Growing Olympiads

Why Romania Excels In Olympiads

Jordan Lasker | Palladium | 29th August 2025

Romanian students perform very well in international intellectual competitions. These are usually dominated by China, the US, India and Japan, but of late Romania — a country with a small population and "unimpressive educational performance" — has top five finishes in many subjects. Why? Because post-WW2 Soviet reforms created "perhaps the most stratified educational system in the world" (2,200 words)

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Growing Up On Alcatraz

Richard Faulk | Gazetteer SF | 22nd August 2025

It wasn't just prisoners who spent years on Alcatraz Island. The writer's grandfather worked there as a prison guard and his family lived there for 20 years, moving over in 1934 when the federal penitentiary opened. His wife cried the first time she saw their new home, but the island soon revealed itself to be an "idyllic small town, floating in the heart of San Francisco Bay" (1,900 words)