Welcome to the Critical Skills Blog, home to over a thousand human-generated articles—never AI—on topics that matter to continuous education. To find articles of interest, use the “Search” tab. Please feel free to comment, and please subscribe. All content on this site is free.
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The City That . . . . Lit the World’
Before the oil came out of the ground, it came home from the sea. For one shining generation New Bedford was the richest city in America, dollar for dollar, and the whale oil its ships hauled back from years-long voyages lit lamps from Boston to London — though the men… More⇢
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The Brand That . . . . Ground America’s First Chocolate
Before the republic had a name, a mill on the Neponset River was already grinding chocolate. In 1764 a penniless Irish chocolatier and the Dorchester doctor who staked him made the first chocolate manufactured in America — and the name they settled on, Baker’s, is still on a green box… More⇢
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In the Arena – Vincent van Gogh — He Kept Painting for a World That Had Not Yet Learned How to See Him
He failed at everything before he failed at painting. Art dealer, teacher, bookseller, preacher to the miners — every respectable path threw Vincent van Gogh out before he was thirty. So he picked up a pencil. He gave ten years to it, kept alive by his brother Theo, and the… More⇢
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Courage and Consequence – – The Only Woman Among the Buffalo Soldiers
Born a slave. Pressed into the Union Army as a cook. Barred from soldiering because she was a woman. On November 15, 1866, Cathay Williams enlisted as “William Cathay” and became the only documented woman Buffalo Soldier. She served two years with the 38th U.S. Infantry before a post surgeon… More⇢
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The Art of War: Rewritten – What Iran and Ukraine Reveal About Two Theories of Victory
Two wars ran at once this spring—the U.S. air campaign against Iran and Ukraine’s long-range strikes against Russia—and set side by side they reveal two fundamentally different theories of how a war is won. In “The Art of War: Traditional vs. New,” Charles C. Jett weighs decision-through-dominance against decision-through-system-attrition, follows… More⇢
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The Iran War Ledger—What Operation Epic Fury Changed—and What It Did Not
On February 28, 2026, the largest American air campaign in the Middle East since 2003 began. A hundred and seven days later, a ceasefire was signed. But what did the war actually settle? In “The Iran War Ledger,” Charles C. Jett sets the region before the bombing against the region… More⇢
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Courage and Consequence – Am I a Man?
One seat, lawfully won. One vote, already written. A legislature that set aside the law to decide a single question: whether a Black man it had seated was a man at all. Henry McNeal Turner had every reason to plead. His colleagues did — appealing to the mercy of the… More⇢
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Courage and Consequence – The Defendant Who Put the Law on Trial
Accused of treason four times. Tried for his life three times. Acquitted by juries to roaring crowds — and jailed by the government anyway. John Lilburne refused the Star Chamber oath that would have made him convict himself, and took the whip and the pillory rather than surrender the point.… More⇢
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Courage and Consequence – The Letters Written Toward the Stake
A written promise of safe conduct, sealed by an emperor. A cell beside a sewer. Eight months of chains. A clean offer to walk free, repeated every single time: take back your words and live. That was the bargain the Council of Constance set in front of Jan Hus in… More⇢
Meet Your Host – Charles Cranston Jett
Charles Cranston Jett is an author, civic educator, and Professional Certified Coach based in Chicago. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (Class of 1964) and Harvard Business School, he served during the Cold War aboard the nuclear submarine USS Ray (SSN 653), where his tactical innovations helped inspire Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan character. He developed the Field Studies methodology to teach “Critical Skills” and was endorsed by the Department of Labor in 1994. He is the author of six books, including Super Nuke!, hosts three podcasts, and writes across his Critical Skills Blog and Civic Sage platforms on history, leadership, and the health of the American republic. He and his wife, Dr. Nancy Church, co-host the Chicago Salons at Water Tower Residences.
