A New York moment:

Last year I wrote a profile of a Jewish philanthropist here in Manhattan who gives millions of dollars to Christian mission hospitals in Africa. Mark Gerson considers these mission hospitals to be doing high-quality healthcare for a bargain price, so he believes he’s making a smart philanthropic investment and having a massive impact on African health in the process. 

We all have our favorites. Whether we’re talking about restaurants, college football teams, preachers, vacation resort sites, math teachers, novels, hospitals, or classical music composers, it’s just human nature—when someone mentions a particular category—for the rest of us to respond by naming our top choices, preferences, or loyalties.

On a 100-degree summer afternoon, several giggly middle-school girls in New Taipei City, Taiwan, attempted to mount blue and yellow unicycles, gripping a metal pole in their school’s basketball court with one hand and their friends with the other. Repeatedly, the one-wheeler slipped out from beneath each girl as she lost balance and tried again.