I'm not going to pretend that my colleagues and I have tried every pair of headphones out there, but we've tried a bunch, and our favorites can give you an idea of which pair to buy.

This list doesn't consider any particular kind of listeners, but we've kept everything under the $350 mark. If you're willing to pay over that amount, you're probably an audiophile who wants specific types of headphones. That said, some of the headphones on this list offer incredible sound.

Considering the slow departure of headphone jacks on mobile devices, many of the headphones we've tried are wireless Bluetooth models, too. 

Check out our favorite headphones:

SEE ALSO: The $500 OnePlus 5T is my favorite Android phone of the year, and it's even better after comparing its camera against the $850 Pixel 2 XL

Marshall Major II Bluetooth (wireless)

Pros: Comfortable; affordable; great sound; great battery life; collapsible; great design; incredible amount of design detail; passively dampens exterior noise; full music controls; microphone for calls.

Cons: Uses microUSB instead of the new USB-C to charge.

Price: $70 on Amazon

Read the Marshall Major II Bluetooth headphone review here >>

Bose QC35 II with Google Assistant (wireless)

Pros: Most comfortable headphones I've tried; great sound; excellent noise cancelling that even works on calls; collapsible; good battery life; microphone for calls. 

Cons: Dated design; less-than-premium materials and feel; expensive; limited controls (volume only); Google Assistant on headphones isn't a deal-making feature (I only tried it once and never used it again); uses microUSB instead of the new USB-C to charge.

Price:$350 on Amazon

AIAIAI TMA-2 (can be wireless)

Pros: Beautiful minimalist design; lightweight; lets you customize comfort and sound with modular ear cups/speakers/headband/cable; great sound; can be upgraded with Bluetooth; not too expensive; microphone for calls depending on which cable you choose. 

Cons: Can be tricky to find the right speaker units and ear cups for the sound you're looking for without listening to each configuration first. You're better off buying a preset model with the parts chosen for you. 

Price: Start at $145 from AIAIAI's website

Read the AIAIAI TMA-2 headphone review here >>

• High unemployment and soaring inflation can be a bad combination.
• That's the main idea behind economist Arthur Okun's "Misery Index," which adds the two factors to determine how "miserable" a country is.
• Using available 2016 data from the World Bank, we put together a list of the 14 countries with the highest misery indices.

It's hard to make a living when you can't find a job, but prices keep climbing and climbing.

That's the main idea behind economist Arthur Okun's "Misery Index." The index is determined by adding together a country's current unemployment rate and its current rate of inflation. The higher the sum, the theory goes, the more "miserable" a country is.

It's not a perfect measure. The index relies on accurate and up-to-date statistics, which not all countries provide. And critics have pointed to studies that show unemployment has a bigger affect on happiness (or unhappiness) than inflation does.  

But few would argue that the combination of high unemployment and high inflation is ideal for people who are just trying to get by.

In light of that, Business Insider compiled a list of the 14 countries with the highest misery indices, using 2016 data for unemployment and inflation from the World Bank. Some countries have both high unemployment and inflation, while others experience one factor more so than the other.

The World Bank did not have recent or complete statistics available for a handful of countries, including North Korea, Syria, Libya, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, and Argentina. While some of these countries have high inflation, high unemployment, or both — the missing data prevented us from including them on the list.

SEE ALSO: 9 places around the world where housing prices dropped the most in the past year

14. Egypt

Misery Index: 25.8%

Unemployment: 12%

CPI inflation: 13.8%

Egypt's economy has been struggling since 2011, when President Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Its tourism industry — traditionally a major source of hard currency — has been hit particularly hard in recent years. 

13. Macedonia

Misery Index: 26.5%

Unemployment: 26.7%

CPI inflation: -0.2%

Macedonia has taken huge steps forward since gaining independence in 1991, but corruption and weak rule of law continue to challenge economic development in the country.

12. Haiti

Misery Index: 27%

Unemployment: 13.2%

CPI inflation: 13.8%

Haiti's economy started to recover in 2015 following the devastating earthquake a few years earlier. But it has been hampered recently by drought conditions and political uncertainty. Nearly 60% of the population lives below the national poverty line.

• Chipotle's new organic queso has been reformulated, and it's definitely better than before.
• Unfortunately, it's still just not as good as Qdoba's classic variety.

Chipotle's queso has been tweaked, and things are looking up for the chain's cheesy dip.

But it just doesn't taste as good as the queso from its competitor, Qdoba. I know I've been hard on Chipotle lately — as has fate, frankly — but it's my honest opinion that Qdoba puts forth a better experience and product balanced with the right pricing. 

First, a quick lesson: the "queso," or chile con queso, that we enjoy in America is a bastardized form of queso fundido, a Mexican dish of melted Oaxaca or Chihuahua cheese typically mixed with roasted chilis and chorizo. It's like a fondue-style appetizer. American Tex-Mex cuisine has replaced these easily melted Mexican cheeses with some form of processed cheese and cream, which gives it a distinctly plasticky, gooey mouthfeel.

This is the queso that Qdoba serves. Is it expressly organic? No, it isn't. And if that's not your scene, then Chipotle is the way to go. But in terms of taste and sheer culinary hedonism, Qdoba's queso runs circles around Chipotle's — here's why.

SEE ALSO: 4 reasons why Chipotle will never be as good as its biggest rival

Comparing Qdoba's queso with Chipotle's is all about expectations. As mentioned above, "queso" is the viscous, smooth, processed cheese dip — far from authentic queso fundido, yet delicious in its own elastic cheesy splendor.

Chipotle's queso started out grainy and gluey, which stole the stage from an otherwise fairly well-seasoned dip.

The flavor was smoky and savory, but the texture was more reminiscent of a weird cheddar soup or a poorly blended Mornay sauce. It lacked the elasticity that lends Instagram-worthy cheese pulls their credence.

A lot of new TV shows premiered in 2017, and plenty of them are worth your time. 

Women dominated new shows this year, with several impactful female-driven stories with women of all ages and backgrounds — from Hulu's Emmy-winning "The Handmaid's Tale," to Freeform's "The Bold Type," and USA's "The Sinner."

Also ruling the list was Netflix, which had some of the best new shows of the year, including "Big Mouth" and "Mindhunter." 

Here are the best new TV shows of 2017:

SEE ALSO: The worst new TV shows of 2017, ranked from bad to completely unwatchable

14. "The Sinner"— USA

"The Sinner" masterfully unfolds a mystery that is nearly impossible to figure out. Jessica Biel (who is great here) suddenly stabs and kills a man on the beach, and secrets about her past are revealed in every episode. These secrets will leave you constantly changing your mind. The series was made for binge-watching, and has a solid ending.

13. "Feud: Bette and Joan"— FX

"Feud," from Ryan Murphy ("Glee,""American Horror Story") was quite the opposite of what audiences and critics expected. Instead of focusing the feud between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, the show was a topical and well-timed commentary on the treatment and manipulation of women in Hollywood. Jessica Lange is a triumph as an aging Joan Crawford, and Susan Sarandon is the perfect choice for an older Bette Davis. 

12. "Alias Grace"— Netflix

"Alias Grace" digs deep into how gender, social status, and mental illness were treated in the past, and how it can affect people to this day. It's a well done series with a story whose themes reflect conversations that are happening in our culture today.

• Cars are more than just transportation. They can be rolling art.
• Two years ago, Business Insider put together our first list of the most beautiful cars in 2015.
• Here's an updated list of cars that are on sale today

Cars are more than just a means to get from point a to point b. They can be works of rolling automotive art. Legendary car designers such as Marcello Gandini, Giorgetto Giugiaro, and more recently Ian Callum are artistic geniuses as much as they're "car guys."

While beauty is without a doubt purely in the eye of the beholder, there are certain cars whose sleek lines, luscious curves, or sheer aggression make them universally loved. Well, at least universally loved here at Business Insider. 

Two years ago, we assembled a list that contained what we consider to be the ultimate collection of automotive elegance on sale at dealerships today.

For 2017, we've updated our list to reflect the latest and greatest from the world's automakers. 

SEE ALSO: Here are the 21 best cars for winter weather driving

FOLLOW US: on Facebook for more car and transportation content!

10. Mazda MX-5: Over the past quarter century, the Mazda MX-5 Miata has become the best-selling sports car of all time.

Although earlier generations have not been known as style icons, the current fourth-generation model is a different story. New for 2015, the current MX-5 conveys the car's sporting heritage in a charismatic and aesthetically pleasing package.

9. Jaguar F-PACE: For the first time, one of the most beautiful cars in the world is, in fact, an SUV.

Almost as soon as Nestlé spent $425 million to buy a majority stake in hip coffee chain Blue Bottle in September, the search for the next hot coffee brand was underway. 

San Francisco has a contender in Philz Coffee, a family-run coffee chain known as a darling of the tech industry. The company, which passed hands from father Phil Jabar to son Jacob in 2005, has grown from one cafe in the city's Mission District to over 40 locations in California and Washington, DC. Tech investors have poured $75 million into the chain to date.

Philz has the cash to fuel an expansion and a key ingredient to become the next Blue Bottle: individuality. It looks nothing like a cookie-cutter coffee chain. At Philz, a diverse set of customers sit around mismatched pieces of furniture and drink coffee brewed one cup at time. Employees are encouraged to express their personality through interactions with customers. 

We spoke with Phil and Jacob to see why Philz has become a beloved institution.

SEE ALSO: Why people are crazy about Blue Bottle, the coffee chain that Nestlé just acquired for up to $500 million

Philz Coffee is the unofficial beverage of Silicon Valley.

According to Phil, Google, Twitter, Apple, and LinkedIn employees buy the beans wholesale for their offices. Facebook has a standalone location at its Menlo Park campus.

Facebook employees are currently beta-testing an order-ahead mobile app made by a team of engineers at Philz's headquarters in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood.

The app will launch nationwide sometime in 2018.

Nearly a decade ago, billionaire Peter Thiel cofounded a nonprofit called Seasteading Institute, and contributed seed funding toward what could become the world's first floating city.

By 2020, the Institute aims to build a dozen floating islands in French Polynesia featuring homes, restaurants, offices, schools, and hotels. 

At first, the project's founders imagined the city as a libertarian utopia free of regulation. Joe Quirk, president of the Institute, told Business Insider that his team's vision has evolved beyond that. The group now sees the city as a way to live with rising sea levels, which are expected to increase more than six feet by the end of this century.

Earlier in 2017, the French Polynesian government allowed the Seasteading Institute to start testing in its oceans. Take a look at the ambitious plan below.

SEE ALSO: The Netherlands is protecting its coast with an $81 million 'sand motor'

In a 2009 essay, Thiel wrote, "Between cyberspace and outer space lies the possibility of settling the oceans."

Seasteading Institute's city would float in French Polynesian waters.

The team seeks to build a dozen residential islands by 2020, Quirk told Business Insider. Though Thiel provided initial funding for the project, Quirk said the billionaire is no longer directly involved.

"Peter was the most generous donor to the Seasteading Institute for the first few years and gets credit for financially kickstarting this great movement, which would not be happening without him," Quirk said.

World War II got off to a bad start for the British.

About two weeks after Poland surrendered to Germany at the end of September — succumbing to a month of the Nazi blitzkrieg — the British battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a U-boat, claiming more than 800 British sailors.

That was followed in short order by the first German air raid on the UK, targeting ships at the Firth of Forth in Scotland.

At the end of November, German mining of British waters intensified after claiming several merchant ships.

Weeks later, on December 12, the British Royal Navy suffered another setback, as the destroyer HMS Duchess collided with the battleship HMS Barham. The Duchess was cut in half and only 23 of its 160 crew members survived.

But the Royal Navy recorded a spirit-lifting victory just days later, after British ships cornered the imposing German warship Graf Spee off the coast of South America, defeating it in the first major naval battle of World War II.

The Graf Spee was much larger than any of the British ships pursuing it. Despite doing considerable damage to them, however, it was unable to fend them off.

Winston Churchill called the battle a "brilliant sea fight [that] warmed the cockles of British hearts."

Here's how the Allies won:

SEE ALSO: 74 years ago, US Marines waded into 'the toughest battle in Marine Corps history' — here are 25 photos of the brutal fight for Tarawa

When war broke out in September 1939, the Graf Spee was patrolling in the Atlantic. It played a significant role in the German effort to cut Allied shipping lines, sinking eight merchant ships between September and December. The Allies deployed “hunting groups” to track down the German battleship — 23 major ships in total.

The Graf Spee, commissioned in 1936, stretched more than 600 feet in length and was manned by 1,150 crew members. It displaced well over 10,000 tons, despite Treaty of Versailles stipulations limiting German warships to that size.

It boasted six 11-inch guns, with three each on two turrets — one fore and one aft. It also had eight 5.9-inch guns with 105 mm, 37 mm, and 20 mm cannons placed throughout.

The Graf Spee was equipped with eight torpedo tubes and carried two floatplane aircraft that could be launched from a catapult on its bridge superstructure.

Source: Imperial War Museums

The Graf Spee, commanded by Capt. Hans Langsdorff, sank three more ships — bringing its total merchant shipping sunk to roughly a half-million tons — before heading toward shipping lanes near the River Plate in the South Atlantic in early December. Commodore Henry Harwood of Hunting Group G guessed where the German ship was headed, closing in with heavy cruiser HMS Exeter and light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles on December 13.

The crew of the Achilles was 60% New Zealanders, whose country would not form its own navy until 1941.

The Royal New Zealand Navy still commemorates the battle as an example of its fortitude.

Source: Imperial War Museums, Rear Adm. Henry Harwood

The German warship engaged its pursuers just after 6 a.m., landing direct hits on the Exeter, knocking out its guns and much of its communications. The Exeter would eventually retreat to the Falkland Islands. The Graf Spee was also able to disable two of the four gun turrets on the Ajax and did damage to the Achilles.

Source: Imperial War Museums, Daily Mail, Rear Adm. Henry Harwood

2017 was a year of discovery: NASA started using reusable rockets, patients started treating cancer using only their own cells, and scientists discovered the Earth's lost eighth continent.

Here are some of the wildest, coolest, most promising science finds of the year: 

SEE ALSO: The most gorgeous and terrifying photos of the natural world captured in 2017

An international team of 32 scientists found a new continent in the South Pacific.

The lost land of 'Zealandia' sits on the ocean floor between New Zealand and New Caledonia. 

It wasn't always a sunken land — researchers have found fossils that suggested novel kinds of plants and organisms once lived there. 

Some argue it should be counted alongside our (more visible) seven continents. 

Scientists created the 'closest thing anyone has ever made' to a new life form.

Living creatures have two kinds of amino acid pairs: A-T (adenine – thymine) and G-C (guanine – cytosine). This alphabet of four letters writes our DNA, and forms the basis for all genetic information in the natural world.

But scientists say they've just invented two new letters, an unnatural pair of X-Y bases.

In November, they demonstrated how these synthetic cell parts can function seamlessly alongside natural bases in the DNA of E. coli.

Floyd Romesburg, who led the research at The Scripps Research Institute in California, told Business Insider that his new invention could improve the way we treat diseases. For example, it could change the way proteins degrade inside the body, helping drugs stay in your system longer. Romesburg says the team is investigating how the finding might help cancer treatments and drugs for autoimmune diseases. 

Scientists witnessed how all the gold and platinum in the universe formed.

The formation of a cool $100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of gold happened when two super-small, super-dense stars smashed into each other 130 million light years away from Earth, researchers discovered.

The crash also produced huge stores of silver and platinum. 

The finding, reported by a group of 4,000 very excited astronomers in October, came from scientists' first-ever sighting of two neutron stars colliding. 

The two massive, exploded stars hit each other at one-third the speed of light, and created gravitational waves. Scientific instruments on Earth picked up the waves from that crash, an event astronomers say only happens once every 100,000 years. 

Week 14 was one of our best weeks yet for finding values in your daily fantasy lineups.

Jimmy Garoppolo threw for 334 yards, good for third in the NFL on the week, though since he threw only one touchdown he was kept from the upper echelons of stud quarterbacks for the moment. Giovani Bernard was a top-15 play thanks to a balance of both rushing and receiving yards, and both Cooper Kupp and Marquise Goodwin went off for 100 yards receiving.

This week, we're back at it, trying to identify the best, affordable players for your DraftKings lineup. Below we've picked some of our best value plays for daily fantasy. Consider them when trying to find a few extra dollars to upgrade elsewhere in your lineup.

QB: Nick Foles, $5,500

The loss of starting quarterback and MVP candidate Carson Wentz certainly sets the Eagles' offense back a few steps. But Foles is one of the best backups in the league, and he looked fine enough in his limited action helping Philadelphia come back against the Rams last week. Las Vegas still likes the Birds to have a bit of offensive spark, making them a -7.5 road favorite against a division rival despite being on their second QB. Foles is 2-0 in his career against the Giants, and he has the trust of the Eagles' coaching staff to get the job done again. At only $5,500, he is cheaper than a lot of quarterbacks on the daily-fantasy market.

RB: Jay Ajayi, $5,000

All that said about Nick Foles, it's not hard to imagine Philadelphia focusing a bit more on establishing its running game in the absence of Wentz, and Ajayi stands to benefit. I'm betting that the Eagles' offense is able to stay pretty active this week, especially against the Giants' middling defense.

RB: Jonathan Stewart, $4,100

Stewart had a monster day last Sunday, rushing for 103 yards and three touchdowns against the Vikings' normally stout defense. While it's never the best idea to take a guy coming off of his best fantasy game of the season, at just $4,100, Stewart is too good a deal to pass up.

• Citigroup's investment bank has been showing signs of progress and competing among Wall Street's best.
• We asked two of the bank's top executives what they look for when hiring senior investment bankers.
• Performance matters, but it's not the only thing. "We can't have people on solo missions," says Raymond McGuire, Citi's global head of corporate and investment banking.

Citigroup's investment bank has been making strides in recent years to compete for top honors in the league tables.

The bank, already a strong performer in arranging bonds and loans, has made marked progress in 2017 in both its mergers-and-acquisitions advisory and equity-capital markets businesses.

One key to Citi's success is talent — retaining their top performers, but also bringing in star bankers that will fit into Citi's team culture. 

"The foundation to this, the bedrock to this is talent. You have to make certain that you have the talent that is the best trained, that has the best experience, that can exercise the most refined judgment," said Raymond McGuire, global head of corporate and investment banking, who's personally involved in every major strategic hire for his department.

Citi has hired more than 20 at the managing director level around the world for its corporate and investment-banking division this year, according to a memo McGuire sent his staff in early November.

And the bank this week promoted 33 staff in its corporate and investment bank to managing director, along with seven staff in capital markets origination. 

Business Insider recently spoke with McGuire and Tyler Dickson, the global head of capital markets origination, about what they look for in hiring senior-level bankers:

Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

SEE ALSO: We asked a top hedge-fund recruiter what it takes to get a senior-level job these days

McGuire's overall strategy revolves around both attracting and maintaining strong performers who are also "culture carriers"— no solo missions allowed. That means getting involved in every major hire.

"You have to attract and retain the best talent. So for the existing talent, you’ve got to make certain that they continue to perform, that they continue to be engaged and inspired to be the best. And for the talent that you onboard, you have to be really careful about the talent that you onboard. They have to not only be the best practitioners, but they also have to be culture carriers. And we have found that, while we've had some challenges, for the most part we've been very effective at integrating new people into the culture. In large part, we do that from the outset. I personally get involved in every one of these major strategic hires.

"It's very clear that you not only have to maintain the best of the existing talent. You cannot ignore that. You have to maintain it, you have to focus on that. And you also have to make sure that the talent that you onboard has got a value system and has got an alignment that is very clear. There should be no ambiguity in terms of what our objectives are. None."

What question does he ask potential candidates to find out whether they're the right fit?

"There's not one question that you ask, there are a series of questions. What kind of character do they have. What kind of client impact. How is that client impact reflected in their performance, historically. And character gets to whether they are a team player or whether or not they're on solo missions. We can't have people on solo missions, we need to have people who are prepared to engage as partners. 

"We also recognize that you have to have a combination of management and leadership. You have to be able to give people the details on a daily basis on the metrics that we expect for them to manage to. And then you have to be able to inspire them."

For equity capital markets, Dickson looks for leaders with years of experience and the respect of investors and issuers. But they also have to be comfortable sharing the spotlight.

"In the business of financial services, talent is the most valuable resource, if you can get the best talent. From Citi's perspective we want the best-in-class, best-performing people in the marketplace. So experience matters. In my case, if we're looking at the equity capital markets arena, are they leaders with issuer clients? Do they have the respect of investing clients? Do they have years of experience in their sector or subproduct?

"But I'd say what's also important is culturally for Citi, we're a firm that succeeds as a team, and so they have to be people who can fit in with Citi's overarching culture. But also within capital markets, we're very much a team-wins orientation, and so you need a lot of leadership and energy and inspiration to lead the team, but we want people who think when we're winning it's because the team is winning. And I think that the folks that we've developed, and I've said we've been blessed with this consistency, all feel like partners in the business."

The Buffalo Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts, 13-7, on Sunday in what's been dubbed the latest "Snow Bowl."

Buffalo, New York, reportedly received up to 17 inches of snow, and despite the field crew's efforts to clear the snow beforehand, it kept on coming down during the game.

What resulted was a run-heavy slug fest that produced some incredible images. Take a look at some of our favorite photos below.

Players tried to prepare themselves beforehand for the cold three hours to come.

"Warming up" may have been tough to do.

Pregame festivities took on a new image in the powder.

• While Democrats and Republicans have diverged in their response to allegations of sexual misconduct, leaders on both sides of the aisle have delivered inconsistent messages.
• Politicians are being forced to clarify their positions on the issue as a national spotlight on sexual harassment and abuse is shone on Capitol Hill. 

Amid an intensifying national conversation about sexual misconduct, political leaders and media commentators are speaking out about the issue and, in some cases, delivering inconsistent messages.

On the left, some top lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, have been hesitant to condemn political allies accused of sexual misconduct, while other liberal leaders, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, have made advocacy for survivors of sexual assault central to their policy agenda.

Political leaders on the right, most prominently President Donald Trump — whom 19 women have accused of sexual misconduct — have flip-flopped on the issue, promoting accusations made against political foes and undermining those made against allies.

As the spotlight on sexual misconduct shines on Washington, Democrats are attempting to seize moral authority in the debate, by ousting members of their own party stained by accusations, and strengthening their attacks on Republicans accused of sexual misconduct, chief among them the president and Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Here's what four top Republicans and four top Democrats have said about sexual misconduct:

SEE ALSO: Democrats are setting themselves up perfectly to pummel Republicans on sexual harassment in 2018

DON'T MISS: All the prominent Democrats who have called on Trump to resign over sexual misconduct allegations

On the right: President Donald Trump

Trump is arguably the most powerful person in the country facing allegations of sexual misconduct.

The president maintains that all 19 women who allege he sexually harassed or abused them are "liars," and the White House has argued in official statements that his election settled the issue of whether Americans care about the accusations.

In the same breath, Trump has praised the women who have come forward across the country with their stories of sexual abuse, and endorsed Moore. The Alabama Senate candidate was accused of sexually pursuing and molesting teenage girls when he was in his 30s. Moore lost the election on December 12.

"I think it's a very special time, a lot of things are coming out, and I think that's good for our society and I think it's very, very good for women," Trump said last month of the #MeToo movement. "I'm very happy it's being exposed."

Trump has publicly called out Democrats and members of the media, including NBC host Matt Lauer and Sen. Al Franken, who were both ousted for sexual misconduct allegations, but consistently defended his friends and political allies stained by similar allegations, including former Fox News chief Roger Ailes and Moore.

On the left: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi, a longtime advocate of women's rights, has at times hesitated to condemn men, particularly Democrats, accused of sexual misconduct.

She initially refused to criticize Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat accused of sexually harassing former employees, calling him a civil rights "icon," and arguing that he deserved "due process."

After more allegations against Conyers surfaced, Pelosi changed her position, calling the stories "very credible," and pressed the 88-year-old lawmaker to resign.

"Zero tolerance means consequences for everyone," she said. "No matter how great the legacy, it is no license to harass or discriminate."

Back in 2013, Pelosi was also reluctant to condemn a former 10-term member of Congress, Rep. Bob Filner, who later became the mayor of San Diego, after 13 women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct.

"What goes on in San Diego is up to the people of San Diego," she said at the time.

But in early December, Pelosi immediately called for Rep. Ruben Kihuen, a Nevada Democrat, to resign after allegations surfaced that he sexually harassed a former aide.

On the right: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

A longtime promoter of a no-tolerance policy on sexual misconduct, McConnell has recently wavered on this position.

In 2007, McConnell helped force Sen. Larry Craig from office after the Idaho Republican was arrested in an undercover sex sting at the Minneapolis airport.

And as the head of the Senate Ethics Committee in 1995, he helped oust Sen. Bob Packwood of Oregon after the powerful Republican was accused of sexual abuse and harassment by his female staffers.

But the top Republican has not abided by the same principled stance in the cases of Trump and Moore.

While he initially advocated for the Alabama Senate candidate to withdraw from the race, saying he believes the women have accused Moore, McConnell later refused to take sides, saying he's "going to let the people of Alabama make the call," after Trump officially endorsed Moore and the Republican party reinstated its support for the embattled candidate.

McConnell's wife, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, said recently that she's experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, but warned women that dredging up past bad experiences "holds you back."

• Many of the most successful people out there also have incredibly successful marriages.

• While you can't read into a marriage from a wedding, it's fun to take a look back at the days that marked the begin of married life.

• Some couples, like Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen, took the low-key route. Others, like Bill and Melinda Gates, threw huge bashes.

No two weddings are exactly alike. Couples tend to throw events that match their personalities, tastes, and budget.

So it's not surprising that there's quite a range of wedding styles, even among some of the most successful people in the world. Some couples went for more modest, intimate affairs, while others opted for massive celebrations.

Here's a look at the weddings of some of the most successful couples out there:

SEE ALSO: The incredible career of Jeff Bezos' wife MacKenzie, an acclaimed writer who quit her job to support her husband and is now half of the richest couple in the world

The 100 or so guests attending the surprise wedding of Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan initially thought they had been invited to the latter's medical school graduation party. The nuptials took place in the backyard of the couples' Palo Alto home on May 19, 2012.

Source: The Washington Post

Zuckerberg designed a ruby wedding ring for his bride. The Washington Post reported dessert consisted of "Burdick Chocolate 'mice' (tiny chocolate truffles in the shape of mice), which they ate during their first date."

Source: The Washington Post

Bill and Melinda Gates married in 1994 in what was then Manele Bay Hotel in Hawaii. They tied the knot by the "par-3 12th hole" on the property's golf course, according to Forbes. The event reportedly cost $1 million.

Source: Business Insider, EasyWeddings.com, Forbes, People magazine, Business Insider, Business Insider

A handful of hedge fund launches each year grab headlines – usually those expected to raise billions, like one from billionaire Steve Cohen and another from Millennium's ex- bond chief, Michael Gelband.

But there are many more fund launches that attract much less attention, with some of those failing to get off the ground at all. 

What does it take to launch a fund these days? We asked Wall Streeters who work in the space – namely those that work in capital introductions, introducing potential investors to fledgling start-ups.

Here's what they had to say. We've lightly edited transcripts from meetings and emails with those we interviewed.

SEE ALSO: We asked a top hedge-fund recruiter what it takes to get a senior-level job these days

Goldman Sachs: Dean Backer, global head of sales and capital introduction

What have been the biggest trends in 2017?

Backer highlighted the robustness of launches in Asian hotspots – Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo – while European launches are slightly above average. The US landscape is probably going to end the year right on average, he added.

What stands out in particular, according to Backer, is that there is more quality, rather than high quantity, launches. The average sized launch is also bigger.

"To get a fund launched in this environment when there is already a lot of product out there, a narrative that's still forming is you really do have to be an experienced manager that can point to past performance, that has a team behind them and generally has had an anchor tenant to get launched," Backer said.

The average launch size, whether median or average, is slightly higher, he said. "It's too tough environmentally if you're not one of the top-of-the-game managers," he said.

What does it take to launch a hedge fund today? 

According to Backer: high pedigree; solid institutional background; experience working in risk-taking role; and consistent outperformance.

"Consistent outperformance is the best way to distinguish yourself both internally and externally," he said.

Other attributes include anchor investors and locking up with early investors.

JPMorgan: Alessandra Tocco, global head, capital advisory group

What is the biggest trend you’re seeing in 2017?

"Macro allocations are on the rise, outpacing other strategy inflows. At $10.1 billion YTD through Q3, net flows to macro strategies are leading other strategy inflows by a clear margin.  This may be attributable to investors seeking to diversify portfolios as equity values become stretched. It may also be a function of performance among single-risk taker managers, particularly those with material EM exposure. Fundamental long/short which had limited interest at the end of 2016 is starting to gain interest from investors."

"Fee compression is one of the most significant trends in the hedge fund space this year, especially with new launches who are not only pricing early fees more attractively, but being very creative around how these scale down over time. [This] ties into the concept below of willing to pay for alpha but not beta."

What do managers need to do to start a large, successful fund?

"Not all new launches are created equal.  We’ve seen non-traditional arrangements such as VC-backed hedge fund launches and technology firms that have incubated new launches.  Having an edge in terms of working capital can give newer firms an advantage over simply having anchor capital. The key differentiators for managers who want to start with significant capital is to have a differentiated investment process, pedigree and a historical track record.

Pedigree (having portfolio manager responsibility at well known prior shops with existing allocator relationships); net worth (need to be able to contribute a real amount of their own capital); plausibility (strategy needs to make sense and be investable now and managers needs to demonstrate clearly defined edge); momentum (need to build and maintain marketing pipeline over a shorter period of time – don’t let it drag on too long); anchor investors that are not traditional LPs (e.g. hedge fund principles); and luck."

Credit Suisse: Bob Leonard, global head of capital introduction

The biggest trends of 2017:

Last year, the story line was that fees were high and funds were underperforming, Leonard said. Investors started asking for better terms, and this year they got it.

More hedge funds are offering better alignment of interests with investors, he said. Some of the perks include lower management fees as assets rise, and requiring a hurdle rate – a benchmark the manager has to hit before charging performance fees. 

New launches are still having a challenging year, however.

He added: 2017 is the year of quants. For managers that don't do quantitative investing, investors are asking them how they'll deal with quant funds in the markets.

And investors have also been asking him how to get access to quant funds. "They feel like they can't ignore it," he said.

To be a $1 billion launch today, a hedge fund manager needs:

An experienced team; a verifiable track record; institutional business with people on staff who know how to run the business side of things; and initial start up capital, according to Leonard.

But a word of caution: don't expect to raise money quickly like the old days. Capital raising takes longer, he said.

It's now become a yearly discussion: Where does the latest "Star Wars" movie rank all time?

With Disney releasing a "Star Wars" movie every year for the foreseeable future, the ranking of all the movies in the franchise has become one of those things you pencil (well, magic marker) in leading up to the newest one hitting theaters.

With "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" opening on Friday, it's time to do it again.

Here's how I rank all the "Star Wars" movies after seeing "The Last Jedi."

SEE ALSO: "The Last Jedi" is an emotionally powerful "Star Wars" movie because it breaks all the usual sequel rules

9. "Attack of the Clones" (2002)

It's a movie I struggle with ranking every year. I watched it again recently and I'm back on the disapprove side. There's a lot to enjoy about the second episode in the prequels — mainly, how Ewan McGregor has fit into the Obi-Wan Kenobi role nicely. The movie focuses heavily on his storyline as he encounters Jango and Boba Fett as well as Count Dooku. From a nostalgic standpoint, the last third of the movie brings to life dreams you've had for decades, as Lucas gives us the start of the Clone Wars as well as Yoda having a lightsaber battle. But the agony of watching the Anakin Skywalker/Padmé Amidala storyline was just too much for me in this latest viewing. (I'm sure I'll change the placement of this title again next year.)

8. "The Phantom Menace" (1999)

George Lucas has said from the beginning that "Star Wars" was made for kids, and he really took that to heart when he unveiled "Episode I: The Phantom Menace," 16 years after finishing the groundbreaking original trilogy. Introducing us to Anakin at the age of 9 as he's plucked by Qui-Gon Jinn as the "chosen one" who will bring balance to the Force, the first prequel gives us a lot of tame action and unlikely scenarios for Anakin to be in, even in a galaxy far, far away.

The best part of the movie is its villain, Darth Maul, who has an incredible duel with the Jedi at the end of the movie. It's one of the only goose-bump moments in the whole movie — heightened by John Williams' score — and, sadly, you have to wait over an hour to get to it.

Yes, this is the movie that introduced us to Jar Jar Binks. That is all I'll say about that.

7. "Revenge of the Sith" (2005)

The conclusion of the prequel trilogy is one of the saga's darkest. A grown Anakin is seduced by the dark side of the Force and wipes out the Jedi, including the younglings (!). Padmé dies, but not before giving birth to their twins, Luke and Leia.

The most agonizing part of this movie to sit through is Hayden Christensen's performance as Skywalker conflicted with the dark side — more a sniveling 20-something than a disillusioned "chosen one." We don't get a good performance of that pull to the dark side until Adam Driver comes along to play Kylo Ren in "The Force Awakens." We can only partly blame Christensen: Lucas was never big on giving actors instructions, which proved here to be costly.

On the bright side: Another excellent performance by McGregor as Kenobi, and the duel at the end of the move between Skywalker and Kenobi is worth the wait.

What do you picture when you imagine a hedge-fund office? A noisy trading floor full of hedge-fund guys in fleece vests?

Two Sigma, a $45 billion hedge-fund firm that uses advanced technologies to find investment opportunities, is a little different. The firm, which says it has seen head count grow by more than 400% in the past seven years, is as much a technology company as it is a finance company, analyzing over 10,000 data sources to find patterns in markets.

That approach seems to have paid off. Two Sigma ranked as the fifth-biggest hedge fund in the world in Institutional Investor's Alpha's 2017 Hedge Fund 100 list, while cofounders David Siegel and John Overdeck each made $750 million last year, according to the magazine's list of the top-earning hedge-fund managers. The firm also runs an insurance business, Two Sigma Insurance Quantified, a market-making arm called Two Sigma Securities, and a venture-capital arm.

In August, Business Insider took a tour of the firm's two New York offices, which are across the road from each other in the SoHo neighborhood. The offices are stashed with arcade games, computing memorabilia, gyms, a hacker space, and a music room.

SEE ALSO: These before-and-after photos show tech billionaires' dramatic transformations

There was a teach-in on Python for Research when we visited 101 Avenue of the Americas, one of three talks the firm hosts weekly.

The kitchen was well stocked.

You may be able to see a Juicero machine on the left side. Two Sigma Ventures, the venture arm of Two Sigma, is an investor in Juicero, which recently announced a price cut and layoffs.

Across the road at 100 Avenue of the Americas, there's another kitchen, with staff taking time out to play games.

Bitcoin hit a record high of nearly $18,000 per coin on Friday, December 15.

Two years ago, the idea of buying the virtual currency even at that price was laughable. After a rapid rise in value in 2013, the cryptocurrency's value more than halved by mid-2015.

At its lowest point, one bitcoin was equal to about $230.

Given the currency's covert nature, the average person still may not understand how buying and selling actually works.

Using the app Coinbase, which lets anyone trade bitcoins for a small fee, we decided to find out.

A brief warning: If you're going to do this, tell your bank you're about to buy bitcoin. More on that later.

And to read more about blockchain, the technology powering bitcoin, click here.

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin is trying to make a comeback

This is what the Coinbase app looks like on an iPhone.

When you first open the app, you're presented with the latest price of bitcoin and its change within a certain period. You can see in the chart below how wild the latest moves have been. (We bought the bitcoin in January 2017.)

I happen to be one of the many who have never traded bitcoin before. There's a certain level of wariness in buying into the cryptocurrency world.

Forty years after first falling in love with "Star Wars" in theaters, Finnish photographer Vesa Lehtimäki is bringing the franchise's most beloved ships and fighters to planet Earth.

Lehtimäki dug up his old scale models from the 1980s and carefully photographed them in the great outdoors, so the ships appear to be parked on Earth. The results will delight any aspiring pilot with the Rebellion.

You can check out more of Lehtimäki's stunning work on Instagram.

SEE ALSO: All the 'Star Wars' movies, ranked from worst to best

"I saw the first movie in its theater run back in 1977," Vesa Lehtimäki told Business Insider. "For my generation, that's like Woodstock."

As a kid, Lehtimäki bought scale models and built them. Later, they made their way into cardboard boxes where they collected dust for four decades.

In 2009, Lehtimäki began photographing his son's "Star Wars" LEGO toys and rediscovered his passion for the franchise. He also dug up his old scale models.

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Warning: There are spoilers ahead. Do not read on if you have not seen "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is finally in theaters and fans are having a lot of different feelings about it.

Maybe you loved it. Maybe you're mad at the number of unresolved answers provided from 2015's "The Force Awakens." (We want to know who Snoke is, too!) Maybe you're just wondering what some of those weird scenes were about. The more you think about "The Last Jedi," the less some of it starts to make sense.

Whatever you're feeling about "TLJ," we hear you. Let's wade through this together.

Keep reading to see the biggest questions we have after the movie.

1. Who is Rey?

Let's start off with an easy one. 

Yes, we know Kylo Ren gave us some sort of answer. He said Rey is no one, a nobody from Jakku with nobody parents who sold her for money. Could Ben Solo have been lying? Rey seems way too advanced without proper training in the Force to not have some Jedi lineage. 

If that really was the big reveal, boy was it a letdown.

You can read more on Rey's reveal and what we know (or don't know) about her here.

2. So, who was Snoke?

Another letdown. "The Force Awakens" built up this mysterious villain, spawning two years worth of theories on his identity, only to kill him off without giving us any backstory whatsoever on him.

Sorry, gang. Your theories didn't matter. And that's a plot point which is most likely going to fracture the fandom — annoying those who invested so much time in something that had absolutely zero payoff.

If you decided to pick up any of Disney's tie-in novelizations you got a little more of a peek into Snoke (but not really). You can read more on the character here.

3. Is Luke dead?

In short, yes. Luke finally made peace with his demons and found some sort of resolve with his nephew. Now, he's one with the Force. Maybe we'll see him return as a Force ghost like Yoda.