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Lots of research shows that doing mental exercises can ward off dementia and the effects of aging, but can it actually make you better at your job? While its hard to imagine the late musical theater virtuoso Stephen Sondheim needing any kind of extra creative stimuli, he in fact had a well-known love of stimulating puzzles and games. And he didnt just play them. The Tony-winning composer behind Broadway hits such as Sweeney Todd, Company, and a heartwarming ditty about presidential assassins also cultivated a side hustle as a designer of cryptic crossword puzzles and a frequent host of game nights and scavenger hunts. Barry Joseph, a game researcher and designer and an adjunct professor at New York University, happened to notice a few years ago that no one had documented Sondheims niche passion in a comprehensive way. So he decided to do it himself. His new book, Matching Minds With Sondheim (Bloomsbury, October 2025), draws from eight decades of Sondheims brain-teasing ventures. It includes a mix of rare and rarely seen game designs, archival research, and interviews with Sondheim contemporaries who played along. [Image: Bloomsbury] Fast Company recently caught up with Joseph to discuss the book, what inspired it, and what he hopes readers will gain from trying to match minds with a musical legend. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. You have a background as a game designer and game researcher. How did you get interested in writing about Stephen Sondheim? Sondheim passed away in November of 2021. That means March, 22, 2022, was his first birthday after he passed away. And my birthday is two days later. For a present, my wife got me three Sondheim-related books . . . recognizing that I and many other Sondheim fans were still in mourning for having lost our musical hero. One was an academic book that was a review of all Sondheim shows, but from the perspective of postmodernism. That book left me thinking how interesting it was to look at Sondheim through one lens. What other lenses might there be? Then I read Stephen Sondheim’s biography from the late 90s by Meryle Secrest, which barely talked about him having anything to do with puzzles and games. Its mentioned here and there, but in the index in the back of the book, there’s nothing for games and nothing for puzzleswhich tells you a lot about how seriously the topic was addressed. And the third book was James Lapines Putting It Togetherthe oral history of Sunday in the Park With George. Lapine had met Stephen Sondheim right after Sondheim had his critical disaster Merrily We Roll Along. For those who don’t know, it was a show that lasted under two weeks and was completely decimated by the critics, putting Sondheim in a very unpleasant state of mindso much so that when he met Mr. Lapine, he was talking about leaving the world of musical theater. Lapine asked him what he was going to do next, and he said, Maybe I’ll go into video game design. That’s not what happened! They ended up working together to do Sunday in the Park With George. Sondheim kept doing musical theater. The rest is history, and they never mentioned it again in the book. Me, as a young person who grew up in the late ’70s, early ’80s, playing my Intellivision, my Atari, my Apple II Plus computer, I read that and wondered about Stephen Sondheim designing video games instead . . . I remember Intellivision being the middle stepchild of video game consoles. Not too many people had Intellivision. I was one of those people. I always liked things being outside the box. . . . In any case, I read that, and that blew my mind. I thought, “What is Sondheim doing talking about games?” And I said, “Is there something here? Is there a topic here? What is the lens on Stephen Sondheim from a game perspective?” Ludology is the study of games. And so I thought, “Can one look at Stephen Sondheim from a ludological lens?” And at the time, I didn’t know if there’d be much of anything. But after just a few weeks of some quick Google searches, what I found was that there were a lot of fascinating, enticing tidbits. He was the founding puzzle editor of New York magazine in 1968. He created a cryptic crossword puzzle once a week. His only Hollywood-produced movie, The Last of Sheila, a murder mystery, involves all sorts of devious puzzles and games. And I kept coming across these other mentions of people talking about going to his house for game nights. And there was an interview in Games magazine in 1983. There’s a bunch of his little tidbits here and there. And then the rest of it I found irresistible. So you find all these breadcrumbs, publicly known facts here and there, and realize there’s no larger body of work that has compiled all this? I learned enough to know that there was something there, and that it wasn’t waiting for someone just to write about. Because if it was, it would’ve been written. Did you find a moment or many moments where his love of creating these puzzles informed his creative work in a really specific way? The last chapter in the book is an analysis of all of his shows, looking at it from a playful language. Where are puzzles and games in the shows? Where are they in the structure of the shows, and where do they show up in the process of creating the shows? And once you start taking this lens at his theatrical work, you see it everywhere. The end of Sunday in the Park With George is a moment where this painting that we’ve been watching constructed on the stage suddenly comes into focus. And it’s one that we know the audience has some prior knowledge ofthey expect to see a certain something. Suddenly, it all happens in that moment when all the pieces all click together. It’s those moments that Sondheim often talked about, where you’re forming order out of chaos. And that’s essentially a jigsaw puzzle being constructed. And I’m now thinking about Merrily We Roll Along, which you mentioned earlier. Its told backwards. That feels like it’s its own puzzle. Think about it from the audience’s perspective, right? When you are watching something in which he effect happens before the cause, you have to hold it in your mind. And when youre looking, its like a Wheres Waldo? What’s going to be the thing that caused that thing to happen? And then when you see it, it connects together. Sondheim didn’t write the book of Merrily, but I always wondered if that somehow influenced it. And so we see it throughout the shows, in the structures of the shows, in the way that games and puzzles are used, and sometimes in the process of how they developed. What if a reader wants to pick up your bookwho is not necessarily super into puzzles or a hardcore puzzle doer? You have the puzzles in the book. Would the casual puzzle person find these kinds of puzzles challenging? Let me answer your question in a roundabout way. . . . When I talk about all of his games and puzzles, I talk about three particular values. The first is the principle of generosity. The second is the principle of playfulness. And the third is the principle of mentorship. Generosity means that I am here to help you have an engaging time. I’m here to make you feel good about yourselfnot just feel good about how smart I am. And so it means creating opportunities to help people along the way. Helping along the way connects with the mentorship, which is building the scaffolding to help people solve the puzzles. And playfulness is just making it all fun. You mentioned that your wife bought you three Sondheim books, so you must have been a fan before you started writing this. When did you discover your love of Broadway? Im laughing because I am in my room . . . and in my closet is a collection of Playbills that go back to the mid-1980s. I cant even count how many are here. I grew up on Long Island. My mom loved musical theater, and it was a thing we often did as a family. I learned very early on that I loved what it meant to be in an audience for a musical. I loved the magic that was created on the stage. And more importantly, I loved the emotions that it brought out in me.
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When I first learned about Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k) plansthe tax-advantaged retirement plans that are funded with a taxpayers after-tax incomeI remember thinking that it must be nice to have enough income that you could afford to contribute money to your retirement without an immediate tax break. But even though you fund Roth accounts with after-tax dollars, making them more expensive on the contribution side, they are ultimately a savvy way to save money in the long run. Unfortunately, if you dont know what these accounts are or how they work, you will miss out on all of their benefits. Heres everything you need to know to make the most of Roth retirement accounts in your financial plan. History of the Roth In 1997, Congress introduced a new non-deductible IRA via the Taxpayer Relief Act. Named for Delaware Senator William V. Roth (and not, as I originally believed, for Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth), these accounts were designed to give you a tax break in retirement, rather than when you make contributions. Although Roth accounts were originally restricted to IRAs, Roth 401(k) plans became available through workplace retirement accounts as of January 1, 2006. As of 2023, 93% of workplace retirement plans offered a Roth 401(k) option, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of Americas annual poll published in December 2024. Roth account rules and limits There are some important rules surrounding these accountsthe kind of rules that can put you on the IRSs naughty list. Specifically, there are specific income and contribution limits for Roth IRA and Roth 401(k) plans that you must not exceed. These limits can and do change from year to year. The current 2025 limits are listed in the table below. Roth IRARoth 401(k)Maximum income$150,000 for single filers; $236,000 for married couples filing jointlyNo income limitAnnual contribution limit$7,000 for those under 50; $8,000 for anyone 50+$23,500 for those under 50; $31,000 for anyone 50+; $34,750 for anyone aged 6063 One thing to remember is that these yearly contribution limits encompass all IRAs or 401(k)s you may own. For instance, if you have a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, you cant send $7,000 to each one. (Not without waking Spike, the IRS enforcement officer who sleeps in the sub-basement). You will have to split your contributions between your traditional and Roth IRA so that your total contribution does not exceed $7,000. This is the same for your traditional versus Roth 401(k) contributions. Altogether, they cannot exceed the annual contribution limit set by the IRS. What the Roth has to offer Introducing the Roth retirement account can feel a little like when your friend busts out a board game with 178 pages of instructions while insisting its a little slow to get started, but its so worth it! However, despite the seeming complexity of Roth accounts, there are three main benefits to these retirement vehicles: Like traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans, your Roth contributions grow tax-free. Unlike traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans, any Roth withdrawals you make in retirement are 100% tax-free, provided you wait to take these distributions until after reaching age 59 or after having held the account for at least five years, whichever comes last. You will pay the IRS a 10% penalty if you take an early withdrawalbut you wont owe taxes. Also unlike traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans, there are no required minimum distributions once you reach age 73. You can keep your money in a Roth account forever if you want and take distributions of any amount at any time, as long as youre older than 59 and have held the account for at least five years. In other words, with a Roth account, for the low price of paying current income taxes, you get tax-free growth, tax-free withdrawals, and no required minimum distributions. Ripping off the tax Band-Aid Another way to look at a Roth account is to think of it as a way of paying taxes on your terms. Many young professionals are earning much less now than they will later in their careerand possibly less than they will be living on in retirement. Funding a Roth retirement plan now, while you are in a lower tax bracket, will save money later, once you have started earning a much higher income. Additionally, by putting posttax dollars aside in a Roth account today, it gives you a tax-free cushion for emergencies in retirement. Many retirees have a carefully planned tax strategy in retirement, which could be upended if they need to access a large chunk of their taxable retirement savings. Pulling $25,000 from a traditional IRA or 401(k) for a health problem or other emergency could throw a wrench in your tax plan for the year. But you can grab that money from your Roth account with no tax consequences. It may hurt to fund a Roth account with posttax dollars, but the benefits can outweigh the momentary pain. Enjoy what you have wrought in your Roth As the brainchild of Senator William V. Roth, tax-advantaged Roth accounts are unlike most traditional defined contribution plans and individual retirement accounts. Instead of deducting your contributions to these accounts from your income, you contribute money youve already paid taxes on into your Roth accounts. The money grows tax free and you can withdraw it tax-free in retirement, provided you wait until you are at least 59 or have held the account for at least five years. You also dont have to take required minimum distributions from these accounts, meaning you can leave the money there forever, if you choose. There are income and contribution limits to these accounts, which can and do change from year to year. And you should be aware that annual IRA and 401(k) contribution limits encompass all accounts you may own, including traditional and Roth versions, meaning you will have to split up your contributions among your acounts so you dont go over the limit among the various accounts. Roth accounts offer a flexible way to give yourself a tax-free source of funds in retirement. Thats a helpful gift to provide for your future self.
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When we talk about phones and location sharing, were typically talking about limiting how much info overly aggressive apps can access. But theres another side to location sharingand thats actively opting to share your location with specific people (not companies!) for your own personal purposes. Whether its being able to keep tabs on kids, confirm the safety of parents or other loved ones, or simply know where a partner is at any given moment (with their permission, of course), your existing phone can turn into a powerful peace-of-mind provider and real-world life enhancer. The key is having the right software to make that happen in a way thats both helpful andjust as importantalso protective of your privacy. And thats precisely where todays Cool Tools discovery comes into play. This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures! Location sharing, with a side of privacy For most folks, deliberate person-to-person location sharing tends to revolve around a few primary paths: Google Maps (or the other Google apps associated with it, on Android) Apple Maps (or the Apple Find My app, on iOS) Or Life360, a slightly pricey third-party service that people seem to have a bit of a love-hate relationship with All of these services have their strengths. But they also come with their own limitations as well as concerns around cost, privacy, and data protection. Thats why I was so intrigued to come across a new cross-platform location sharing service called Paralino. It attempts to address all of those asterisks with an offering thats all about giving you an exceptional all-around experiencewith privacy and security at the core. Specifically, Paralino promises: Complete end-to-end data encryption, so only you and the specific people you choose to share with ever see where you go No tracking, no profiling, and no ads of any sort Intricate control over exactly what info you share with anyone And the option to share and receive not only on-demand location info but also proactive alerts (with everyones permission) whenever someone in your group arrives at or exits specific places Paralino offers both on-demand location sharing and proactive location alerts. Youll need roughly two to three minutes to set it up and try it out. First, download the Paralino app. Its available for both Android and iOS, so you can put it on any phone you (or anyone else you know) might be using. Then: Open er up and follow the prompts to create an account and sign in. You can opt to skip the sign-in and use the service only as a guest, if you want, but doing so makes it impossible to move your setup to another device in the futureso creating an account is really the most advisable way to go. When the app prompts you to pick a plan, tap the x in the upper-left corner of the screen to skip over that and stick with the services standard free level for now. The free level limits you to a single group for sharing, with one other person and up to two alert-generating places. If you end up really liking the service or wanting more than what the free tier provides, you can always look into Paralinos premium planswhich range from 40 bucks a year to $70 in the U.S., depending on the specificslater down the road. But you certainly dont have to pay and can get quite a bit out of the apps free level. Once you reach the apps main screen, look for the prompts to enable all the pertinent permissions. The app will ask to be able to send you notifications, so it can actually give you the updates you want, and to be able to see your location all the timeeven when you arent actively looking at it. It obviously needs that ability to be able to do what it does, and again, its core promise is that it always keeps everything encrypted and never saves any personal data. From there, all thats left is to connect to someone else and start sharing. And then, you can always see exactly where that person isand vice-versaas well as get any alerts you both opt into about each others locations. Once you’re connected to someone, you can always see their location on a simple map in the Paralino app. Its essentially a more fully featured and privacy-minded ersion of what Google and Apple offerand a much more privacy-respecting, focused, and affordable version of what Life360 provides. And thats exactly the kind of standard-challenging, small-scale competitor I love to see show up in arenas dominated by big players. Ive been using Paralino with my wife for several days now, and so far, its seemed both easy and effectiveand true to its promises around privacy and quality. The effect on my battery life has been minimal with the services default settings, too, though it seems the app would update our locations more frequently (with the tradeoff of using more battery power) if we switched from the Balanced updating frequency to the more aggressive Best Performance path. My only real gripe is that the interface for creating an alert-generating placea specific location where you get notifications when someone arrives and/or leavesis kinda funky, with no apparent search function and instead only a clunky way to find a place by zooming around on a giant world map. Thats awkward. But that one relatively minor quirk aside, Paralino is shaping up to be a solid service and a welcome alternative to the typical options in this area. If you use any sort of location sharing already or think doing so might be beneficial for you, its well worth your while to try. Paralino is available for both Android and iOS. The company is also working on a fully open source version of its apps for the future The service is free, at its base level, with optional upgrades that lift limitations and unlock extra features. (If you do end up pursuing one of those plans at any point, youll absolutely want to look at the annual subscription optionswhich are much better values than their monthly equivalents.) And, again, this app is all about using strong encryption and avoiding so much as even seeing any manner of personal infolet alone sharing your data with anyone you dont explicitly approve. Treat yourself to all sorts of brain-boosting goodies like this with the free Cool Tools newsletterstarting with an instant introduction to an incredible audio app thatll tune up your days in truly delightful ways.
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