• My identical twin sons have done everything together for 19 years.
• They’d never spent more than a night apart until Thomas left for Europe.
• Six weeks of silence might be the healthiest thing that’s happened.

My identical twin sons are 19 and have done everything together their whole lives. Same schools, same sports teams, same friends, same produce department at the grocery store. Until last month, they’d never spent more than a night or two apart.

Then Thomas got accepted for a two-week college placement in Italy, and his best friend Brad landed the same one. They decided to tack on another four weeks and travel Europe together. Charlie stayed home.

I helped Thomas plan his trip, giving him recommendations for cities to visit, tips on getting around, and more unsolicited advice than any 19-year-old wants from his dad. I probably talked about the trip more than he did.

Thomas sent Charlie 1 text in 6 weeks

I texted Thomas most days about his trip, and he replied to about a third of my questions, usually two or three days later. His updates were minimal. “Munich. Walked around, saw lots of stuff.” “Prague. Cool. Walked around. Cheap beer.” My wife said I should’ve known better than to expect detailed updates from a 19-year-old travelling Europe with his friend.

I expected the brothers would at least stay in touch, but Charlie heard from Thomas even less than I did. Only once.

Early one morning, our time, Thomas texted asking Charlie to log into his sports betting account and place some bets for him. Charlie was getting ready for work and said no. That was their entire communication for the trip.

Charlie didn’t want to see a single photo

Thomas sent me photos from across Europe, and I’d be happy to show them to Charlie. Every time he’d say he wasn’t interested, and if I tried to show him, he wouldn’t look up from his phone.

With Thomas and Brad away, I half expected Charlie to feel the gap. His twin and their best mate were backpacking across Europe without him. But if Charlie felt anything, he didn’t show it. He picked up their shifts at the grocery store, hit the beach, saw his girlfriend, and went out with mates.

You wouldn’t have known anything was different. He never once asked about his brother’s trip.

But then Charlie checked a score he’d normally never care about

People have called them “Charlieandthomas” their whole lives, one word, like they’re a single person. So when they went six weeks barely exchanging a word, I found it strange.

But then, at dinner one night, I mentioned that Thomas had attended an Ajax match in Amsterdam the previous night. It finished 4-1. Charlie said he already knew. He’d checked the score as soon as he woke up that morning.

Charlie follows some soccer, but he wouldn’t normally care about an Ajax game. The only reason he’d check the result was to see if his brother saw an interesting match. He was keeping tabs, in his own way.

I’d worried about the silence at first. But the Ajax score changed the way I saw their six weeks apart. When you’ve shared every day of your life with someone, you don’t need to check in to prove you still care.

Thomas came home, and Charlie barely looked up

The night before Thomas landed, I asked Charlie if he was glad his brother was coming back. He shrugged and said not really. When I asked whether he thought Thomas might bring him a gift, “0%” was his response.

My wife and I were at the door when Thomas walked in, pulling him in for hugs and firing questions about the trip. Charlie was on the couch and didn’t get up.

After a while, Thomas reached into his bag and started pulling out gifts. Something for me, a few things for my wife, and then a cap for Charlie from Wolfsburg, his favourite European soccer team. Charlie tried to play it cool, but I could see the excitement on his face.

Six weeks of silence, one rejected betting text, zero interest in any photos, and yet Thomas knew exactly what gift to buy.

They were back at work together in the produce department the next day.

• In the 1920s, some women’s lives changed radically due to the introduction of new rights and jobs.
• The 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920, and some women voted in the November 1920 election.
• Societal changes were reflected in fashion, which incorporated shorter, looser skirts and dresses.

The 1920s brought huge changes for women. During World War I, they proved they could handle the jobs left by men who’d gone to war; the right to vote helped solidify some women’s new position in society; and the fashion pendulum swung away from constricting corsets and bustles toward shorter, looser dresses and skirts.

However, despite this period of immense change, American beliefs surrounding race remained firmly rooted in the past. Black, Asian, Latina, and Indigenous women were still subjected to overt racism, violence, and prejudicial lawmaking that hindered — and even barred — their access to the rights and privileges afforded to many white women.

Before the Great Depression hit, it was also a time of great prosperity, but only for a select few: In 1928, the highest 1% of families earned almost a quarter of all pretax income, the Pew Research Center reported. Thus, the Roaring Twenties were marked by the juxtaposition of the glitz and glamour of Gatsby’s New York City and the harsh realities often overlooked throughout history.

In honor of Women’s History Month, here are 65 photos that offer a glimpse at what life was like for women in the 1920s.

The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, was passed more than 100 years ago, although it would be many decades before all women could vote.

The women’s rights movement reached a national scale after the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, in which leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott spoke on the need for women’s suffrage.

When the 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920, it largely benefited white women.

Voter intimidation and discriminatory policies kept many Black women from the polls. The government also often denied Native American and Asian-American women citizenship, so they were also unable to vote. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and voting rights amendments in 1975 that some Black women and other women of color were finally able to cast their ballots.

The 19th Amendment’s passage was the result of nearly 100 years of protests.

Women protested for their right to vote for nearly a century before the amendment was finally passed in 1920.

Those who protested faced arrest, jail time, and harassment in their efforts to secure women’s rights.

These were some of the first women to cast their ballots, just a few months after it became legal in 1920.

In 1920 election, women were faced with a choice of either Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge on the Republican ticket or James Cox and Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the Democratic ticket. Harding won by a landslide and became president in 1921.

Women in London also protested for their right to vote.

Women’s suffrage in Great Britain was put into law differently than in the United States, The Independent reported. The country saw two stages of granting women the right to vote: the 1918 declaration of suffrage for women, and then the declaration of full suffrage for women in 1928.

The 1918 declaration was highly exclusionary, only allowing women over the age of 30 who were married to members of their local government register.

It was only in 1928 that women were granted equal voting rights to men, allowing women over the age of 21 to cast a ballot.

More women began pursuing a college education.

The BBC reported that there were about 50,000 women with college degrees in the US in 1930, three times the number in 1920.

Women both supported and protested Prohibition 100 years ago.

Though the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was behind the movement that sparked Prohibition, there were also women against the alcohol ban.

Female bootleggers were often far more successful than men at the time, reported “Whiskey Women” author Fred Minnick, because it was illegal for male officers to search women.

In addition to being excellent bootleggers, some women enjoyed drinking, too.

Prohibition lasted nationwide from 1920 to 1933, but that didn’t stop these ladies from enjoying a drink in 1925.

Here, a woman demonstrates how to use a Prohibition-era book that was made to conceal a liquor flask.

In addition to using devices like this, women would hide bottles of liquor in their socks or under their jackets to smuggle alcohol.

Women had been working members of society for years.

Georgia Ann Hill Robinson was the first Black female police officer appointed to the Los Angeles Police Department, and possibly the country, in 1916. She worked for the LAPD for 12 years, and fought against segregation and for women’s welfare.

Many women took jobs as switchboard operators, answering telephones and connecting calls.

Before the job became popular for women, teenage boys worked as the first switchboard operators, History.com reported. However, they reportedly proved to be too rude and unruly, and bosses brought in women instead, believing them to be naturally more polite and soft-spoken.

Other women worked in manufacturing jobs, like at this tennis-ball factory.

World War I saw the first time that factory jobs, previously viewed as male positions, were taken over by women in the US.

This woman also worked in manufacturing, at a milk bottling plant.

Women began doing all sorts of jobs in the 1920s, per CCSU. They ran drill presses, welded, operated cranes, used screw machines, and performed many other jobs that required heavy machinery.

Factory work was often long and tedious, requiring workers to do the same task all day, every day.

These women spent their days weighing and packing candies in York, England.

Life on the farm was difficult for women, too.

In the 1920s, farms still didn’t have electricity, plumbing, or heating and cooling, PBS reported. Despite the hardship, families in the Midwest focused on growing fruits and vegetables, while also producing eggs and meat.

This young woman in 1925 was operating a plow.

Farmers across the US struggled to make a profit throughout the 1920s due to overproduction and the resulting price decline. With farmers unable to pay their debts, “between 1920 and 1932, one in four farms was sold to meet financial obligations,” the Library of Congress reported.

Though slavery was abolished in 1865, Black women were still not afforded many of the same opportunities as white women.

As pictured above, many Black women in the South picked cotton to make ends meet.

A study indicated that two in three Black women from Black landowning families were involved in cotton farming in the 1920s.

The 1920s were a part of the segregation era in the South, in which Black women faced discrimination at work.

Black women were often barred from working in the same jobs as white women, like these construction workers pictured above.

Segregation, both de jure and de facto, continued to exist into the 1960s, and we can still see its legacies today.

These women worked in a lumber yard in Louisiana.

The Louisiana lumber boom lasted from about 1880 to 1925, resulting in 4.3 million acres of trees being cut down, the Louisiana Forestry Association reported.

Other working women included the Black Cross Nurses, established in 1920 and modeled after the Red Cross.

Henrietta Vinton Davis established the Black Cross Nurses in 1920 as a part of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. They offered health services and hygiene education to Black members of the community.

At the time, hardly any nursing programs would admit people of African descent and many health facilities provided unequal care to Black patrons, an issue that persists today, especially in maternal health care. The Black Cross Nurses became key figures for civil rights.

Black women also faced racist acts of violence, like during the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921.

In early 1921, the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was home to an affluent Black community that ran newspapers, churches, and scores of businesses and was known as the “Black Wall Street.” By June 1, it would largely be burned to the ground in “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history,” per the Oklahoma Historical Society.

Although the exact details remain lost to history, it’s believed that on May 30, 1921, a Black man stepped on the foot of a white woman when he entered the elevator of the Drexel Building. She screamed, and the town quickly exaggerated their tellings of the incident, leading to an attempted lynching of the man that night.

An altercation at the courthouse led the unsuccessful, angry members of the white mob to riot and attack Black people and their businesses. The Tulsa Historical Society and Museum reported that 35 city blocks were burned down in the attacks, possibly killing as many as 300 people and injuring more than 800.

In Japan, women were also working in factories. Here, they’re seen protesting unfair working conditions.

In 1918 and 1919, there was a surge in protests at textile mills in Japan, where women demanded shorter working hours and wage increases. They were receiving far less money than their male counterparts and doing important work, such as constructing war uniforms, for which there was huge demand at the time.

Women were active in trade union organizations.

Organizations like the National Women’s Trade Union League of America saw working-class women band together to advocate for labor reform. Notable figures took part, including Eleanor Roosevelt, who joined the New York branch in 1922.

Figures like Jane Addams were noted social workers and community leaders.

In addition to her work in women’s suffrage and peace advocacy, Jane Addams founded the Hull House settlement house in Chicago in 1889. The settlement house was an invaluable community center in the neighborhood and provided classes and services to working-class residents of Chicago, per the Jane Addams Papers Project.

Settlement houses like Hull House existed across the United States in the 1920s, often run by women, such as Lillian Wald, who founded the Henry Street Settlement in New York City.

Some women became leading figures in the peace movement.

Addams and others were also major figures in the peace movement. They advocated for international cooperation through organizations like the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

The organization still exists today and holds an office at the United Nations in New York City.

Women were also elected to federal government positions.

After Jeanette Rankin became the first female member of the House of Representatives in 1917, other women soon followed. Alice Mary Robertson, elected in 1920, was the second woman elected to the House.

Robertson was a conservative Republican from Oklahoma who opposed feminist groups, per the Oklahoma Historical Society. She lost reelection in 1922.

After Robertson, 10 other women would serve in the House during the 1920s.

The birth control movement made strides.

Birth control advocates like Margaret Sanger saw increasing support in the 1920s. As the decade progressed, the birth control movement became less of a taboo cause.

In 1921, Sanger founded the American Birth Control League, and in 1929, she formed the National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control, aimed at lobbying Congress, according to the National Women’s History Museum.

Women began to take cooking positions outside the home.

Though women were perceived as cooks, the role was relegated to the home, rather than a restaurant. However, the 1920s began to see women studying to be professional chefs.

Many women worked as homemakers. Their lives were slowly made easier by new technologies, like the dishwasher.

Though the first practical dishwasher was invented in 1886 by Josephine Cochrane, The Independent reported, they did not become popular in homes until the 1920s.

The introduction of permanent plumbing in homes made machines like dishwashers possible, though they were expensive and only found in the homes of wealthy families.

Driving afforded women a freedom and mobility they hadn’t before experienced.

In 1909, 22-year-old Alice Ramsey (not pictured) became the first woman to drive across the continental United States, in part to prove that women were capable behind the wheel, the Smithsonian reported.

Women 100 years ago also knew how to have fun.

These women are seen cooling down on a block of ice on a hot summer day. Bikinis were not yet popularized, so these outfits were likely the most skin women in the 1920s would be seen showing.

Dancing was a popular pastime for adults and children alike.

The 1920s was the first decade to see free and unbridled movement on many dance floors. Dances called the Charleston, the Black Bottom, and the shimmy were all highly popular.

Women who went dancing at late-night parties were referred to as “good time girls.”

One of the most famous women 100 years ago was Josephine Baker, who was known for her singing and dancing.

The National Women’s History Museum reported that Baker first became known in the US for her Vaudeville shows, but she really became a star when she moved to Paris. Baker’s shows became famous for her African-inspired dance moves, her singing, and her elaborate costumes.

She was a key figure in the French Resistance during World War II as well as an activist for civil rights in the US. Although she died in 1975, Baker became the first Black woman to be buried in France’s Panthéon, the country’s highest honor, in 2021.

Actress Mary Pickford led the silent-film era.

The Oscars described Pickford as the definition of a “movie star,” known best for her work throughout the silent film era with movies like “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” “Stella Maris,” “My Best Girl,” and “Sparrows.”

She was a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and in 1930 was the recipient of the second Oscar for best actress.

Clara Bow was nicknamed “The It Girl.”

She starred in the first best picture winner, “Wings,” alongside Charles Rogers and Richard Arlen, and was widely known as a popular movie star throughout the decade.

You may also recognize her name from Taylor Swift’s 2024 album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which had a song titled “Clara Bow.”

Tennis was a popular sport for women.

Wimbledon opened its famous courts to women in 1884. Here, American Helen Wills competed against Brit Kitty McKane in the 1924 Ladies’ Singles Final.

Sporting outfits were definitely different from what we know today.

Though modest by today’s standards, French tennis star Suzanne Lenglen, right, was known for her provocative style on display above.

The International Tennis Hall of Fame reported that Lenglen was first female player to forgo bulky undergarments and was known for wearing tops that displayed her bare arms and silk dresses that were trimmed above her calf. Coupled with painted nails, red lipstick, bobbed hair, a tendency to drink alcohol between sets, and a winning record, Lenglen was “a rare and fascinating champion.”

Swimsuits were different, too, as seen on these women in the 1924 Miss Coney Island pageant.

The first swimsuits were actually made of wool, as other materials like nylon and elastane weren’t yet invented.

Not only were their swimsuits different, so were views on tanning.

It wasn’t until the 1920s that tanning became popular. The Guardian reported that fashion designer Coco Chanel “may have inadvertently” created the trend with a photo showing her stepping off a cruise ship in Cannes after too much sun. The image was in every paper and created a new standard of beauty.

Exercise was often a group event.

Stretching, rather than vigorous exercise, was viewed as the ideal method for women’s bodies and health, Byrdie reported.

Stationary bikes and rowing machines were also invented in the 1920s, along with the Vibro-Slim, a machine with a vibrating belt that was meant to reduce belly fat.

They also participated in exercise fads.

Before the mechanical bull became a fun attraction at a bar, it was invented to train rodeo competitors. In the 1920s, it became a popular exercise fad after women realized it could help tone their abs and strengthen their core.

They also used very simple rowing machines to work out.

Here, movie star Helen Chadwick used the rowing machine to stay fit.

Baseball was a popular sport for men and women. Pictured is Barnard College’s baseball team practicing in 1925.

With New York Yankees stars like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, it’s no surprise the sport attracted attention from both men and women in the city.

Women would go on to make their mark in baseball in the following decades, with 60 playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during World War II, the National Baseball Hall of Fame reported.

American women were allowed to compete in swimming at the Olympics for the first time in 1920.

Women’s swimming was the first aerobic sport accepted by the International Olympic Committee, according to USA Swimming, and was first introduced at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.

American women did not take part until 1920 because of a rule that required competitors to be covered in clothing from head to toe, which made competing challenging. These rules loosened by 1920.

Pictured are US Olympic swimmers Aileen Riggin, Gertrude Ederle, and Helen Wainwright.

Ethelda Bleibtrey won three gold medals at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.

Bleibtrey won all three women’s swimming races, including the 100-meter freestyle, 4×100-meter relay, and the 300-meter freestyle, per the Olympics.

Just one year prior, she had been arrested at Manhattan Beach for taking off her stockings before swimming, an act considered “nudity.” However, outrage from her arrest sparked a change in “acceptable” swimwear — women no longer had to wear stockings — and Bleibtrey was not penalized.

Women also formed their own athletic competitions.

When certain women’s track-and-field events weren’t included in the Olympic Games, some women organized another competition in response. Founded by Alice Milliat, the inaugural World Women’s Games was held in 1922.

The competition lasted until 1934, per Athletics Podium.

The Harlem Renaissance was a major period for Black literature, art, and music. Poet and critic Jessie R. Fauset was a key figure.

After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in classical languages in 1905, Fauset spent time as a teacher before turning to writing in 1912.

Poets.org reported that she wrote poems, essays, and reviews for the NAACP’s magazine, The Crisis, for seven years before becoming literary editor.

During the 1920s, Fauset introduced the world to legendary writers like Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Anne Spencer while also publishing her own novels “There Is Confusion” and “Plum Bum.”

Jazz music was popularized during the 1920s.

Lil Hardin Armstrong (pictured above) was just one of many women who would influence jazz music from the 1920s on.

The New York Times reported that Hardin helped her future husband Louis Armstrong become band leader of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band; she also served as his first manager and was a pianist and frequent co-composer.

“Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith was a popular blues and jazz singer during the Harlem Renaissance.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture reported that Smith was mentored by “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey, who taught her how to navigate the music industry and capture an audience’s attention. Smith signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1923, releasing “Down-hearted Blues,” a major hit.

Smith became the highest-paid Black entertainer of the time and she recorded with iconic jazz musicians like Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong.

The Great Depression caused Smith’s career to be cut short, and she later died from injuries sustained in a car accident in 1937.

Ethel Waters was another popular entertainer.

When the singer entered a recording contract with Black Swan Records, she became the highest-paid Black recording artist of the day, per the National Museum of African American History & Culture.

After securing hits like “Dinah” in the 1920s, she would go on to have an accomplished acting career in television and on Broadway.

Beauty standards can be seen through women’s popular fashion at the time.

1920s female fashion was characterized by loose fabrics, lots of fringe, and glamorous jewelry and details. Hair cut short into a bob was also popular, as seen in the woman above.

Among the wealthy, large-brimmed hats with fringe and long pearl necklaces were popular accessories.

Long, straight skirts with low waists were the dominant style.

The loose skirts and dresses were very different from the constricting clothes of the previous decades, and were far more movable and comfortable.

Flappers and showgirls show another facet of 1920s female beauty.

Art Deco style and Gatsby-esque outfits were also popular for 1920s women. Showgirls and Vaudeville performers would dress up in decadent velvet and satin dresses, with pearl and gem details throughout.

Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, was a popular flapper.

Zelda was a major influence on Scott’s writing, with the couple drawing public attention throughout the 1920s. A writer and painter, too, Zelda’s first and only novel, “Save Me the Waltz,” was released in 1932.

Unfortunately, her life was largely cut short after she was diagnosed with schizophrenia (now understood as bipolar disorder) and committed to sanatoriums. She died at age 47.

Fur coats and soft, form-fitting hats were also in style.

Though they were popularized 100 years ago, there are plenty of vintage outfits like these that are still trendy today.

Even the first lady of the United States was with the times.

First lady Grace Goodhue Coolidge was far from the traditional, conservative first ladies of the century before. Like many progressive women of the decade, she bobbed her hair, drove a car, and wore colorful, fashionable clothing, per Time Magazine.

But women also got dressed up for fun, as seen through these women and their Halloween costumes.

1920s Halloween costumes were more about inspiring fear than dressing up as celebrities and TV characters. Clowns, ghosts, and witches were all highly popular costume choices back then.

Elizabeth Arden’s products became a key part of 1920s beauty standards.

Elizabeth Arden helped popularize makeup — once believed to be exclusively for movie stars —for the masses in the early 1920s. Arden started a marketing campaign that helped create the idea that wearing makeup was “appropriate and even proper,” per the Library of Congress.

By 1925, Arden had salons open around the world in cities like New York, Paris, and London.

Dark-red lips with an exaggerated cupid’s bow was a popular beauty trend of the time.

Beauty companies even made stencils, like the one above, to help women achieve the perfect Cupid’s Bow.

Nail polish became popular, too.

Though the first nail salon in the US was opened in the late 1870s, nail polish began to really take off in the 1920s, Byrdie reported, thanks to the work of brands like Cutex and what would later become known as Revlon.

Wedding dresses from the 1920s were inspired by the modern, shorter style.

Wedding dresses followed the 1920s style: They were short, like the flapper dresses, with form-fitting bucket hats.

These brides and grooms gathered to get married on Christmas Day, which used to be a tradition.

It used to be popular to have weddings on Christmas Day in Britain, as churches would hold nuptials for brides and grooms every year. It was often the only time that working class couples could get married, as they’d have Christmas and Boxing Day off.

Some queer women openly expressed their sexual orientation.

Some 40 to 50 years before the Stonewall Riots marked a turning point in LGBTQ rights — and decades before same-sex relations were decriminalized in the US — some queer women expressed themselves in the roaring 20s.

Per History.com, New York City’s masquerade and civil balls, or drag balls, flourished with LGBTQ audiences and performers. Lesbian enclaves also formed in neighborhoods like Harlem and the Village.

There were also references to same-sex relationships in music released throughout the decade, including records by Black female blues singers, such as Ma Rainey.

Another key part of American society was the impact of immigration. Shown below are Japanese “picture brides” who immigrated to the US in 1920 to marry American men.

The 1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement limited immigration from Japan to the US, but it had an exception that Japanese wives of current American residents could enter the country. This exception started a system where men would choose Japanese wives based on their pictures alone.

These “picture brides” immigrated between 1907 and 1924, and faced many hardships. Many of their husbands were older and poorer than the women anticipated, and the wives faced spousal abuse in addition to societal racism fueled by anti-Asian sentiments, Women & the American Story reported.

The 1924 Immigration Act ended the practice, as it barred any immigrant “who by virtue of race or nationality was ineligible for citizenship,” per the US State Department. People of Asian descent were denied full citizenship based on laws dating from 1790 and 1870.

Immigration policies of the 1920s heavily favored migrants from northern Europe.

In 2015, the Pew Research Center reported that in the 1920s, the US government enacted quotas reducing the number of immigrants granted entry. The first quota on immigration was passed in 1921 and allowed only 350,000 total immigrants; this was decreased to 165,000 in 1924. Nationality quotas were also imposed on Europeans.

The quotas were largely fueled by xenophobic fears toward Southern and Eastern European migrants, who’d come to the US during the second wave of migration from 1890 to 1919.

Meanwhile, immigration from most countries in Asia was already prohibited.

Prior to the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act, passed in 1965, 70% of the quota visas available belonged to residents of Ireland, Germany, and the UK, the Pew Research Center reported.

Indigenous women throughout the US were subject to racist violence and prejudicial laws.

Women of the Osage Nation were among those targeted and killed by William K. Hale and his accomplices in the early 1920s.

The Osage Nation reported that Hale and his associates are believed to be connected to more than 20 killings, though there were more than 60 murders total from 1920 to 1925. The killings were motivated by Hale’s desire to inherit money held by the Osage people from the oil boom.

The tragedy was the subject of Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated film “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

• CA Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement with the El Monte Union High School District.
• The settlement involves a corrective plan for the district over its handling of sexual misconduct cases.
• One of the district’s schools was the focus of a 2023 investigation by Business Insider.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that his office reached a settlement with the El Monte Union High School District.

The settlement follows what Bonta described as years of “mishandling” sexual harassment, assault, and abuse complaints from students.

In 2023, Business Insider published an extensive investigation into allegations of misconduct at Rosemead High, a school in the district.

The state opened an investigation into the district in 2024. It examined conduct from 2018 through fall 2025 and reviewed more than 88,000 documents and nearly 200,000 emails. Investigators also interviewed 26 administrators, along with staff, former students, and other witnesses.

Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles County, Bonta said that, under the settlement, the California Department of Justice and the school district will implement a four-year corrective plan that would permanently enjoin the district from violating state and federal laws governing sexual misconduct in schools.

The El Monte Union High School District serves roughly 9,500 students across eight campuses.

“Every child deserves to learn and grow in a safe and supportive school environment,” the attorney general said in a statement on Friday. “Today’s settlement marks a beginning, not an end.”

“I am hopeful that the District will move swiftly to implement the reforms required by this settlement, and my office will be monitoring closely to ensure its compliance,” Bonta added.

As part of the settlement, the district must appoint a state DOJ-approved compliance coordinator, roll out a centralized electronic complaint system, and expand access to education and mental health services for those who report misconduct. Officials will also be required to maintain a list of substitute teachers barred from reappointment following sustained findings of sexual harassment.

“At El Monte Union High School District, student safety and well-being remain our highest priorities,” El Monte Union High School Superintendent Edward Zuniga said in a statement included in Bonta’s press release.

“This agreement reflects our continued commitment to strengthening systems that support safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environments. Through enhanced protocols, increased transparency, and expanded training for staff, students, and families, we are reinforcing our responsibility to protect every student and ensure they feel supported, valued, and ready to learn.”

• Taylor Frankie Paul’s “Bachelorette” season was canceled amid an investigation into an alleged domestic violence incident.
• Paul’s historic casting had promised to breathe new life into the decades-old franchise.
• ABC pulling the plug on the season underscores the “Bachelor” franchise’s inflexibility.

Taylor Frankie Paul’s “Bachelorette” season was shaping up to be the Most Dramatic Season Ever. Now, it will go down in history as the Most Dramatic Season to Never Exist.

In September, the decision to cast 31-year-old Paul, a TikToker and the star of Hulu’s hit reality series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” as the next Bachelorette was framed as a groundbreaking change of pace for the famously risk-averse juggernaut. The long-running franchise’s ratings have been in steady decline since the late 2010s, so things were finally dire enough to cast their first lead from outside the franchise. Enter Paul, a messy single mom whose exploits on “Mormon Wives” had already buoyed ABC’s Disney-owned sister network to record-breaking ratings.

It was a surprisingly big swing for the network that was praised for promising to breathe new life into the franchise. But when you swing that big, you have to be ready to whiff spectacularly.

That’s what happened on Wednesday, when the network made the decision to pull the plug on Paul’s season of “The Bachelorette” amid a police investigation into a February incident of alleged domestic violence between Paul and her ex, Dakota Mortensen, and the leak of a disturbing video from Paul’s previously reported altercation with Mortensen in 2023.

Never mind the gauntlets of already-completed press, the estimated $8.2 million in TV promos, or the fact that the season had already wrapped filming and was set to premiere in three days’ time. The dream was over for Paul.

Perhaps it’s time the dream of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” is, too.

Casting Taylor Frankie Paul was always going to be risky

Chaos has always been Paul’s brand. Before Paul was poised to be the star of not one but two television shows, she was the self-destructive and eminently watchable leader of MomTok, a loose collection of Mormon moms who make TikToks together in Utah. Though the women gained followings for their perfect barrel curls and silly dancing videos, it was a bombshell 2022 video of Paul admitting to “soft swinging” with other members of MomTok and their husbands that catapulted her and her circle of friends to infamy — and got them a Hulu reality show.

Hulu learned early in filming “Mormon Wives” that the very qualities that made Paul a compelling reality-television character would also make her a liability. In 2023, the show paused production when Paul was arrested after an altercation with Mortensen and was charged with aggravated assault, child abuse, and domestic violence in the presence of a child. She pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault charge — a third-degree felony — in exchange for the other charges being dropped, and entered a plea of abeyance for 36 months, after which time the charge would be lessened to a misdemeanor if she abided by the terms of her probation.

“Mormon Wives” chronicles this incident in its very first episode, airing police bodycam footage of a distraught Paul being arrested at her home in Utah. The next episode picks up a year later, with Paul pregnant with Mortensen’s child and the couple back together. (Their child, Ever True, was born in March 2024.)

Throughout the show’s four seasons, Paul has emerged as one of the most compelling, frustrating, and mesmerizing characters on reality television. She takes the arrest and subsequent therapy and treatment hard, sobbing onscreen in moments that feel too private to be broadcast to the world. She repeatedly admits to being at fault in the 2023 incident in interviews and on “Mormon Wives.”

She prostrates herself so deeply at the altar of accountability that she can only counterbalance it by doing something so self-destructive — posting shady TikToks about her friends, sleeping with Mortensen the night before leaving to film “The Bachelorette” — that she’s forced to repeat the cycle anew.

That’s all to say that ABC should have seen this coming. The fact that they didn’t or couldn’t course-correct in time underscores the Bachelor Nation’s Achilles’ heel: inflexibility.

After over 50 seasons of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” combined, plus dozens more spinoffs, the franchise has done precious little to evolve as the pool of reality dating shows has become increasingly crowded. Its efforts to increase racial diversity among the cast have backfired several times, and its format of dates and rose ceremonies has remained almost entirely unchanged over two decades. A change in showrunners and a new aesthetic for the 10th season of the spinoff “Bachelor in Paradise” caused a minor stir, mostly serving as a reminder of just how stale the flagship series has become by comparison.

For all the promo material that boasted Paul’s “Bachelorette” season would “break the mold,” ABC dropped their star the moment her signature brand of chaos — not to mention her previously known 2023 arrest, which acts as part of her origin story on season one of “Mormon Wives” — became a drawback to the network instead of a selling point.

Whatever you think of the leaked video, of Paul and Mortensen’s relationship dynamic, and whether either of them should have a platform or be on reality television while both openly battling issues with addiction and mental health, the fact remains that “The Bachelorette” tried and failed to have it both ways. The most frustrating part is that the franchise may learn the wrong lesson from the fiasco.

‘The Bachelor’ franchise needs to stop pretending its leads are role models

From the moment a gaggle of women stepped out of the limo in the series’ groundbreaking 2002 premiere, “The Bachelor” has been committed to selling the idea of a romantic fairy tale. Red roses are currency toward earning the man or woman of your dreams. Contestants talk about meeting the love of their life, of the engagement they’ve been dreaming of since they were little girls. Overnight dates are still called the “Fantasy Suites.”

While two-plus decades of competitive romance have softened some of the franchise’s buzzwords into meta-commentary on the show itself (who is “here for the right reasons?“), the show’s operating principle still rests on the idea that its lead is the most perfect person worthy of “finding love.”

The concept of casting a complex, deeply flawed woman as a romantic lead was inspired and would no doubt have made for a compelling season of television. But the show chose Paul without considering the shackles it would inherently place on her. Bachelor Nation viewers still expect leads to be unimpeachable role models — Taylor Frankie Paul was a fascinating choice because she got famous precisely because she is not.

Where this leaves “The Bachelorette,” ABC, Paul, Mortensen, and the rest of the “Mormon Wives” cast remains to be seen. Disney Entertainment, Paul, and Mortensen have all released statements that emphasize they will be “focusing on family” amid the news; filming for the fifth season of “Mormon Wives” is currently on pause.

But as the dust settles in Hollywood and Salt Lake City, Paul shouldn’t be the only one doing some repenting. Scrapping the season shouldn’t teach ABC brass that risks aren’t worth taking. It should show them that if they’re going to shake up the franchise, they can’t expect one woman’s unpredictable personality to provide an advertiser-safe earthquake that will do the work of dozens of top producers and executives.

If the franchise is going to stay afloat, it needs to find something new, entertaining, and poignant to say about modern dating and the concept of a happy ending. At one time, Paul’s casting represented a chance to do exactly that. Pulling her season shows the network was more interested in juicing ratings, as long as the outcome wasn’t as messy as its lead. Perhaps it’s time to question if ABC cast her for the wrong reasons.

• Annie Altman’s sexual abuse lawsuit against her brother Sam Altman has been dismissed.
• A judge ruled her claims against the OpenAI CEO were too late, but she could refile.
• He greenlit Sam Altman’s defamation countersuit.

A federal judge has tossed a lawsuit brought by the sister of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman alleging he sexually abused her as a child.

Annie Altman’s allegations were brought too late for her lawsuit to survive, US District Judge Zachary Bluestone ruled Friday.

Bluestone, however, gave Annie Altman’s lawsuit a lifeline by allowing her to refile it using Missouri’s particular Childhood Sexual Abuse law, which offers an extended statute of limitations. He gave her until April 3 to file a new lawsuit.

In the same Friday order, the judge greenlit a countersuit from Sam Altman accusing Annie of defamation and of abusing the legal process.

Annie Altman filed her lawsuit in a federal court in Missouri in January 2025. She alleged that Sam Altman, who is nine years older than her, sexually abused her between 1997 and 2006, beginning when she was three years old, when they were growing up in Clayton, Missouri.

Sam Altman has denied the allegations. In a public statement following the filing of the lawsuit, he, his two younger brothers, and their mother said Annie Altman had “mental health issues.”

Sam Altman’s countersuit said that his sister made up the allegations of sexual abuse — posting them on social media as well as including them in her lawsuit — after their family declined her “demands for unrestricted financial support” in light of her mental health issues.

“One of the only points of agreement in this case is that the claims are disturbing — particularly so if they prove true but nonetheless unfortunate if not,” Bluestone wrote in his Friday ruling.

Ryan Mahoney, an attorney representing Annie Altman, said she plans to file a new lawsuit.

“The Court’s ruling relates to procedural matters, which have no bearing on the substance of Ann Altman’s claims,” Mahoney told Business Insider. “The Court granted leave for Ms. Altman to file an amended complaint, which we will do promptly.”

An attorney for Sam Altman declined to comment for this story.

• Box CEO Aaron Levie said AI token consumption won’t be limited to engineers.
• Levie said AI token usage will only increase among workers who properly use AI.
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he would be upset if an engineer didn’t use equivalent of half of their salary on tokens.

Box CEO Aaron Levie says tech companies won’t be the last to see AI budget balloon.

“This will of course start in engineering, where we already know developers can run multiple agents in parallel, or have projects going over night,” Levie wrote on X. “But this eventually hit the rest of knowledge work as well.”

As examples, Levie cited legal and sales as two areas that could become big token users.

Tokens determine how AI is measured and how its consumption is priced. They are units of text, a word or part of a word — essentially the building blocks of Large Language Models, which power popular chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, or xAI’s Grok. Importantly, tokens are not a flat fee, and AI companies tend to charge more for using the most advanced models and asking more complicated questions.

Levie’s post was in response to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang‘s view that he would be “deeply alarmed” if an engineer being paid $500,000 didn’t use AI tokens equivalent to at least half of that salary.

“That $500,000 engineer at the end of the year, I’m going to ask them how much did you spend in tokens? If that person said $5,000, I will go ape something else,” Huang said during an episode of the “All-In Podcast” published on Thursday.

Levie said, “This underlying concept and trend is going to be very real, because workers who properly leverage AI are only going to consume more of it.

“Their compute budgets are just going to monotonically go up over time,” he wrote.

It won’t just be workers either, Levie said. Agents, which can run during all hours, are likely to be the biggest token consumers.

“These aren’t chatbot workflows answering a simple question, but agents that are running and processing through incredible amounts of data at scale, and generating all new forms of information,” he wrote.

Not everyone will be thrilled with their AI compute budgets. Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya said he had to tell 8090, his startup software company, to stop using Cursor, a popular AI coding tool, after seeing just how much the firm was spending on tokens.

“Our costs have more than tripled since November of 25,” Palihapitiya said a previous episode of the “All-In Podcast.” “Between the inference cost that we pay AWS, which is ginormous, between our cost with Cursor, between Anthropic, we are just spending millions.”

Levie said companies “will have to figure out how they budget for this.”

“It likely won’t be an IT budget item over time, but ultimately owned and allocated by the business,” he wrote. “Maybe the CFO is ultimately the head of AI :-).”