Sarah Leeson

Latest Stories (160)

A shift toward townhouses could address some of America's housing woes

Nov 12, 2024
Medium-density housing is cheaper than traditional homes and might be a better fit for today's American family, says columnist Heather Long.
High-rise apartment buildings are largely not being built in the U.S. Instead, townhouses, like the ones above, are having a moment.
Benjamin C Tankersley/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Funding for climate tech startups is waning. Much of it's moving to AI.

Nov 11, 2024
Investing in AI has been an easy pitch this year, while the capital-intensive nature of green energy startups has put off some funders.
Funding for startups focused on climate change has suffered a chill, partly because of the costs of building out solutions.
Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images

A singing career in opera burnt her out, but compassion fueled a new passion

Oct 29, 2024
Keriann Otaño felt isolation and economic insecurity as a singer, but an opera house official did her a good turn.
Fifteen years into Kerriann Otaño's opera career, her passion changed to working for artists behind the scenes.
Courtesy Meghan Newberry Photography

Storybook-style houses evoke "nostalgia, whimsy" says Dallas designer

Oct 21, 2024
"It would be definitely a bucket list of mine to get to visit all of them in my lifetime," said Annilee Waterman, a residential designer in Dallas.
Marie Antoinette's cottage on the grounds of Versailles is considered the first storybook-style home.
Chesnot/Getty Images

These independent grocers are also struggling with high food prices

Oct 17, 2024
In the five years that Sam Newell and her husband have run Fruit Fair in Chicopee, Massachusetts, they haven't had a profitable year.
Sam Newell and her husband bought Fruit Fair grocery store in Chicopee, Massachusetts, in 2019.
Courtesy Sam Newell

The demand for resale is huge. Why are online secondhand clothing platforms struggling?

Oct 17, 2024
For clothing resale sites like Poshmark, ThreadUp or Depop, "it's really hard to overcome the math not working," says Amanda Mull of Bloomberg.
U.S. shoppers, especially those under 40, have an appetite for vintage and used clothing, yet online selling platforms haven't found a way to turn consistent profits.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Chicago Fed president explains “the hardest thing that a central bank has to do”

Oct 10, 2024
Austan Goolsbee talks about the Fed's timing in moments of transition, if COVID is still affecting the economy, and why he's a "data dog."
"I'm in the data dogs. And the thing about the data dogs [is that they] don't respond to one month," says Austan Goolsbee about the importance of taking the long view before making decisions.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In a time of uncertainty, this businessman says sales of his trailers have slowed down

Oct 9, 2024
Mike Woglom of Cargo Trailer Sales in Pennsylvania sells equipment that's widely needed but often unnoticed.
Trailers like those Mike Woglom sells play an underappreciated role in the U.S. economy.
Marianne Todd/Getty Images

Musician Dessa on balancing the needs of body, art and business

Oct 8, 2024
The singer, songwriter and author discusses creativity and the "double bottom line" that rewards artists but makes them vulnerable.
Dessa in performance. "There is a constant tension that becomes more pronounced the longer you stay in the game," she said. "Like, what’s good for the art versus what’s good for the artist."
Al Pereira/Getty Images

Sweetish candy shop got an unexpected boost from a viral TikTok post

Oct 1, 2024
Tyler Graybeal, owner of a Swedish-style store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, says keeping up with demand was difficult at first.
Attention from a viral TikTok video meant Sweetish orders went from tens a day to thousands.
Nicolas Maeterlinck/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images