career. Though he broke into the business as a member of NYC-turned-MTV sketch comedy group the State in 1994, he moved to L.A. in the fall of 1997 when he landed a role in the second season of “Men Behaving Badly,” an NBC sitcom. Marino shot just 13 episodes before the show was canceled. Still, he stayed in L.A., landing roles in much-loved shows like “Veronica Mars,” “Party Down,” “The Residence” and “Running Point.” He’s also co-written a few things, including “Role Models” and “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” out July 10, which was filmed in and around Los Angeles.

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In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

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“Working around L.A. and running around to jobs is how I got to understand L.A.,” Marino says. “It’s just a very comfortable city to live in. I just think it’s fun to be able to bounce around and do anything you feel like doing.”

Here’s how Marino would spend his perfect, carefree Sunday in Los Angeles.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

6 a.m.: Dog walking, coffee and flowers

We have two dogs. They need to go outside in the morning and eat, and they are very vocal about it. For a while, every morning at 5:58 my one dog, Dot, would start whining and moving around until I’d go “yeah, OK, let’s feed you.”

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In our family, I’m the one who feeds the dogs and takes them out, because I’m a morning person. I enjoy it when it’s not fully light out, maybe making myself a coffee or taking a walk to this place called Project Bloom Coffee. It’s a little mom and pop kind of place and they have terrific coffee and breakfast sandwiches. They’re also a florist. Sometimes they even use this cool paper holder with a handle where, on one side you put the coffee and then on the other side you put your beautiful flower display. So then you get to walk home with your coffee and your flowers together and it’s something I’ve never seen anywhere else.

7:30 a.m.: Online chess

After I go get my coffee and walk the dogs, I’ll still be the only person up so I’ll get on my computer and get a couple of games of chess in. I play people from around the world online on Chess.com, and I usually either get frustrated or feel like I’m the best chess player in the world. Anyway, I’m getting my rating up on the app and I’m very excited about it. I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of chess tutorials on TikTok and YouTube that teach me how to play better.

9 a.m.: More coffee and “911”

If I go to Project Bloom, I’ll bring my wife a coffee and some flowers but if not, we have a little espresso and cappuccino maker so I’ll use that to make her a cappuccino, which I’ll bring to her in bed. She’s always very happy about that and then I’ll go try to wake my [16-year-old] daughter up, which usually takes about two or three tries until I take her phone, set the timer for five minutes, and then put it on the other side of her room so she has to get out of her bed to turn it off when it sounds.

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She and I have been religiously watching “911” recently. We started with Season 1 and now we’re about six or seven seasons in so I’ll make her breakfast — maybe a Nutella crepe with some little cherry tomatoes on the side, which is weird but she likes it or maybe some oatmeal — and then we’ll watch “911” and talk about our favorite characters, like Buck, Chimney and Bobby.

Noon: Lunch on the Westside

We have a little apartment in Marina Del Rey that’s right by the beach so sometimes I’ll go out there with the dogs, just to sit for a while and enjoy. I usually walk between the Venice pier and Washington Street, but sometimes I’ll go further north and walk along Venice Beach if I want to hang out with some freaky deakies.

When I’m over on that side of town, there’s a couple of places that I might go for food, like this Italian restaurant called Ospi that’s in Venice. They’re incredible. They make their own homemade pasta and it’s delicious. There’s also this chain called Guisados, and I love their tacos so sometimes I’ll do that too. Venice Ramen is good too, and they do these things called jumbo gyoza that are absolutely delicious. They’re like 2.5 times bigger than a normal gyoza, like palm-sized, and I really like them.

2 p.m.: Play practice and a pint

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My daughter is in two plays right now at this place called the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica, so it’s my responsibility to take her over there and drop her off for practice. When I do that, if it’s a Sunday, I might want to grab a Guinness somewhere and watch basketball. There’s a bar called Weary Livers down the street that has a lot of board games and it feels like you’re in somebody’s basement, which is good. It’s also right next to the Brixton, which is another nice bar that I’ll go to from time to time if I’m waiting for my daughter to finish rehearsal because it’s a lot of driving otherwise.

4 p.m.: Garage band practice

Typically on Sunday, we’ll also have a rehearsal for the Middle Aged Dad Jam Band. [Editor’s note: Marino co-founded the group with David Wain, whom he’s known since “The State” and who co-wrote “Wet Hot American Summer.”) We’ll play for a couple of hours in David’s garage, trying out new songs and working out what we’re going to do at our next live show.

6 p.m.: Guerilla promotion

Right now, David [Wain] and I are trying to figure out different promotional things we can do for our movie, “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” so maybe we’d do some more of that. It’s a really funny movie and we sold it at Sundance.

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Anyway, two Sundays ago we walked around with our friend Frank Barrera, who is also one of the camera operators on “Gail Daughtry.” We went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and we shot promos for the movie where we were talking to different people and pretending that the Gail Daughtry cinematic universe is vast and has been around for decades, like we were asking people what their favorite Gail Daughtry movie is. It confused a lot of them, but every once in a while somebody would say something so we’re using those for promo spots.

I also spent some time just running up and down the street being very overly enthusiastic and screaming “the new Gail Daughtry movie is coming out!” and then we shot people’s reactions, which were typically “confusion” and “not caring.” Like, “Stop yelling at me, weirdo.”

7:30 p.m.: Thai takeout

On weekends, my wife and I like to order from a specific Thai place that’s won many awards. It’s called Luv 2 Eat Thai Bistro and it’s absolutely fantastic. The crab curry is so delicious and they do these street food sausages that we crave. They come with ginger and peanuts and garlic, plus a big slab of raw cabbage and some hot peppers and we’ll eat them like popcorn, just throwing them in our mouths while we catch up on “Survivor.” The flavor is just insane, and we think about how good they are all the time.

9:30 p.m.: Checkmate

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After we watch “Survivor,” usually what happens next is that we’ll end up going, “Should we watch a movie?” Then we’ll look around for a movie for a while and then my daughter will be like, “Hey, Mom! Come in here and watch this YouTube show with me” so my wife will get pulled away, and I’ll immediately pick up my computer and start playing chess again. I like to bookend my day with a quiet chess game in the morning and another quiet game at night. It’s a nice way to wind down.

I’ll typically play a minimum of about three games before my eyes start to close because they’re trying to fall asleep. That’s when I’ll quit because I’ll be making stupid moves and it affects my rating, like “Oh, I just lost that game because I fell asleep while my computer was on,” so that’s how I know when I’m done.

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Nearly half of Americans surveyed don’t know what America 250 commemorates

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Nearly half of Americans surveyed don’t know what America 250 commemorates

People visit the Liberty Bell on the eve of Independence Day in Philadelphia on July 3, 2025. The crack in this symbol of U.S. freedom echoes the paradox between national pride and civic ignorance revealed in a new national poll.

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Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images

A new national poll reveals a striking paradox in public sentiment ahead of America’s 250th anniversary: a disconnect between Americans’ strong patriotic pride and their lack of civic knowledge.

According to a survey from the libertarian Cato Institute think tank of more than 2,000 U.S. adults conducted in late June, 86% of respondents said they are grateful to be American and 70% believe the nation’s founding principles remain relevant.

However, nearly half of Americans (46%) don’t know that America’s 250th anniversary commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

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This civic ignorance extends to basic governance: Nearly 60% do not know the main purpose of the U.S. Constitution is to limit government power, and do not know why the colonies declared independence from Great Britain.

Furthermore, the report highlights deep anxieties about the future of American liberty.

The majority of those surveyed believe the country has strayed from its founding principles, and more than half fear the U.S. could cease to be a free country within the next 50 years, citing corruption and the abuse of power as primary threats. The majority of both Republicans and Democrats share these fears.

The concerns are especially pronounced among Gen Z respondents, who exhibited both the lowest levels of civic knowledge and the least favorable views of the nation’s founders. The majority of Gen Z failed to cite the adoption of the Declaration of Independence as the source of the 250th anniversary.

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“The lack of civic knowledge is a great disaster,” said Coe Professor of History and American Studies and Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Stanford University Jack Rakove. “Any democratic system of government to succeed requires having an informed electorate.”

The Pulitzer Prize-winning authority on the drafting of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence blamed the problem on the fragmented media landscape and schools prioritizing STEM subjects over civics and history.

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