10 OZY Must-Reads to Make You Smarter

From the NFL’s most productive player to a breakdancing youth leader, here’s the best of OZY this week.

This week in money, one hand takes — the Trump family has dodged $500 million in taxes from family gifts, according to a New York Times investigation — and the other hand gives away … well, pays out: Amazon has agreed to a $15 hourly wage for 250,000 regular employees. (Sen. Bernie Sanders is after McDonald’s to follow suit.)

Regardless of what you have, or haven’t, in the bank, there is richness to be found in a good story. And we have 10 of them for you. Relax and settle in with some great reading: our favorite stories on OZY this week.

The problems of an aging prison population are coming to light in an upcoming Supreme Court case.

Vernon Madison has suffered multiple strokes that have left him blind, with dead brain tissue and urinary incontinence, and unable to walk independently or remember the crime that put him on death row three decades ago. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether the state of Alabama can legally kill Madison — who murdered a police officer in 1985 — despite the degenerative medical condition that has robbed him of the ability to understand the circumstances of his execution.

The case tackles questions about evolving standards of decency and the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment when the sentence is death. But it also spotlights an increasingly difficult proposition facing prisons and prosecutors: an inmate population that is rapidly aging and experiencing all of the physical and mental damage of that process, heightened by the intense rigor and stress of incarcerated life.

Experts say a major reason why death row inmates are living longer is that they are getting better representation.

Despite the country’s reputation for fine dining, its most popular fast-food chain’s market share is only rising.

Sharply opinionated waiters, beautifully set tables and long, leisurely meals are the hallmarks of classic French dining, a culinary tradition that’s been the epitome of elegance, at least to Americans, for decades. But America’s food culture — fast, utilitarian, unworried about terroir or provenance — may have had a greater influence on Gallic palates than the other way around.

McDonald’s is a popular tourist drop-in, as exhausted travelers revel in both its Americanness — everything just where you left it — and its slight French touches, like macarons for dessert. But French people love their American fast food too. “Metro, boulot, dodo” goes a popular French phrase describing busy city life: subway, job, sleep. But it’s not uncommon to hear a slightly different version: Metro, boulot, McDo.

Fast food now accounts for an estimated $62.2 billion of France's $102 billion restaurant industry. McDonald's alone takes in $5.5 billion, the highest turnover of any French restaurant group.