• Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones cofounded the nonprofit Just Capital in 2013 to measure what Americans want from corporations, and which of these corporations are contributing to a "more just" society.
• Just issues an annual ranking of America's largest 1,000 corporations based on how they are creating long-term value in the United States through strong relationships with employees, customers, and society at large.
• A "just" company is one that does right by all of their stakeholders. 
• The top 100 this year had a 6% higher return on equity than the rest of those in the Russell 1000.
• This year's top 10 include Microsoft, Apple, and Procter & Gamble.
• This article is part of Business Insider's ongoing series on Better Capitalism.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Over the past few years, the largest corporations in the United States have recognized that investing in their employees and communities can do more than give them material for a nice press release, and that it actually increases the long-term health of their business. The nonprofit Just Capital has also recognized this, and has used its annual rankings and research to laud the companies doing the most.

For this year's ranking of the "most just" companies, Microsoft took the No.1 spot for the second year in a row, and was joined in the top 10 by fellow tech giants Alphabet, the parent company of Google, and Apple. The only non-tech companies atop the list were the consumer goods stalwart Procter & Gamble and the health insurance provider Anthem, the latter jumping up to No.7 from No. 52.

A "just" company is one that does right by all of its stakeholders. 

The billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones started Just in 2013, noting in a TED Talk that "we've ripped the humanity out of our companies" through decades of shareholder primacy, which he felt resulted in short-term profits at all costs. Just was intended to counteract that movement. The pushback that Jones talked about has gained tremendous momentum in the mainstream business conversation, and it's something we've been tracking at Business Insider in our Better Capitalism series.

Earlier this year, the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group of around 200 of the country's top CEOs, echoed Jones and declared that companies had to move to a stakeholder perspective, where customers, employees, and communities were given equal weight with shareholders when making significant decisions.

Just has been ranking the largest 1,000 public companies in America, minus REITs and utility companies, for the past four years, and this year's ranking was done in tandem with Forbes. The researchers found that the top 100 companies in their ranking this year, compared to the others analyzed, pay 31% more to their median worker, give 8.4 times more to charity, have 25% more women on their board, are 32% more likely to have established environmental policies, and, notably, have a 6% higher return-on-equity.

You can find the full ranking at Just's website and the top 10 below. We've highlighted key developments over the past year that Just highlighted for each. 

SEE ALSO: IBM helps run a public school in Brooklyn that could change the way we think about education — and it's one of the only things both Trump and Obama support

10. VMware — Computer software company based in Palo Alto, California (down from 7.)

Workers: Has a robust paid time off policy that includes 18 weeks of paid parental leave and unlimited vacation for most employees.

Environment: Met its 2020 carbon neutrality goal two years early, and 100% of its energy this year has come from renewable sources.

Communities: Donated more than $25 million to foundations last year.

9. Procter & Gamble — Consumer goods company based in Cincinnati, Ohio (down from 8.)

Communities: Has a supplier diversity program and requires suppliers to guarantee their employees the right to organize.

Workers: Offers a $40,000 lifetime benefit for fertility services for employees trying to get pregnant.

Environment: Is committed to using 100% renewable electricity and having all of its products in recyclable or reusable packaging by 2030.

8. PayPal —Digital payments company based in San Jose, California (up from 45.)

Workers: Offers publicly the highest level of transparency around its workplace demographics, and requires at least one minority candidate for every director-level position and above.

Customers: Has an industry-best customer privacy policy.

Environment: Has a zero landfill policy for its retired electronic equipment.

7. Anthem — Health insurance provider based in Indianapolis, Indiana (up from 52.)

Shareholders: Four of nine of its board directors are women, and all but one of its directors is independent, including the chairman.

Workers: A third-party assessment found that there was no pay gap for gender or ethnicity.

Communities: Donated $31 million through its foundation last year, up by 26% over 2017.

6. Alphabet — Technology conglomerate based in Mountain View, California (down from 3.)

Workers: Offers 18 weeks of paid parental leave regardless of gender.

Environment: Kept 91% of its waste from landfills, including 100% landfill diversion at six operating data centers.

Communities: Is best in its industry for fighting against exploitative practices in its supply chain.

5. Salesforce.com — Enterprise software company based in San Francisco, California (up from 29.)

Workers: Offers robust childcare services through a network of caregivers and preschools.

Communities: Offers seven days of paid time off for volunteering and contributes pro-bono cloud technology to nonprofits.

Environment: Is on track to have 100% net zero emissions travel for employees by 2020 and full net zero carbon certification for 2030, and half of its suppliers have emissions targets goals for 2025.

4. Intel — Semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California (down from 2.)

Communities: The nonprofit Development International gave Intel its highest possible rating for transparency around the sourcing of minerals in its supply chain.

Environment: Its American and European offices used 100% renewable energy last year, with all of its global offices using a total of 71% renewable energy.

Workers: Achieved pay and promotion parity for women and underrepresented minorities last year, two years ahead of schedule.

3. Apple — Technology hardware company based in Cupertino, California (up from 16.)

Communities: Has spent $100 million across 114 schools since 2014 through products and tech education.

Environment: Reduced a certain kind of greenhouse gas emissions by 79.5% from 2017 to 2018, following its move to 100% renewable energy for its operations.

Workers: Offers tuition reimbursement of up to $5,250 per year.

2. NVIDIA — Semiconductor and consumer tech company based in Santa Clara, California (up from 6.)

Workers: Has among the best benefits packages, and offers the Stanford Health Navigator program employees to make the most of these benefits.

Environment: Reduced emissions per employee by 7% between 2018 and 2019, for a total of 20% since 2014, already exceeding its 2020 goal.

Communities: Is transparent in its total commitment to sourcing all of its minerals ethically.

1. Microsoft — Technology company based in Redmond, Washington (remains at 1.)

Communities: Donated $1.4 billion in software and services to nonprofits last year.

Workers: Not only does it offer 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all of its new parents and 20 for birth mothers, it started requiring last year that all of its suppliers offer 12 weeks of paid parental leave, as well.

Environment: Has had carbon neutrality since 2012, and last year reduced its product packaging by 20%.

• The keto diet consists mainly of foods with low levels of carbohydrates and high levels of fat and protein.
• People who choose to go on the keto diet may be surprised that many fast-food restaurants have options that fit within the diet's strict parameters. 
• I tried out keto meal options from five different fast-food establishments — McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Burger King, Wendy's, and Shake Shack — to see how they tasted and which ones I would order again, keto or no keto.
• I found the Chick-fil-A grilled chicken nuggets to be the tastiest keto meal option, followed by the Shake Shack lettuce burger.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

I'm no stranger to the keto diet. 

In 2017, I went on the keto diet for six months, giving up carbs and fast food in the process. In those days, I had no idea that I could eat a delicious fast-food meal while staying in "ketosis," a state of fat-burning that has been linked with weight loss. 

Though I no longer follow the keto diet, I wanted to see just what I was missing all those years ago.

I tried out keto meal options from five different fast-food establishments — McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, Burger King, Wendy's, and Shake Shack — to see how they tasted, how accommodating the restaurant was, and which ones I would order again, keto or no keto.

From what I decided to order, Chick-fil-A came out on top with its delicious grilled nuggets, which I was able to pair with two different sauces: zesty Buffalo and the chain's avocado lime ranch salad dressing. 

Here's the full run-down of every keto fast-food meal option I tried, ranked in order of worst to best.

SEE ALSO: I ate at Taco Bell for the first time ever and now I'm obsessed

Looking at my spread of keto fast food, some options certainly looked tastier than others.

By far, the biggest flop of the bunch was the Burger King chicken Caesar sandwich minus the buns. I requested extra lettuce for 15 cents, hoping to make a chicken sandwich.

Alas, that was impossible. I received a chicken fillet, a few strips of crispy bacon, a handful of lettuce and parmesan cheese, and one lone tomato slice. It was basically a skimpy chicken Caesar salad with no dressing, plus some bacon. The meal comes out to around 485 calories once you nix the dressing and bun, and it only has two grams of net carbs.

I truly had no idea how to eat this at first. Once I cut the chicken and bacon up with a knife and fork, I found the bacon to be overdone and dry. The chicken was moist and tasted fresh, but the meal itself was an overall disappointment. You would be better off ordering an actual salad.

The only salad I picked up for my keto feast gave its best effort, but it just wasn't good enough. From McDonald's, I ordered a Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad with no tortilla strips and no glaze, and I added two tablespoons of balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The dressed salad comes to 13 grams of carbs — mostly from the corn and beans — and 350 calories.

The beans and corn had adequate flavor but provided nothing exciting. The lettuce tasted straight out of a bag, and the chicken was flavorless. Overall, it was exactly what you would expect from a standard McDonald's salad.

The Double Baconator burger from Wendy's, which had the two buns swapped with lettuce leaves, fell in the middle of the pack. The restaurant made this option very easy to order at their mobile kiosk, and I was satisfied with what I was served.

A Double Baconator with no ketchup and no buns comes out to 760 calories and two grams of net carbs. This sandwich got the job done, but it didn't blow me away.

The lettuce leaves were large enough to handle the burger with ease, and I thought it tasted virtually the same as a bacon cheeseburger. In fact, I thought I tasted the salty bacon and juicy beef even more without the bun. However, despite being sandwiched between two lettuce leaves, the sandwich nevertheless tasted greasy and unhealthy.

The second-best keto item I tried came from Shake Shack. I ordered a single ShackBurger on a lettuce wrap and decided to add pickles and bacon to it. While a ShackBurger minus the bun comes to 400 calories usually, adding bacon resulted in an extra 70 calories.

The Shake Shack lettuce burger really impressed me with its leafy, fresh lettuce folds. The lettuce was by far the best of the sandwiches I tried. The bacon was crispy, the beef was juicy, and I honestly didn't really miss the buns. Plus, since Shack Sauce has zero net carbs, I was really able to load up on the creamy, savory goodness the chain is famous for.

While the other restaurants made valiant efforts, one came out on top: Chick-fil-A. I thought the grilled chicken nugget meal was the best keto option, even though it was incredibly simple. Since the nuggets are packed with lean protein, I found this to be a very satisfying and filling lunch. This meal tasted much healthier than the lettuce bacon burgers I tried, but was delicious nevertheless.

An eight-piece grilled nugget entrée has only 110 calories and two grams of net carbs. To pair with the nuggets, I chose two low-carb sauce options: zesty Buffalo (one gram) and avocado lime ranch dressing (three grams).

Paired with the Buffalo sauce, the nuggets tasted like Buffalo wings, minus the frying. I also loved the avocado lime ranch sauce. Having more than one delicious sauce option to choose from felt like a small victory.

If you're looking for a delicious, relatively healthy, and filling keto fast-food option that won't leave you weighed down by greasy bacon and cheese, you might want to make your way over to your nearest Chick-fil-A. Let's be honest — lettuce leaves are not, and never will be, the same as bread.

• Impeachment hearings began in Washington D.C. Wednesday and continue throughout November. 
• Amid the hearings, the stock market closed at a record high on both Wednesday and Thursday fueled by strong earnings. 
• Money managers are split on what impact the hearings have had on the market, and what impact they might have going forward. 
• Read more on Business Insider.

Public impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump began Wednesday in Washington D.C. with testimony from two top foreign-service officers. 

On Friday, Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, will be the third official to testify, followed by more key players who will testify later in November. The hearings center on whether or not the president strong-armed Ukraine to look into political rival Joe Biden. 

So far, the stock market has all but ignored the impeachment proceedings. The S&P 500 closed at a record high both Wednesday and Thursday, boosted by a better-than-expected earnings season that's sent stocks higher. 

Money managers interviewed by Markets Insider have mixed opinions on the impact the impeachment hearings have on the stock market. Some say that because it doesn't look like the hearings will lead to meaningful change, markets are largely looking past them.

Still, one said that even though markets look good right now, they'd be soaring higher if the uncertainty of the impeachment proceedings was removed. 

Going forward, there are other factors that are weighing on markets, the managers said, even with fresh highs. The US-China trade war continues to drag on, and even though a phase-one deal looks close, it's far from certain.

And there could be volatility in the markets leading up to the November 2020 presidential election, the managers said. A clear Democratic leader has yet to emerge, which adds uncertainty for investors. In addition, Wall Street has made it clear that it is not happy with progressive policies proposed by Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren.

Here's what three money managers said about the impeachment hearings and what they could mean for the stock market going forward: 

1. Greg Zappin, managing director and portfolio manager, Penn Mutual Asset Management: No "major impact on the market"

"I don't particularly think that the impeachment hearings and proceedings are going to have a major impact on the market," Greg Zappin of Penn Mutual Asset Management told Markets Insider in an interview. 

At the end of the day, the market is focused on earnings, earnings growth, recession fears, China trade issues, and the Federal Reserve, he said. 

Going forward, he said that the election in 2020 will be a bigger market mover than the impeachment hearings.

"I think the focus on who the democratic nominee is and what the policy prescriptions are, are going to really move the market. I think that's still the big thing," he said. This is because the level of policy change that could be coming will depend on the Democratic nominee and the election in 2020. 

2. Charles Lemonides, chief investment officer of ValueWorks: "A very real and serious headwind"

"What's happening in Washington right now is a very real and serious headwind for the markets. And it's a challenge for investors and it is suppressing valuations. It is keeping markets lower than they would otherwise be," Charles Lemonides of ValueWorks told Markets Insider in an interview. 

Once the challenge of the impeachment is removed, the market could go much higher, Lemonides said.

"The combined headwind of impeachment proceedings with the uncertainty of a presidential election and how that paralyzes people leaves one sort of impressed by the fact that the S&P is, you know, touching record highs," he said. 

"The takeaway for me is that yeah, if these negatives weren't there, these markets would be really, really robust." 

3. Thyra Zerhusen, chief investment officer of Fairpointe Capital: "It's not going to make huge changes right now"

"I think the impeachment is very important, but the population is very split and it's not going to make huge changes right now," Thyra Zerhusen of Fairpointe Capital told Markets Insider in an interview. 

"The uncertainty has been very damaging to the US manufacturing industry," she said. "So this is just one more uncertainty and at the end, maybe nothing will happen." 

As for the market, Zerhusen thinks it's "going to plug along until the elections," she said. Then, "the next big critical thing will be more who will be elected."

She continued: "And if we had somebody more steady that companies could make longer term decisions, that would definitely be a positive." 

• Before releasing White Claw, Canadian billionaire Anthony von Mandl built a fortune off of Mike's Hard Lemonade — and used that wealth to create an empire of fine wineries throughout British Columbia. 
• Von Mandl currently owns four wineries, including a $35 million estate that was visited by Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2016, according to Bloomberg.
• Von Mandl has been called "Tony Baloney" because of his talent for creating compelling stories to sell products, Business in Vancouver reported in 2014.
• The 69-year-old has a net worth of $3.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Billionaire Anthony von Mandl may now be known as one of Canada's best vintners, but he owes the majority of his still-growing fortune to two beverages generally considered more low-brow — Mike's Hard Lemonade and White Claw. 

Von Mandl's wineries have gotten him visits from Prince William and Kate Middleton and awards from Queen Elizabeth (among others), but it was the success of Mike's Hard Lemonade (launched in Canada in 1996 and brought to the American market in 1999) that first made him wealthy.

Now, his latest venture, hard seltzer brand White Claw, has become so popular that stores are struggling to keep it adequately stocked on their shelves.

Representatives of von Mandl's company, the Mark Anthony Group, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on von Mandl's career, net worth, or personal life from Business Insider.

Keep reading to learn more about von Mandl's life, career, and wealth.

SEE ALSO: Meet Zhang Yiming, the secretive, 35-year-old Chinese billionaire behind TikTok who made over $12 billion in 2018

DON'T MISS: 15 people who became billionaires in 2019 — and 14 who lost their status in the three-comma club

Von Mandl was born in Vancouver, Canada, but spent his childhood in Europe.

Von Mandl's parents were European immigrants, according to a biography on the website for one of his wineries, Mission Hill.

The family moved back to Europe when von Mandl was 9 years old, according to the biography. He later returned to Canada to attend the University of British Columbia, where he studied economics.

The winery's site does not specify which European country von Mandl's family is originally from or where in Europe he spent his adolescence.

Von Mandl first entered the alcohol business by selling imported wines from his car in Vancouver after graduating from college in the early 1970s, according to wine writer John Schreiner.

He also worked out of "a little office about the size of a cupboard in the back of a building," according to Schreiner.

Von Mandl then did an apprenticeship in wine-selling after college, which inspired him to open an importing business in Vancouver, according to his biography on his winery's website.

Through his importing business, von Mandl saved up enough money to buy his first vineyard, Mission Hill, at 31.

Von Mandl said in 2003 that, at the time, he wondered "if I had made the biggest mistake of my life" in buying the winery, Bloomberg reported.

Von Mandl also starting selling hard cider that he described as "awful" to help cover the cost of operating the winery, according to Business in Vancouver. Unlike other Canadian breweries, von Mandl did not reuse the glass bottles the cider was sold in and relied on other businesses' buyback programs to help his company meet national waste regulations. When breweries that previously used the same bottles as von Mandl stopped buying back the cider bottles, the Canadian government fined the business "several million dollars,"Business in Vancouver reported.

The financial strain of the bottle fiasco led von Mandl to start brewing a beer called Clark's Great Canadian Beer, according to Business in Vancouver. Von Mandl also opened another business on Annacis Island in British Columbia focused on sustainability called Turning Point Brewery.

Von Mandl's first major success in the industry was with Mike's Hard Lemonade.

"25% of guys didn't particularly want to drink beer, but couldn't be seen holding anything else in their hand," von Mandl said in a 2006 interview, according to Bloomberg. 

Mark Anthony Group calls Mike's, which was launched in Canada in 1996 and the US in 1999, "the world's first spirit cooler," according to Business in Vancouver. The company has since sold $1.6 billion of hard lemonade in the US, Bloomberg reported on November 8.

Mark Anthony Group sold the rights to its ready-to-drink brands in Canada (including Mike's Hard Lemonade) to Labatt Breweries for $350 million, or about $466 million Canadian, in 2015, but retained the rights to sell the beverages in the US market, which as of that time was "five times bigger" than sales in Canada.

Von Mandl's company is arguably now best known for the hard seltzer beloved by American "bros": White Claw.

White Claw, the dominant brand in the rapidly expanding hard seltzer category, has become the subject of a rising number of viral YouTube videos and memes poking fun at the popularity of the drink in places like fraternity houses, Business Insider's Bethany Biron previously reported.

The drink's success grew Mark Anthony Group into "America's fourth-largest beer company," the company said in a statement emailed to Bloomberg. The company also said its U.S. business has grown 85% in 2019 thus far.

White Claw is so popular that the company actually struggles to keep it in stock, Business Insider's Hayley Peterson previously reported. "We are working around the clock to increase supply given the rapid growth in consumer demand," Sanjiv Gajiwala, the senior vice president of marketing at White Claw, told Business Insider. "Despite reported shortages, we are excited to report that market share has continued to rise from 55% to 61% in just the past eight weeks."

A group of Business Insider reporters sampled White Claw and its strongest competitor, Truly, in September and "couldn't deny that Claw is the law."

The company owes its success to von Mandl's marketing prowess, his former business partner told Business In Vancouver.

Von Mandl is a "master" at creating compelling stories to bolster brands, Nick Clark told Business in Vancouver in 2014. Clark, von Mandel, and David Simms purchased their winery, Mission Hills Family Estate, together in 1981, and Clark remained an investor until 1988, Business in Vancouver reported.

Von Mandl named the company "Mark Anthony" because the name sounds "vaguely familiar" to most people, and not after a specific person, according to Business in Vancouver. 

"My kids, who knew the difference between fact and story, affectionately labeled him as Tony Baloney," Clark told Business in Vancouver.

His former business partner also claims that Von Mandl isn't known for his people skills.

The billionaire businessman is "unrelentingly impatient with people not equal to his station in life or stature," Clark told Business in Vancouver. 

Mission Hills had a "constantly revolving door of staff" during the years Clark worked there with von Mandl, Business in Vancouver reported.

Von Mandl is very confident that the White Claw craze isn't just a passing fad.

"The consumers flocking to White Claw today are not going to magically return to the mega-beer brands of yesterday," von Mandl said at a beer wholesalers convention in September, Bloomberg reported.

Von Mandl also estimated that White Claw will make Mark Anthony Group "close to $4 billion" in revenue in 2020, according to Bloomberg.

Von Mandl used the fortune he initially made from Mike's Hard Lemonade to further his growing empire of fine wineries in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada.

In addition to Mission Hill, von Mandl now also owns Checkmate Artisanal Winery, Martin's Lane Winery, and Cedar Creek Estate Winery.

Von Mandl's wineries are credited with having "transformed the wine industry in Canada," according to the website of Canada's Governor General.

Von Mandl showed Prince William and Kate Middleton around one of his wineries in 2016.

The visit was a part of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's 2016 Commonwealth tour, according to Bloomberg.

Mission Hill is a popular tourist destination in British Columbia, according to Business in Vancouver. Its restaurant was named one of the top five winery restaurants in the world by Travel + Leisure in 2009.

The magazine called Mission Hill "one of the most impressive wineries anywhere," citing the estate's amphitheater, 12-story bell tower, cooking classes, and the Chagall tapestry in the private dining room.

The property is worth $35 million, and von Mandl has invested over $26 million in it, according to Travel + Leisure.

William and Kate's visit wasn't the first time that von Mandl has received attention from royalty.

Von Mandl was awarded medals during Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee in 2002 and her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, according to Canada's Governor General.

He also received the Order of Canada, the country's second-highest honor, for his contributions to Canada's wine industry in 2016, according to Canada's Governor General.

Von Mandl's wife, Debra Gibson von Mandl, is a licensed acupuncturist.

Debra, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, has practiced acupuncture in Vancouver since 1996, according to her website. She uses Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique to treat patients with severe allergies with a 90% success rate, she told The Globe and Mail in 2002.

The couple has a son named Anthony Sebastian, according to von Mandl's biography on his former primary school's website.

The family lives in Vancouver's exclusive Point Grey neighborhood, which several other billionaires call home.

In 2017, The Globe and Mail's Brent Jang described the area as "a scenic street where many of the most expensive properties in British Columbia are located."

The von Mandl's neighbors include billionaire philanthropists Hassan and Nezhat Khosrowshahi, the aunt and uncle of Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, according to The Globe and Mail. The Khosrowshahis' property is worth $45.7 million, The Globe and Mail reported in 2017.

A 21,977-square-foot home on the von Mandl's street — 4743 Belmont Avenue — is currently on the market for over $43 million, according to Sotheby's Realty. That home features a private elevator, indoor pool, wine cellar, library, and 1.23 acres of land, the listing shows.

Billionaire Lululemon Athletica founder Chip Wilson lives in the most expensive house in British Columbia on a nearby street, according to The Globe and Mail.

• David Dobrik is a popular YouTuber known for his vlogs and antics with a group of creators dubbed the Vlog Squad.
• Dobrik got his start on the now-defunct video-sharing app Vine in 2013, and is now worth an estimated $7 million.
• Here's everything you need to know about the 23-year-old Dobrik, who was born in Slovakia and now has more than 14 million YouTube subscribers.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A 23-year-old YouTuber by the name of David Dobrik was recently named Generation Z's favorite social media personality in a survey from financial analyst firm Piper Jaffray.

If you're not a teen, it's possible you've never heard of the star. He's a celebrity that's risen to fame thanks to social media: He got launched into the spotlight on the video-sharing app Vine, and has since turned to YouTube, where he has more than 14 million subscribers.

Now, Dobrik has turned his empire into a net worth estimated at $7 million. His elaborate stunts and vlogs have earned him movie roles, a gig hosting the Teen Choice Awards, and a loyal fanbase.

Here's everything you need to know about David Dobrik, a Vine star-turned-YouTuber:

SEE ALSO: People are mourning the loss of Instagram's Following tab, which let users snoop on partners and keep tabs on celebrities

David Dobrik was born in Kosice, Slovakia, on July 23, 1996. He has three siblings named Ester, Sarah, and Toby.

Source: Famous Birthdays

Dobrik and his family immigrated to a suburb of Chicago when Dobrik was 6 years old. He attended Vernon Hills High School, where he played tennis.

Source: Famous Birthdays, Chicago Tribune

Because he moved to the US when he was 6, Dobrik is protected from deportation under the Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, that allows undocumented minors to live and work in the country. However, under President Donald Trump, those protections could be revoked.

Source: Tubefilter

After Dobrik graduated high school, his parents gave him a choice: go to college or move out. Dobrik chose to move to Los Angeles in 2013 with a few of his friends, and the group struggled to survive on cheap groceries like peanut butter and bread.

Source: Forbes

Around this time, Dobrik discovered an app called Vine, where users could create short six-second looping videos to share with others. He started out running a few different sports accounts from which he would upload sports highlights and clips. At that point, Dobrik estimates he was making $1,500 to $2,000 a month.

Source: Forbes

But Dobrik soon transitioned over to creating comedic Vine videos. He started teaming up with other funny people on Vine — a group that's come to be dubbed as the Vlog Squad. This includes other big-name former Vine stars and YouTubers like Scotty Sire, Toddy Smith, Gabbie Hanna, Josh Peck, and Zane Hijazi.

Source: We the Unicorns

As he continued to produce videos on Vine, Dobrik followed some of the platform's creators over to YouTube in 2015. But he couldn't afford to create elaborate productions and rent out massive sets like other lucrative influencers were doing in order to produce content.

Source: Forbes

That's when Dobrik met fellow Vine star Liza Koshy, who introduced him to vlogging — essentially, online video journals. "I really liked that it was a small camera and you could just record your whole day," Dobrik told Forbes. "I filmed my first vlog and I think it worked because I wasn’t trying to make it work. I was just doing it for my own enjoyment."

Source: Forbes

By November 2015, Dobrik and Koshy were dating. "Never have I ever gotten so comfortable being around a person as quickly as I did with her," Dobrik said on the couple's one-year anniversary. "I probably sound so repetitive talking about how lucky I am."

Source: Instagram

When Vine shut down in late 2016, Dobrik switched over full-time to YouTube, where he has two channels: David Dobrik, home to vlogs, and David Dobrik Too, where he puts his content featuring members of his Vlog Squad. Between the two channels, Dobrik has over 20 million subscribers.

Dobrik launched a podcast in mid-2017 with fellow Vlog Squad member Jason Nash. Called "Views," the podcast takes people behind the scenes of their vlogs and just features the crazy antics between the two.

Source: Tubefilter

Dobrik and Koshy announced in June 2018 they had split. They filmed an emotional video on YouTube about the mutual breakup, and told fans they couldn't be together because of personal issues. Despite no longer dating, the two remain best friends and still film videos together.

Source: Insider

Dobrik has turned his success on YouTube into big-screen gigs. He starred in the animated film "Angry Birds Movie 2," and hosted the Teen Choice Awards in August 2019 alongside "Pretty Little Liars" star Lucy Hale.

Dobrik and his Vlog Squad are known for the wild pranks they play on each other, and general mayhem wherever they go. Just this year, Dobrik married the mother of Vlog Squad member Jason Nash to successfully pull off a long-standing joke of becoming Nash's stepdad. The marriage lasted a full month.

Source: E! Online

Dobrik is worth an estimated $7 million. He owns a $2.5 million home in Los Angeles, which features an in-house recording studio and a multitude of cars, including a Tesla and Ferrari.

Source: Celebrity Net Worth, Architectural Digest

Dobrik has a full-time live-in assistant, his longtime best friend Natalie Noel. Rumors have swirled that the two are dating, but the two haven't confirmed that.

Source: Cosmopolitan

Dobrik is now a judge, along with Ciara and Debbie Gibson, on "America's Most Musical Family," a Nickelodeon singing competition.

Source: AOL

• Melissa Petro is a freelance writer, teacher, wife, and mother living in New York City.
• In college, she worked as a sex worker. Later in life, when she became an elementary school teacher, she was forced to resign after administrators were alerted to her writing about sex work.
• She says that working as a stripper and call girl prepared her for knowing what she wanted in a marriage — a partner who would invest equally in a relationship. 
• Being misunderstood as a sex worker also prepared her for the hostility and misunderstanding leveled against mothers. And it helped her when it came to hustling to get all of the jobs of motherhood done, and being honest about what she was experiencing.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.  

People want strippers, prostitutes, and porn stars to leave the industry. But when we do, they shun us. 

The loss of my career as a elementary school teacher in 2010— when the media alerted school administrators to the fact that I was writing and sharing stories about working as a stripper and call girl prior to becoming a teacher — makes my point all too salient. Even though my competence as a school teacher was never called into question, I was humiliated in the media — all while parents who'd never met me clutched their pearls and clucked their tongues. 

Certainly, in the eyes of many people, sex workers are not "marriage material." They're unfit to be around young people. Yet, rather than disqualifying me, sex work prepared me for my life as a wife and mom. 

Four years after the loss of my teaching job, I met and married my husband. A year later, we had our first child. I am currently pregnant with my second baby. Though my life looks very different today, my past will always be a part of me. 

Working as a stripper and call girl more than paid for my education — it was an education in and of itself. As a result of my unique journey, I've learned a lot, including one big lesson: Mothering and sex work are two of the hardest jobs that a woman can do — and the ways both mothers and sex workers are compelled to stay silent about our realities makes these difficult jobs that much harder.

SEE ALSO: My husband and I have a 'family meeting' every week, and it saved our marriage after I became a mom

I knew what I wanted from a marriage

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted the kind of "normal" family I'd never had growing up. Then, in college, I needed cash fast while living as a student abroad: I became a sex worker, starting as a stripper while living abroad in Oaxaca, Mexico. 

With that one impulsive decision, my dream of normalcy felt forever compromised. Yet, the actual job duties were surprisingly familiar.  

As a stripper, you get paid to do the emotional labor women are expected to perform for free. Men paid me to sit silently and listen while they complained about their jobs or talked trash about an ex. Working as a call girl was similar: Much of the job was emotional, rather than physical labor. The sex itself was not very different than encounters I'd had as a civilian. Sometimes pleasurable, it was much more often unmemorable.

By the time I met my husband, I was tired of putting men's needs first. I wanted a partner prepared to invest as much in our relationship as I would. I wanted a healthy sexual relationship. There's a stereotype that women don't enjoy sex as much as men do, and the men I met professionally often complained about their "frigid" wives. As a wife, I would have no problem pleasing my husband — but I expected to enjoy our sex life, too. 

I found all that when I met Arran. Unlike men I'd dated before him, Arran was relatively understanding when it came to my sexual past. With our marriage, I felt a certain level of social acceptance — until motherhood ushered in a whole new host of misconceptions.

I got used to being misunderstood

Sex work defines the people who do it more than any occupation. No matter the realities of our experiences, we are thought of as victims and as inherently damaged — either before or as a result of our profession. Current and former sex workers are considered a danger to society and unfit for serious public service. Stereotypes like these cost me my career. These days, stigma leveraged at sex workers threatens my relationship to my children. 

Without a doubt, the sex industry — and women who participate in it — are uniquely misunderstood; but modern motherhood, too, is cloaked in misconception. 

As author Sady Doyle observed for Elle, mothers are caricatured as either magical or miserable. We're either — as Doyle puts it— "the glowing, selfless Madonna who spends every minute in rapt contemplation of her child's perfection," or else we are "the harried, frazzled, three-days-without-a-shower woman who tromps through life in sweatpants covered in baby urine and milky spit-up." 

While mothers who work outside the home are misunderstood, stay-at-home moms fight their own host of stereotypes. As a stay-at-home mom, I'm painted as a lazy, self-indulgent woman who spends her idle days lunching with fellow unemployed mommies, or frittering away her hardworking husband's salary on shopping. The stay-at-home mom — much like the "high-class hooker"— is a lightning rod for class resentments, never mind the fact that I was as economically coerced into surrendering my career as I was situationally compelled into selling sex. 

Initially, I was bewildered by the animus aimed at mothers, but I've learned to handle the hostility in stride — just as I've learned to cope with the hatred aimed at sex workers.

I learned how to hustle

Prior to full-time parenting, I assumed it would be easy. Instead, fantasies of relaxed days spent introducing my infant to educational toys while baking homemade bread and beautifying my home, then working on my own career while he napped, failed to reflect my experience. Full-time mothering — like stripping and prostitution — is hard work. 

Thanks to having worked in the sex industry, I know how to hustle. When Oscar was still an infant, I could do the dishes, feed the baby, change him twice, make the bed, and fold a good portion of the laundry all before his first nap. My first year and a half of parenting flew by, a blur of momming and chores. It was nonstop eight to six, at which point my husband came home and we'd split the "second shift." 

Sex work taught me how to do it all while wearing the reassuring smile my toddler relies on. What's more, my former career helped me long ago get over any prudishness related to my body. Parenting boards are shockingly priggish, whereas I had no problem asking an online mommy group about hormone-related vaginal dryness. As an infant, when Oscar would act up in public, I'd have no qualms about whipping out a boob. 

I'm a good mom not in spite, but because, of my sex work past. I'm not perfect. No mom is — and we shouldn't have to pretend to be.

I learned the importance of honesty

When it comes to parenting, everyone's got an opinion on everything, from breast versus bottle to how much screen time a child gets (if any), and whether or not it's traumatic to let a baby "cry it out." Much like the issue of women's participation in the sex industry, the mommy wars have pit woman against woman, and mommy shaming is rampant. 

You'd think — having been unfairly judged my entire adult life — I'd have learned how to tune out unfair criticism. Instead, as a former sex worker turned momma, I initially struggled with fear that I wasn't doing it right, and guilt anytime I felt anything less than ecstatic. I had everything I always wanted, and so I often thought, I ought to be happy. 

While current and former sex workers are uniquely scrutinized, I suspect most women with children are far too influenced by the myth of the perfect mother, an idealization increasingly out of reach. We moms struggle. Yet anytime we express anything less than absolute contentment, we are told to "Be grateful" and "Enjoy every second" because "The days are long but the years are short and they grow up so fast." 

Moms don't want sentimentality, bunches of flowers, and brunch one day a year. Like sex workers, we want legislative victories that protect our rights and afford us more freedoms. We want freedom from pregnancy discrimination and more family-friendly workplaces. Give us affordable childcare options and tax credits to support full-time parenting, so that moms like me truly have a choice whether we return to work or stay home with our kids. In the meantime, we want commiserations from other women in the trenches and practical strategies for surviving the years. 

Most of all, give us space to make sense of our experiences. 

Over a decade ago, I found the courage to face society's misconceptions and talk openly about my experiences in the sex industry. These days, in spite of the risk I'll be cast as a bad mother, I am honest about my experiences as a mother. But for my provocative history, I am in every way your typical wife and mom: relatively satisfied, grateful, #blessed ... but also overworked and exhausted, burnt out, under constant surveillance, and yet utterly invisible, just as I felt when I sold sex.

• Supermarket sushi is usually far from gourmet.
• But when I sampled all the fresh food at the new Wegmans supermarket in Brooklyn, the sushi absolutely blew me away.
• With its generous cuts of fresh, high-quality fish for supermarket prices, I'd go back to Wegmans again and again, just for its sushi.
• Sign up for Business Insider's retail newsletter, The Drive-Thru, to get more stories like this in your inbox. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

One doesn't expect much from a box of supermarket sushi.

Along with gas stations and convenience stores, supermarkets don't inspire much confidence when it comes to the quality of their raw fish. 

But Wegmans is all about shattering expectations of what a supermarket can offer. I'm no sushi expert, but I do love a nice hunk of raw fish on some vinegary rice now and then. Maybe slap on some seaweed. My price range is cheap to medium-cheap sushi, so it's not like I've had the of top-of-the-line stuff.  This is the review of a sushi lover who can't really afford to love sushi.

I recently made my first sojourn to the family-owned supermarket chain Wegmans, a New England cult favorite that opened its first New York location in September. After traipsing through aisles filled with affordable quality goods, I ended my trip with a five-course food court fiesta culminating in, of course, sushi.

SEE ALSO: I ate everything at Ikea's restaurant, and this was by far the best dish

The sushi fridge was filled with rolls, nigiri, sashimi, and even tataki — a high-end touch. Chefs will make you fresh sushi if you ask, but I was impatient.

I grabbed a sushi deluxe set for $21, which is a lot more than I'd normally pay for a supermarket sushi set.

But this one had a couple of certified stunners, like a piece of uni, or sea urchin — one of the most highly prized sushi.

The quality of the fish also looked incredible. Each piece was shiny and smooth, and it looked quite fresh.

Real wasabi is so expensive it's almost never served at American sushi restaurants. Wegmans clearly takes pride that it does serve it.

At most American sushi restaurants, the "wasabi" isn't made out of Japanese horseradish. It's usually made with cheaper kinds of horseradish and green dye.

This is in line with Wegmans' ethos, which is very focused on local and sustainable food. Its Japanese culinary team is stacked with Japanese culinary talent.

Source: Wegmans website

And I could taste the difference. The fish roe were not at all fishy. They were fresh.

I'd only had uni once before at a Japanese restaurant, and it tasted like trash water. But this uni was delicate, subtle, and reminiscent of sea foam.

Every single piece of fish was fresh, butter-soft, and completely sinew-free. The sushi beds were compact, and the rice was perfectly seasoned.

There was fatty tuna, lean maguro, wild salmon, farmed salmon, squid, and many other fish I couldn't identify. They were all perfect.

I cleaned my plate. At $21, it wasn't cheap. But it was incredible value for the caliber of sushi I was getting. Next time when I crave some raw fish, I might skip the restaurants and just head to my local Wegmans.

• Uber's bumpy ride in the public markets continued during the third quarter. 
• Shares of the ride-hailing giant fell another 34% during the period as investors shied away from growth stocks associated with money-losing companies. 
• Several of the hedge funds backing the stock held onto their shares during the quarter, absorbing millions in losses on paper. 
• Here are some of the biggest funds that took heavy losses on their Uber stakes last quarter. 
• Watch Uber trade live on Markets Insider.

Uber's stock struggled to pick up steam during the third quarter. 

Shares fell 34% during the period, dropping more than 7% in a single day, after bottom-line losses of more than $1 billion overshadowed its third-quarter revenue beat.  

The ride-hailing giant has had a difficult time finding its footing since entering the public markets in May as investors push back on money-losing business models. But that hasn't stopped hedge funds from standing pat with their positions. Some even piled more into the company's shares. 

Hedge funds are required to disclose their ownership stakes in public companies on a quarterly basis through 13F filings. 

Most of the firms included on the list below maintained the size of their stakes in Uber throughout the quarter. One fund added shares, but the value of the stake still fell because of the decline in the company's share price. 

Here are some of the largest hedge funds that got stung by their stakes in Uber during the third quarter, ordered by increasing size of losses.

5. Lone Pine Capital

Shares owned: 3 million 

Value of stake at the start of Q3: $125 million

Value of stake at the end of Q3: $84.8 million

Amount lost: -$40.3 million

Source: SEC filings

4. Tiger Global Management

Shares owned: 6.66 million 

Value of stake at the start of Q3: $309 million 

Value of stake at the end of Q3: $203 million 

Amount lost: -$106 million

Source: SEC filings

3. Coatue Management

Shares owned: 10.46 million

Value of stake at the start of Q3: $485 million 

Value of stake at the end of Q3: $318 million 

Amount lost: -$166 million

Source: SEC filings

2. Viking Global Investors

Shares owned at the start of Q3: 13.37 million 

Shares owned at the end of Q3: 14.5 million

Shares added: 1.1 million 

Value of stake at the start of Q3: $620 million  

Value of stake at the end of Q3: $441 million 

Amount lost: -$178 million

Source: SEC filings

1. Dragoneer Investment Group

Shares owned: 21.26 million

Value of stake at the start of Q3: $986 million 

Value of stake at the end of Q3: $648 million 

Amount lost: -$338 million

Source: SEC filings

• Automotive research firm iSeeCars.com created a list of the 10 sports cars that boast the lowest depreciation rates.
• The Porsche 911 coupe tops the list; it lost 37.2% of its value, or about $53,595, over a five-year period.  
• The list also includes Nissans, Subarus, and a Ford, a Dodge, Chevrolet, and Mazda.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The automotive research firm iSeeCars.com has compiled a list of 10 sports cars that have the best resale value due to their low depreciation rates.

The average depreciation of cars over their first five years is 49.6%, according to the firm. For sports cars, it's 48%. However, these 10 cars depreciate between 47.2% to 37.2%. 

The cars on this list — with the exception of the two Porsche 911s and the Nissan GT-R — have an MSRP under $40,000.

 "Because of the relative affordability of these vehicles in the sports car segment, they don't depreciate as steeply as their six-figure counterparts," iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly said in a statement.

"These are also popular sports car models, so there is a high demand for them in the used car marketplace."

iSeeCars.com analyzed the prices of over 6.9 million new cars for the study, which also includes pickup trucks, SUVS, and noncategorized cars from the 2014 model year also sold that year. These prices were compared to more than 800,000 used cars from the same model year sold between January to October 2019. The "used" prices were adjusted 7.9% for inflation.

Keep scrolling to see which sports cars depreciate the least:

SEE ALSO: These are the 10 SUVs that have the best resale value 5 years after purchase

10. Mazda MX-5 Miata: 47.2%. Difference: $15,307.

9. Nissan 370Z: 46.7%. Difference: $17,988.

8. Chevrolet Camaro: 45.8%. Difference: $15,765.

7. Subaru BRZ: 45.0%. Difference: $13,905.

6. Dodge Challenger: 44.4%. Difference: $15,337.

5. Ford Mustang: 44.4%. Difference: $14,252.

4. Porsche 911 (Convertible): 42.0%. Difference: $61,430.

3. Subaru Impreza WRX: 40.0%. Difference: $13,659.

2. Nissan GT-R: 39.4%. Difference: $44,476.

1. Porsche 911 (Coupe): 37.2%. Difference: $53,595.

• Finding the right gifts for the men in your life can be extremely hard, so we rounded up gifts that they'll definitely like.
• Each gift is available on Amazon and under $100, so they're easy to purchase, and they won't break your bank.
• For more gift ideas, you can find all of our 2019 holiday gift guides here.

If you asked your friends and family, they'd probably say that buying gifts for him — whether that's a boyfriend, dad, father-in-law, or brother — can be the most difficult out of everyone. What does he need, or what does he want?

Trying to find the right gift when none seem ideal also tends to make procrastinators out of the best of us. That's when most of us turn to the convenient, fast, reliable perks of shopping on Amazon and its mountains of options. 

To make sifting through easier, you'll find 28 gifts for him below that won't cost you more than $100, but that he's sure to like.

Most of these items are available with free one-day or two-day shipping if you have Amazon Prime, so you don't have to stress over when it will arrive.

• A minimalist leather wallet: Bellroy Low Slim Leather Wallet
• A smart speaker with a clock: Echo Dot 3rd Generation
• A versatile iPhone case: Scooch Wingman
• A portable waterproof Bluetooth speaker: JBL Flip 4
• A beard and body trimmer for a comfortable shave: Philips Norelco OneBlade
• A few big bricks of soap: Duke Cannon Men's Big Brick of Soap WWII Era Collection
• A charging dock for his iPhone and Apple Watch: Belkin Powerhouse Charge Dock
• An 8-inch tablet for surfing the internet and streaming: Fire HD 8 16GB Tablet with Alexa
• An old-school safety razor: Gillette Heritage-Inspired Double Edge Safety Razor
• A fun fidget toy: Speks Original Magnetic Balls
• An Alexa-enabled smart display: Echo Show 8
• A sandalwood-scented shaving kit: Art of Shaving Men's Sandalwood Mid-Size Kit
• A Tile Mate that will help him never lose his phone or wallet again: Tile Mate
• A popular multitool: Leatherman Wingman
• A voice-enabled TV streaming stick: Fire TV Stick 4K
• A specialty beer-making kit: Mr. Beer Premium Craft Making Kit
• Year-round access to fresh herbs: Click & Grow Smart Indoor Garden
• A durable 6-foot iPhone cable: Anker 6-foot Charging Cable
• A turntable for his growing record collection: Audio-Technica Fully Automatic Stereo Turntable
• A beard grooming kit to keep him looking neat: Rapid Beard Grooming & Trimming Kit
• Some of the best headphones you can find for $100: Status Audio BT One Wireless Headphones
• The most comfortable travel pillow: Trtl Pillow
• A hilarious coffee-table book: "F in Exams"
• A smart outlet for upgrading his smart home: Wemo Mini WiFi-Enabled Smart Plug
• A dry box for waterproof protection outdoors: OtterBox DRYBOX 3250 Series
• An Alexa-Enabled car charger: Roav Viva Pro
• The internet's most popular cooker: Instant Pot DUO80
• A soap bar that can bring dingy clothes back to life: The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar

A minimalist leather wallet

Bellroy Low Slim Leather Wallet, $75

Replace his tired and tattered wallet with this slim leather billfold from Insider Picks' favorite wallet brand Bellroy. It's made with ethically sourced leather that will age wonderfully, lasting many years.

A smart speaker with a clock

Echo Dot 3rd Gen with clock, $59.99

With a digital clock now integrated into the design, the newest Echo Dot is more convenient than ever. He can use it as an alarm clock, an audio streamer, and to unlock all of Alexa's other skills.

A versatile iPhone case

Scooch Wingman case, $39.99: iPhone 11 | iPhone 11 Pro | iPhone 11 Pro Max

If he's getting a new iPhone this holiday season, a durable case is an essential accessory. The Scooch Wingman is a military-grade case that has a built-in grip, kickstand, and car dash mount. To learn why it's the only case I'll use on my phone, read my full review. 

A portable waterproof Bluetooth speaker

JBL Flip 4, $89.99

Perfect for the adventurous man, the JBL Flip 4 is rugged, portable, and waterproof. He can use it while camping in the backcountry, fishing at the lake, or even while he's swimming.

A beard and body trimmer for a comfortable shave

Philips Norelco OneBlade Face + Body Trimmer, $39.95

What separates the Philips Norelco OneBlade from other trimmers and shavers is the unique blade. It uses a fast-moving OneBlade cutter with a dual-protection system on both ends. The base of the blade will contour to his face, allowing for a comfortable shave or trim without irritation — and it works for wet or dry shaving.

A few big bricks of soap

Duke Cannon Big Brick of Soap WWII Era Collection, $34.95

Duke Cannon is a military-inspired men's grooming brand that helps support veterans and active service members by donating a portion of all proceeds. Even if the man you're shopping for isn't a serviceman, he'll appreciate the smell and massive size of these soap bars.

A charging dock for his iPhone and Apple Watch

Belkin Powerhouse Charge Dock for Apple Watch and iPhone, $79.99

Sure, you could give him a regular charging cord to juice up his phone, but a charging dock is often more convenient and definitely cooler. This one in particular also comes with a convenient place to charge his Apple Watch, too. 

An 8-inch tablet for surfing the internet and streaming

Fire HD 8 16GB Tablet with Alexa, $79.99

With an 8-inch 1080p full HD screen, the Fire HD Tablet is the perfect size for surfing the web, checking emails, and streaming videos.  He'll get lots of use out of it whether he's at home or on the go. 

An old-school safety razor

 Gillette Heritage-Inspired Double Edge Safety Razor, $34.99

For lovers of that old-school shaving experience, the Gillette Heritage-Inspired Safety Razor makes a great stocking stuffer. The chrome-plated razor draws its inspiration from the Gillette's original 1929 safety razor and comes packed in a small leather-bound case. 

A fun fidget toy

Speks Original Magnetic Balls, $24.95

If he likes to fidget and play with things throughout the day, Speks magnets are an extremely satisfying option. He can use them to build different shapes, structures, or string them together in a line.

An Alexa-enabled smart display

Echo Show 8, $99.99

Help him stay connected to the world by gifting him the new Echo Show 8. This smart display is good for video chatting with friends and family, checking the news, and controlling smart home devices like robot vacuums, security systems, and more. 

A sandalwood-scented shaving kit

Art of Shaving Men's Sandalwood Mid-Size Kit, $60

This four-piece shaving set is great for any guy trying to manage his five o'clock shadow; he just needs to supply his favorite razor. If he's on the fence about scented shaving products, know that the sandalwood scent isn't too strong, and most men will like it.

A Tile Mate that will help him never lose his phone or wallet again

Tile Mate, $18.64

He can place this tracker in his wallet, bag, or phone case to make sure he never loses his things, because if he does, the Tile app makes it easy to retrace.

A popular multitool

Leatherman Wingman Multitool, $59.95

Leatherman is a well-respected company, and they're especially well-known for making multi-tools like this one. It has 14 tools including a knife, pliers, screwdrivers, a ruler, and both bottle and can openers hidden inside it.

A voice-enabled TV streaming stick

Fire TV Stick 4K, Alexa-Enabled Voice Remote, $49.99

The all-new Fire TV Stick has a new Wi-Fi antenna design optimized for 4K Ultra HD streaming and more storage for apps and games. Essentially, though, it's still your standard media streaming stick, and can convert a dumb TV into a smart one that can stream Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and more. It's Alexa-enabled, too, so you can control it by voice — turning the volume up on your sound bar and dimming the lights simultaneously.

A specialty beer-making kit

Mr. Beer Premium Craft Making Kit, $43.46

If he's one of those guys that either is or will one day be holed up in the garage making specialty beers, he's going to love this DIY kit. It includes everything he'll need to get started, including bottles.

Year-round access to fresh herbs

Click & Grow Smart Indoor Garden, $99.95

Does he like to cook and prefer to do so with fresh herbs? This mini indoor garden comes with its own perfect ecosystem for year-round growth, meaning little effort on his part and constant access to some of his favorite ingredients — just the way he likes them.

A durable 6-foot iPhone cable

Anker 6-foot Charging Cable, $18.99

It's something every one of us will feel grateful for a couple of times per day, but always put off buying for ourselves: a durable, 6-foot-long charging cable.

A turntable for his growing record collection

Audio-Technica Fully Automatic Stereo Turntable, $99

Help him rediscover his favorite classic records with this affordable, fully automatic belt-drive turntable. If you're feeling extra generous, pick up a record he doesn't have or sign him up for a subscription to Vnyl.

A beard grooming kit to keep him looking neat

Rapid Beard Grooming & Trimming Kit, $24.97

This bestselling beard grooming kit isn't messing around, and it's reliant upon 100% natural and organic ingredients like argan oil, jojoba oil, and vitamin E. It makes grooming, trimming, shaping, and taming easier.

Some of the best headphones you can find for $100

Status Audio BT One Wireless On-Ear Headphones, $99

The perfect pair of over-ear headphones are both highly comfortable and have sound great. For $99, this pair from Status Audio is among the best you'll find at this price point. 

The most comfortable travel pillow

Trtl Pillow, $29.99

It looks gimmicky, but it's not. This is the best travel pillow on the internet in our opinion, and while it won't convince you that you're sleeping on a feather bed, it will make sleeping in an upright position far more enjoyable. If he travels, this is a thoughtful one.

A hilarious coffee table book

"F in Exams," $6.20

This is a great gift for the person who can laugh at the little things in life, or for anyone who works as a teacher. It's a collection of hilarious wrong test answers that is sure to keep them laughing.

A smart outlet for upgrading his smart home

Wemo Mini WiFi-Enabled Smart Plug, $22.99

Isn't controlling everything in your house by voice so you never have to get up kind of the dream? These Wi-Fi- and Alexa-enabled outlets make that a reality. Plug them in, download the app, and you can control your lights and appliances from your phone and your voice.

A dry box for waterproof protection outdoors

OtterBox DRYBOX 3250 Series, $39.99

This rugged case is basically like a tiny storage box, protecting not only their phone but also their keys, wallet, and other small essentials. It's even waterproof up to 90 feet for 30 minutes, making it perfect for outdoor adventures.

An Alexa-enabled car charger

Roav Viva Pro Alexa-Enabled 2-Port USB Car Charger, $35.99

Give their car a smart upgrade with the Alexa-enabled Roav Viva Pro. Not only can the device charge his smartphone, but it can also answer questions about the weather or traffic, play music, and even tell him the news.

The internet's most popular cooker

Instant Pot DUO80, $99

The Instant Pot is one of the most versatile appliances you can add to your kitchen for under $100. Help him make delicious home-cooked meals a cinch, even when he has to work late.

A soap bar that can bring dingy clothes back to life

The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar, $5.38

Pop this stain remover bar in their stocking or as an additional gift. It's an early Insider Picks favorite — it's relatively cheap and works exceptionally well. The Laundress Wash & Stain Bar is one of the only things that can bring white clothes back from the brink of donation piles, as we've attested in our roundup of the best things we bought on Amazon under $25.

Looking for more gift ideas? We've got you covered.

• Our master list of every gift guide you'll ever need
• Creative gift ideas under $25
• Thoughtful gift ideas under $50
• Clever gift ideas under $100
• Cool stocking stuffers on Amazon
• Affordable tech gifts under $25
• Thoughtful gifts for her, all under $50
• Cool gifts for him on Amazon

• Tiny houses are basically New York City apartments on wheels.
• I've experienced both myself: I live in Manhattan and recently stayed in a tiny house in the Catskills.
• Both NYC apartments and tiny houses are notoriously small and involve amenity trade-offs.
• Compared to the tiny house, my apartment may have a living room, but my bed is smaller, my windows are fewer, and my bathroom storage space is basically non-existant.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Welcome to my abode.

It's roughly 700 square feet, in Manhattan's Upper East Side, and has no washing machine or dishwasher. That makes it, basically, a tiny house in the sky — without some of the amenities tiny houses are most famous for.

Think panoramic windows, natural lighting, and the ability to take your home with you wherever you go.

I would know: I recently visited Think Big! A Tiny House Resort in the Catskills, about two hours north of Manhattan, and stayed in a tiny house for three days. It wasn't the tight squeeze I anticipated, and I quickly realized why: It was essentially my apartment, but in the middle of the woods.

They're both small spaces that necessitate some physical trade-offs. You have to be resourceful in both to make the most of your space.

Of course, there are differences, like the lifestyle each dwelling enables, as well as cost — the median monthly rent in New York City is $2,900, while median cost of a tiny house is nearly $60,000.

But physically speaking, I can now say that tiny houses are basically NYC apartments on wheels. Here's why.

SEE ALSO: I've been writing about tiny homes for a year and finally spent 2 nights in a 300-foot home to see what it's all about — here's how it went

DON'T MISS: I stayed at a tiny house resort in the Catskills for three days, and it was the perfect getaway for burned-out NYC millennials who need to recharge

As Business Insider's millennial wealth reporter, I've been covering the intersection of money and the lifestyles of today's most controversial generation. That has meant deep dives into topics like student debt, millennials' attempts to catch up financially, and early retirement.

But it's also meant that I've chronicled some of the trends millennials love most — think plants, VSCO girls, wellness, and, of course, tiny houses.

I've interviewed a Colorado man who designs tiny homes for a living and built his dream tiny house; talked to tiny house dwellers about what it's really like downsizing; and interviewed couples who have taken on a minimalist lifestyle about how it's affected their budgets.

But one thing I had not done, until recently, was actually stayed in a tiny house myself.

In October, that finally changed when I took a trip upstate to the Catskills and spent two nights in a tiny house. It was a fun experience — but honestly, it didn't feel all that different to stay in a tiny house and my tiny NYC apartment.

I live in a pre-war building in Manhattan's Upper East Side. Like many streets in the area, it's pretty noisy and tree lined.

My apartment is a fifth-floor walk-up (that means no elevator and four flights of stairs). It's classified as a four-room apartment with two bedrooms; I have one roommate.

The management company didn't respond to my request when I inquired about square footage, but an internet search yielded a listing for another two-bedroom apartment in the same building at a similar price: It's 700 square feet.

Please, step on in to my living room. Don't mind the futon — I've yet to be a real adult and upgrade to a couch.

Like most living rooms, mine serves as the focal point of the apartment — you need to walk through it to get anywhere else. It's part of an open floorplan with the kitchen.

Along one wall is space for an entertainment center (and a much bigger TV, if we wanted one).

The TV is useful when my roommate and I want to watch a game or a movie together, but it's not necessary — I usually watch TV in my bed on my laptop.

My living room only has one window, and it yields a classic NYC view: The apartment building next door and the garbage cans in between them.

Like most NYC apartments, this doesn't allow for a lot of natural lighting — something you'll notice in the darker quality of the apartment photos I took.

Even when it's sunny out, the buildings can block the light. I frequently assume it's a rainy day when it's not.

Now here's the Catskills tiny home I visited in October, when I traded in sirens for crickets for a weekend. It looks like a world away, but it's actually not too different from my apartment.

The Catskills are about two hours north of Manhattan. This tiny house, called the Little Bear, is 269 square feet and nestled in the woods in a very serene setting — a far cry from the city's hustle and bustle. I stayed here for three days.

It's part of Think Big! A Tiny House Resort. The resort's owners, Margie and Melissa, work with Escape Homes to design the tiny houses themselves. They find a way to use "every nook and cranny," Melissa told me, adding that "everything serves a purpose; everything's utilized."

The living area accounted for one of the biggest differences between my apartment and the tiny house: My tiny house didn't have a living room. The central living space consisted of a kitchen and dining area, with no room for a couch.

The interior was rustic, but it was also more modern than my circa-1910 apartment.

If you live by yourself, a lack of living room may not be a downside in a tiny house. But if you have guests or a roommate, you'd likely want a space to socialize.

Take it from me: I once subleased a New York City apartment that didn't have a living room. After I moved into my current apartment, I realized what a difference not having one made. I hated that my bed was the only place where I could relax.

But the tiny house wasn't without an entertainment center. The TV was placed at the foot of the main bed — a convenient location, in my opinion.

There was shelving for knick-knacks, much like my entertainment center has.

The tiny house even has something my entertainment center lacks: a heated electric furnace that functions as a (fake) fireplace.

The tiny house's panoramic windows, which boasted beautiful autumnal views of the sky and trees, put my apartment's sliver of a window to shame.

With so much natural light, there was no need to turn on the lights inside.

Comparing the two kitchens shows how differently space gets used. There's a window in my kitchen, but there's also a notable lack of counter space. Only a sliver of it exists to the left of the stove.

The setup is not ideal for cooking, especially because that counter space is often taken up by drying dishes.

Luckily, we have a kitchen peninsula, which offers up more counter space. But this also doubles as a dining table — when my roommate is eating and I'm cooking, or vice versa, it can be a tight squeeze.

We were able to add some extra counter space with a bar cart, which actually, as you can see, serves as a pots and pans cart.

The kitchen storage space in my apartment isn't bad — there are seven cabinets and six drawers in my kitchen.

For us, it's the right amount of space; nothing's crammed, and two of the drawers are actually empty.

Where my kitchen falls short is in appliances — the fridge, oven, and microwave aren't standard sizes.

Granted, the microwave doesn't come with the apartment the way a fridge and oven do. We could get a bigger microwave if we really wanted to.

The miniature size of the microwave and fridge don't bother me; the oven, however, does. Its small space can make it difficult for my roommate and I to cook at the same time, and the stove gets crowded. I often cook food on a toaster oven tray.

But if the oven were bigger, we'd have even less counter space.

Here's my NYC fridge. It's a tight space for two.

In the tiny house, the counter space wasn't exactly ample either — but there was still more of it.

A square dining table across from the kitchen provided some extra counter space, but that, too, was relatively small.

There were six cabinet doors and four drawers in the tiny house kitchen, as well as a shelf — and they seemed to fit all the necessities quite nicely.

The upper cabinets weren't all that different from one another: There was plenty of space in each for dishes.

The kitchen amenities were far bigger in the tiny house. The oven was much more spacious.

Yes, I am aware that the tiny house's oven was also cleaner than my old-fashioned one.

And I could probably fit my entire fridge into the tiny house fridge if I removed its shelves.

That brings me to the bathroom. My bathroom is basically a square with one cabinet under the sink and one medicine cabinet.

Luckily, we have a linen closet in the "hallway" where we can store things like towels.

The tiny house takes the gold in the bathroom: It was full of storage. There were two cabinets above the sink and a row of cabinets — plus drawers — underneath it.

Who needs a linen closet when you have all of this space?

Both the toilets and full-size shower tubs in my apartment and tiny house were about the same size.

But what's really important is the bedroom. Like most NYC apartments, my bedroom is small. I crammed a full-size bed against three walls to create space.

There is one very thin window. Even though it was light out when I took this shot, I still needed my lamp on for this picture.

The optimal time for natural lighting in my bedroom is in the middle of the afternoon, but in the tiny house, it's all day.

There's not much room for a dresser in my bedroom, but I made it work.

Tiny houses aren't the only dwellings that require downsizing.

When I moved from Florida to New York, sacrifices were made. I had to get rid of my long, six-drawer dresser and queen-sized bed because I knew they wouldn't fit in a NYC apartment.

I can live with the full-sized bed in my apartment. What really matters is the closet space — and that, at last, is where my tiny apartment wins out.

This is not my dream closet by any means. It is not big enough to fit my full wardrobe. Part of my wardrobe is stored under my bed, which sits on a 16-inch high bed frame.

I also keep some clothes in other places in my apartment — my coats and some of my shoes have a home on their respective racks in our entryway. 

That's not to mention the clothes I have at my parents' house in Florida; I try to bring some back with me every time I visit.

In terms of accessibility, the bed in the tiny house was also accessible from one side and one side only — but it's a queen bed! That would take up too much room in my own bedroom. And note the difference in the window size.

Because of the limited point of access, I found both beds equally inconvenient to make in the morning.

If this queen-sized bed isn't to your liking, there were also two full-size, lofted beds in the tiny house.

This was the only closet space in the tiny house. All I have to say is: yikes. For the first time, I felt grateful for my small NYC closet space.

That said, not all tiny houses have closets, so it's nice this even had one.

If you prefer to rent your clothes, this may not be a deal breaker. But I am not ready to downsize my wardrobe or curb my shopping habits. 

It's a lot better than the single dresser drawer under the tiny house bed, though.

I could fit my jeans in here — but what would I do with all my gym clothes, t-shirts, and pajamas?

Ultimately, there are pros and cons when comparing an NYC apartment and a tiny house. On a basic level, both are small and require downsizing and trade-offs in space.

The kitchen storage and counter space in my apartment is on par with what I found in the tiny house.

But there are other aspects where one completely wins out over the other: My NYC apartment has a living room and more wardrobe space, but the tiny house has better windows with natural lighting and more bathroom storage.

It all comes down to what amenities you're willing to sacrifice.

While they're not all that different physically speaking, it's not really what living in either is about: It boils down to the lifestyle — the biggest difference of all.

In the case of my apartment and the tiny house I stayed in, it's concrete jungle versus nature.

Do you want to live in a small space so you can be near the center of action in a thriving city with everything at your fingertips? Or is it because you want to live a life that offers more flexibility for things like traveling and working remotely?

For me, it's the former.

• The US has seen 366 mass shootings in the US so far in 2019, continuing debates about gun control.
• Two students were killed in a school shooting in Los Angeles on Thursday. During a single weekend in August, 22 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas and nine people were killed in a mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio.
• Some countries have figured out how to curb gun violence through targeted strategies.
• Efforts in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom may all offer insight.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A 16-year-old gunman opened fire at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California on Thursday. Two students were killed, and three were injured — all five were between the ages of 14 and 16. The gunman used a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, and he also shot and seriously injured himself, according to Captain Kent Wegener of the Los Angeles Country Sheriff's Department. 

There have been 366 mass shootings in the US so far in 2019, meaning there's been more than one shooting per day, on average.

Two mass shootings occurred in a single weekend in August. A 21-year-old gunman entered a Walmart on August 3 in El Paso, Texas, killing 22 people and injuring 26 more. In Dayton, Ohio, a gunman killed nine people and injured 27 others, just 13 hours later.

As shootings like these continue in the US, so do questions about gun control. Americans who fear their town or city could be the site of the next attack wonder what strategies the US could take to reduce gun violence.

No country has the same political structure or history with firearms as the US, but several have taken steps that have worked for them. Here are some insights from other nations into how gun violence could be reduced:

SEE ALSO: I tried to buy a gun at Walmart twice, and roadblocks left me empty-handed both times

Australia paid citizens to sell their guns to the government.

A spate of violence in the 1980s and '90s that culminated in a 1996 shooting that left 35 dead led Australian Prime Minister John Howard to convene an assembly to devise gun-control strategies.

The group landed on a massive buyback program, costing hundreds of millions of dollars offset by a one-time tax increase, that bought and destroyed more than 600,000 automatic and semiautomatic weapons and pump-action shotguns.

Over the next few years, gun-death totals were cut nearly in half. Firearm suicides dropped to 0.8 per 100,000 people in 2006 from 2.2 in 1995, while firearm homicides dropped to 0.15 per 100,000 people in 2006 from 0.37 in 1995.

A US buyback would mean destroying more than 40 million guns— but at the state level, the undertaking might not be so massive.

Japan puts citizens through a rigorous set of tests before they can own a gun.

Japan, which has strict laws for obtaining firearms, seldom has more than 10 shooting deaths a year in a population of 127 million people.

If Japanese people want to own a gun, they must attend an all-day class, pass a written test, and achieve at least 95% accuracy during a shooting-range test.

Then they have to pass a mental-health evaluation at a hospital, as well as a background check, in which the government digs into any criminal records or ties and interviews friends and family members.

Finally, they can buy only shotguns and air rifles — no handguns — and must retake the class and the initial exam every three years.

Norway exemplifies the power of social cohesion and trust.

Compared with the US, Norway has about one-third of the number of guns per 100 civilians — and about one-tenth of the rate of gun deaths per 100,000 people.

Sociologists who study the Nordic model have found that social cohesion between citizens and the government goes a long way toward ensuring a (mostly) peaceful society.

For example, an analysis in 2015 found that the number of fatal shootings by police in Norway in the past nine years was less than the number of fatal shootings by US police officers in one day.

Gummi Oddsson, a cross-cultural sociologist from Northern Michigan University, has found that Nordic governments go to great lengths to build trust in local communities.

He told Business Insider that US states could look to strengthen a sense of trust through measures like community policing, a tactic that emphasizes partnership between law enforcement and communities.

The thinking goes that people will begin to feel safer around the police, who will then have a better understanding of the neighborhood and be able to address problems before they happen.

The United Kingdom took a multipronged approach.

The UK's approach combines elements from Norway, Australia, and Japan's policies.

Around when Australia adopted its gun regulations, UK Parliament passed legislation banning private ownership of handguns in Britain and banned semiautomatic and pump-action firearms throughout the UK. It also required shotgun owners to register their weapons.

A $200 million buyback program led to the government's purchase of 162,000 guns and 700 tons of ammunition from citizens.

GunPolicy.org estimates that in 2010 there were 3.78 guns per 100 people in the UK, while the US is estimated to have 101 guns per 100 people.

The result has been roughly 50 to 60 gun deaths a year in England and Wales, which have a population of 56 million. Compare that to the US, a country about six times as large that has more than 160 times as many gun-related homicides.

New Zealand is instituting a policy similar to Australia's.

Most recently, New Zealand has instituted a ban on semi-automatic rifles after a mass shooting in Christchurch left 51 people dead and dozens more injured in March 2019. The gunman, a self-professed white supremacist, targeted two mosques during a Friday prayer with semi-automatic weapons.

"On 15 March our history changed forever. Now, our laws will too," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a press conference. "We are announcing action today on behalf of all New Zealanders to strengthen our gun laws and make our country a safer place."

Six days after the attack, Prime Minister Ardern announced the ban. Around 10% of guns had been collected as of September 12, according to the the The New Zealand Herald; over 12,000 people handed in almost 20,000 firearms and 75,000 parts, with the equivalent of about $23 million US dollars paid out. As of November 10, 36,000 weapons and 132,000 parts had been collected, according to the Associated Press.

Experts say a nationwide ban on assault weapons wouldn't work in the US due to the influential gun lobby, which has helped to strike down other gun control legislation.

"They don't have an NRA," Gregory Koger, a University of Miami political science professor, told Insider. "There's no organization of gun owners and gun companies that systematically and persistently opposes regulations of guns."

On November 11, New Zealand proposed a ban on criminals being in even the proximity of guns, for example at home, at work, or in a vehicle. According to the Associated Press, this ban would permit warrantless searches by police and has potential human rights conflicts.

The proposed ban "raises questions about other human rights enshrined in New Zealand law, including the freedom to associate with other people and the right to be presumed innocent,"  Nick Perry reported for the Associated Press.

• Conflict photographer Lynsey Addario has taken photographs in the Middle East, Africa, and South America.
• But Addario was shaken by something much closer to home when she photographed Marine Corps recruits during boot camp at Parris Island in South Carolina.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Conflict photographer Lynsey Addario has seen a hell of a lot of combat over the past 20 years.

She patrolled Afghanistan's Helmand Province with the Marines, accompanied the Army on night raids in Baghdad, took artillery fire with rebel fighters in Libya, and has taken photos in countless other wars and humanitarian disasters around the world.

Along the way, Addario captured images of plenty of women serving with pride in uniform, not only in the US armed forces, but also on the battlefields of Syria, Colombia, South Sudan and Israel.

Her photographs are the subject of a new article in the November 2019 special issue of National Geographic, "Women: A Century of Change," the magazine's first-ever edition written and photographed exclusively by women.

The photos showcase the wide range of goals and ideals for which these women took up arms. Addario's work includes captivating vignettes of a seasoned guerrilla fighter in the jungles of Colombia; a team of Israeli military police patrolling the streets of Jerusalem; and a unit of Kurdish women guarding ISIS refugees in Syria. Some fight to prove themselves, others seek to ignite social change in their home country, and others do it to liberate other women from the grip of ISIS.

Addario visited several active war zones for the piece, but she found herself shaken by something much closer to home: the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina.

Addario discussed her visit to boot camp and her other travels in an interview with Task & Purpose, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

SEE ALSO: After 200 years, all Marines are finally allowed to carry umbrellas

Task & Purpose: Out of all the programs in the US military, what made you choose to cover Marine Corps boot camp?

Lynsey Addario: Some of the toughest battles I've been in were with the Marines, and in 2009 and 2010 I was with the Female Engagement Teams [in Afghanistan] with the Marines. So I wanted to sort of work backwards and and see what that initial recruit-to-Marine process was like.

Task & Purpose: What was it like going backwards? Did you see what you expected to see?

Addario: I think for any journalist embedding with the military, there is an incredible sense of discipline and following orders. There's a real change from walking in as a recruit and then getting screamed at all the time as the routine is ingrained and embedded into their minds and their bodies.

That was pretty harsh. I understand why it's done intellectually, but it was tough to be around so much screaming all the time. But I guess it's a necessary part if you want to create that level of respect for your seniors and also to create that sense of discipline.

Task & Purpose: You've been in so many war zones and humanitarian disasters, but being in boot camp with all the shouting was still enough to rattle you a little bit.

Addario: Yeah, it was surprising. We journalists don't have a chain of command in the field.

Of course, like the military, you know, we follow the rules, but when we're out on our own covering a war there's no one there to tell us what to do. So it was a very different for me. I've never been in that setting where they're being groomed to become Marines.

Task & Purpose: I was really blown away by that quote you had from the commander of female recruits at Parris Island. "Women learn weakness. We can also unlearn it." That really struck me because I think the phrase, "pain is weakness leaving the body" gets used a lot in the Marines, What was it like hearing that quote?

Addario: Well, I think the point was when you empower women and you make women feel like they can do anything, automatically, they feel like they can do anything. But when you systematically say women aren't strong enough to be in the Marines, or women can't keep up or, you know, put them in a different category, then you start to believe that.

That's relevant for the Marines, but it's relevant in many arenas. If you go into something with that being ingrained in your head, like 'you won't be able to do this or maybe you're lesser than your male comrades or colleagues,' then it's going to be harder to overcome that.

Every time I walked into an embed over the years, there was no hiding that face a male soldier makes when he looks at me and is like, "Oh, s---, it's a woman. Whe's going to slow us down, like, she's not going to be strong enough. She's not gonna be able to keep up with us when the bullets are flying. She's going to cry."

They don't have to say it, but there's a look. Like in the Korengal Valley, when we embedded with the 173rd [Airborne] for almost two months for The New York Times Magazine, initially the public affairs officer was like, "eh, it's not really a place that's fit for women." And we were like, "Well, why not?"

Eventually a colonel let us go and we spent two months there, and we kept up. I think the important thing is you can be told one thing, but you can show another.

Task & Purpose: A lot of the discussion about ground combat units in the US opening up to women inevitably brings up worries about how women in combat units might affect the performance or camaraderie of the unit. Do you have any thoughts on that, given the diversity of the units you embedded with?

Addario: Look, it's not really for me to say because I can't see what happens, you know, throughout, because as a journalist I go in for a very short period of time.

I've had a Marine public affairs officer say, "Look, we conducted a years-long study looking at the effect that women would have on combat, and we saw that they would make us a less effective fighting force in the infantry."

So it's not for me to say, but certainly they have their reasoning. My feeling in any sort of arena is, if someone is fit to do something, male or female, the position should be open to them.

Task & Purpose: Despite this Nat Geo article being about how women are on the battlefield more than ever, there weren't any photos of women actually fighting in combat.

Addario: That's obviously something I fought for really hard, because I personally have spent time on the battlefield and I kept getting told that women were fighting at the front and they were some of the toughest fighters.

For example, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) is very public about how their women are out there everywhere. I had a lot of correspondence with the IDF, and I dedicated a week to covering whatever they would show me. I said, "I'm fine to risk my life, you can send me to the toughest places," and they only would show me training.

So that was a real source of tension. It was basically a matter of access. The YPG women, the women fighting ISIS ... most of what I was given access to, and only because I pushed extraordinarily hard to get the access, was to women searching all the women coming out [of ISIS-held territory], standing guard on the perimeter, but not in battle.

And I tried for four days on the front line, like literally being told to go to this place or to go to this post and that post and being really given the run-around for days. That was something that was super frustrating for me.

I don't know what the takeaway is, is the takeaway that women really aren't fighting as much as men, or aren't fighting much more than they used to be? Maybe this is a gradual progression? I don't know, because it was very difficult to get access to that element of the story.

Task & Purpose: Wow, that sounds incredibly frustrating. If you had talked to the public affairs people or other officials and asked to embed with a male unit fighting, do you think they would have been more receptive of it?

Addario: Yeah, yeah, I think so. It was like on the forefront of my mind the entire story and the whole time I was in Israel and Syria. I was trying to get access to women actually actively fighting.

I mean, one of the main reasons for even including Israel is because historically they were one of the first to incorporate women in the military. And they actually gave me the worst access. They didn't show me anything. It was basically just training and an earthquake recovery drill, which was really frustrating.

Task & Purpose: What to you would gender equality look like, in the US military or maybe more broadly in other militaries?

Addario: I think that when you talk about gender equality in the military, it's basically having those positions be open and then seeing who has the ability to fulfill them.

But you know, I'm not in the military, and I'm not an expert on the military. I have spent a lot of time with the military. But that's not really for me to talk about or speculate or anything.

For more of Addario's work, visit National Geographic.

• After the internet erupted in conversation over Trader Joe's new Chocolate Lava Gnocchi, I decided to give the potato and chocolate dish a try. 
• While I did enjoy the gnocchi's rich chocolate lava filling, I couldn't help but notice the distinct potato texture.
• Though I think they're worth giving a try, I think potato and chocolate simply don't go together.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

I like potatoes, and I like chocolate. So, when I heard about Trader Joe's new Chocolate Lava Gnocchi dividing the internet, I knew I had to give them a try.

After grabbing the very last bag of the potato entrée-turned-dessert from my local Trader Joe's, I headed home to put them to the test.

They were very easy to prepare, only taking six minutes and a couple of ingredients. 

However, while I did enjoy the gnocchi's rich chocolate lava filling, I couldn't help but notice the distinct potato texture of the balls themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I truly think everyone should give this unique dessert a try. However, for this taste-tester, as much as I wanted them to be a match in dessert heaven, potato and chocolate simply don't go together.

SEE ALSO: Trader Joe's exec says the chain's new Chocolate Lava Gnocchi are so good they can be eaten for dinner

When I first picked up a bag of Trader Joe's Chocolate Lava Gnocchi, I was skeptical about how a potato entrée could make its way into the dessert aisle. Having always been a fan of both gnocchi and chocolate lava cakes, however, I decided to give the dish a try.

The gnocchi only take six to eight minutes to cook, making this a quick and easy dessert.

The gnocchi are prepared in a similar way to other TJ's gnocchi products, by sautéing them in a pan over medium heat with butter or ghee. I chose to use butter, but non-dairy substitutes would work as well.

One serving size of the gnocchi is one cup or about nine gnocchi pieces.

After measuring out my frozen gnocchi, I determined this was a pretty good serving size for 300 calories.

Next, I put two tablespoons of butter into a pan and began to melt it on medium heat. My stove is extremely temperamental and gets hot very quickly, so I had to work fast.

In one minute or less, my butter was completely melted and beginning to froth.

I added in my gnocchi pieces, giving the pan a quick swirl to evenly distribute the gnocchi and the butter.

I set my timer for six minutes and continued cooking them, prodding them every now and again with a spatula to make sure all the sides of the gnocchi pieces were getting crispy.

Before long, my gnocchi appeared to be almost done. They looked like little cakes or bonbons, and the buttery, chocolatey smell emitting from the pan was truly mouthwatering.

After my timer went off, the gnocchi were crispy on some sides and doughy on others. Against the white pan, it was hard to ignore the fact that they looked like little chocolate turds. I only prayed that the small chocolate dumplings tasted better than they looked.

I used my spatula to scoop my gnocchi pieces into a bowl and mentally prepared myself. First, I tried the gnocchi plain without any cream or other toppings.

I bit into the gnocchi piece and was pleasantly surprised by the chocolate inside. It was rich, creamy, and delicious. However, as I continued eating my first piece, I couldn't get past the distinct potato-like texture of the gnocchi.

Though it didn't exactly taste like potato gnocchi, the texture was virtually the same with some chocolate sauce added to the center. I decided to try the gnocchi with light whipped cream, but the gnocchi may also pair well with vanilla ice cream.

The whipped cream didn't really add anything, and actually took away from the rich chocolate flavor. If anything, the added moisture made the gnocchi balls chewier than they already were, which I didn't enjoy.

Overall, I was torn on whether I liked Trader Joe's new Chocolate Lava Gnocchi. While the rich, chocolatey flavor of the molten lava was a total win for me, I simply couldn't get past the distinct, chewy potato texture of the gnocchi. Perhaps potatoes and chocolate are simply one combination I can't agree with.

• With numerous shows (both new and old) added to Netflix this past year, there was plenty to binge on the streaming service. 
• Insider worked with TV and movie tracking tool, TV Time, to discover what people binged the most on Netflix.
• Unsurprisingly, hit shows like "Stranger Things" and "Orange Is the New Black" were some of the most-binged shows on Netflix in 2019. 
• But lower-profile series like "Santa Clarita Diet" and "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" also were in the top 10 most-binged shows. 
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. 

Netflix added hundreds of new titles to its site this year, which meant there were plenty of shows — both new and old — to binge on the streaming site in 2019. 

Unsurprisingly, fan favorites like "Stranger Things" and "Orange Is the New Black," as well as "13 Reasons Why," were some of the most-binged shows on Netflix over the past 12 months. 

But lesser-known shows like "Santa Clarita Diet" and "Designated Survivor" were also among the top shows binged on Netflix this year, as were Marvel shows like "The Punisher" and "Jessica Jones." 

We analyzed data from TV Time to figure out the 10 most-binged Netflix shows of 2019 — so far. 

10. "Designated Survivor" is a political thriller that originally aired on ABC.

The show begins with the mass murder of the majority of the US government — and follows Kiefer Sutherland's character Thomas Kirkman, the titular "designated survivor," as he becomes president and grapples with the pitfalls of his new position. 

9. Drew Barrymore plays a bloodthirsty zombie on "Santa Clarita Diet."

The show focuses on Barrymore's character, Sheila, as she learns to manage her enthusiasm for human flesh, while also maintaining her role as a suburban wife and mother. 

8. "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" follows a young witch trying to understand her new identity as a magical being.

Kiernan Shipka plays teenage Sabrina Spellman, a half-human, half-witch fighting the evil forces in her town. 

The show is based an Archie comic book series of the same name, and features numerous references to both the original comics and "Riverdale," which ostensibly occurs in the same universe. 

7. "Marvel's Jessica Jones" takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The show follows ex-superhero Jessica (Krysten Ritter) as she comes to terms with her new profession as a private investigator and reconciles with her past. 

6. "The Umbrella Academy" is based on comic books by Gerard Way.

A group of misfit superheroes come together to fight evil forces and learn more about their mysterious upbringing on "The Umbrella Academy." 

5. "Marvel's the Punisher" focuses on a violent vigilante.

"The Punisher" is a "Daredevil" spin-off, and follows Frank Castle as he uses lethal force to punish criminals. 

4. "13 Reasons Why" is based on a 2007 novel.

The show revolves around a high school student who leaves postmortem messages for her group of friends after she commits suicide. 

3. "Orange Is the New Black" is based on the memoir of Piper Kerman, and was one of the top shows binged on Netflix this year.

The critically acclaimed show was also beloved by fans, and follows a inmate named Piper as she adjusts to her life in prison and navigates personal relationships behind bars. 

3. Satan moves to Los Angeles after growing dissatisfied with hell on "Lucifer."

"Lucifer" features characters originally created by author Neil Gaiman for DC comics, and explores what it would mean for the devil to actually have a soul. 

1. "Stranger Things" was, unsurprisingly, the most-binged show on Netflix in 2019.

The hit show follows a group of teenagers in 1980s Indiana as they confront nefarious forces from an alternate dimension (called the Upside Down), and also come to terms with themselves as they enter young adulthood. 

• Drivers should exercise an abundance of caution when they're operating a vehicle in the winter.
• Thousands of people are injured each year in car accidents that occur in snowy, icy, or slushy conditions.
• We asked experts for 10 critical pieces of advice drivers should follow to ensure their safety this winter behind the wheel.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

According to the US Department of Transportation, more than 1,300 people are killed and over 116,800 are injured each year by auto accidents that occur on snowy, icy, or slushy roads.

And as more than 70% of the roadways in America are in regions subject to snow and other winter conditions, there's a good chance anyone reading this could face the heightened dangers of winter driving.

Safe winter driving requires an abundance of caution, with defensive driving techniques employed and extra vigilance behind the wheel. Common sense practices — like never using a phone while driving and always wearing a seatbelt — are all the more important, while speeding and aggressive driving are especially dangerous.

Being an alert, defensive driver while on the road is critical for winter driving safety, but so too are the ways in which you prepare and care for your vehicle during the colder months. Depending on where you live and the types of roads on which you drive, winter driving may call for everything from different tires to different wiper blades to different fluids in the engine.

During the winter, it's also a good idea to stock your car with a few specialty items that can help get you on the road faster first thing or get you out of a jam if you get stuck along the way.

Here are 10 tips for safer winter driving.

SEE ALSO: 11 vintage cars that make particularly good investments

DON'T MISS: I drive for Uber and Lyft — here are 9 situations when you should definitely tip your driver

Slow down and give yourself more space, so if you do lose control of the car, you have more time to recover.

If there's one piece of advice that driving experts unanimously recommend you follow in the winter, it's this: Slow down and back off.

Simply reducing speed and adding following distance when you are driving in winter conditions will dramatically reduce the likelihood of an accident. These basic safety measures help you maintain and regain control of your car, give you more time to prepare for dangerous patches of road — think ice, snow, curves, or damaged street surfaces — and, equally importantly, they put space between you and other drivers who may not be so cautious.

Calibrate your driving in your neighborhood or other low-traffic areas.

Woody Rogers, product information officer at Tire Rack, said that safe winter driving requires you to "slow down and plan ahead. Don't let yourself be surprised by conditions or other drivers on the road ahead."

If you find your vehicle's safety systems — like anti-lock brakes and traction control — regularly being engaged, then you are driving beyond the limits of safety.

"Calibrate yourself every time you start a drive through bad weather by testing the conditions as you leave the relative safety of your neighborhood or the parking lot," Rogers said. "When traffic is clear and you have room to work, try slowing or stopping as quickly as you can without activating your antilock brakes, for example."

Proper vehicle maintenance is especially important during the winter. Make sure your tire pressure is correct, fluids are topped off, and your battery in proper working order.

Winter puts a strain on your vehicle, so you need to put even more effort into vehicle maintenance to make sure the car, truck, or SUV is in proper and safe working condition. Harry Haynes, a Pep Boys service manager, said failed car batteries can leave you stranded and improper tire inflation can lead to spinouts and wrecks.

"Once the temperature drops below 32 degrees, the air pressure in tires goes down and they'll deflate some," Haynes said.

To ensure you can maintain proper control of your vehicle during winter drives, Haynes recommends you check tire pressure "on a weekly basis."

Maintaining a safe driving speed doesn't mean going at a snail's pace — slowing down too much can create almost as much danger as driving too fast.

While of course driving at an unsafe high speed is the most dangerous thing you can in bad driving conditions, going too slowly is also more dangerous during the winter than in any other season.

"You don't need to crawl along," Rogers said. "That creates its own sorts of hazard for other drivers."

Vehicles that are going too slowly risk being rear ended by or creating swerving hazards for drivers operating their vehicles at a normal speed. Driving too slowly is the most dangerous as you round blind curves.

Make sure your tires are in good shape and consider investing in a set of winter tires — you can likely rely on them for several winter seasons.

You have to be aware of the traction limit of your tires given the road conditions, Rogers said. 

"Once (antilock brakes) are activated you are at, or beyond, the traction limit of your tires," he said.

He added you can increase your safety "by improving traction with better tires, preferably dedicated winter tires which are designed to deliver the best traction when winter weather is at its worst."

Winter tires have larger gaps in their tread patterns than standard tires, improving traction on snow and ice, and are formulated with a softer, more malleable rubber compound, ensuring the maintain better grip even in subzero temperatures.

"The right tires for the conditions can transform an otherwise stressful, challenging drive into a liberated experience," Rogers said.

Know how to handle your vehicle in the event of a skid or a spinout and practice these techniques in a safe environment so you're ready in the moment.

"You can steer your way out of trouble," Rogers said. "If a slide does occur, don't panic. Look for the escape route and steer towards it. Keep looking where you want to go, not at the obstacle you need to avoid." 

Also know where to drive to avoid the slipperiest conditions.

"Snowy roads and intersections often get packed down to a 'two-track' of darker, slippery snow or ice," Rogers said. "Steering a little to one side where the snow is closer to pure white and is less packed usually increases traction somewhat."

Ensure you always have a clear view of the road, which will involve planning ahead.

From fog built up on the inside of your windshield to ice crusted on the exterior to poor headlights to an empty windshield wiper fluid reservoir, maintaining a clear view of the roadway during the winter is difficult yet critical.

Ensure your car's heating and cooling systems are working properly so you can defog the windshield, keep an ice scraper handy to clear windows and windshields, and make sure your car's wiper fluid reservoir is filled and the wiper blades are in good shape.

"You need to have your wiper blades replaced before winter hits," Haynes said. "Once snow starts falling and there's ice on the glass, blades get destroyed fast, so start with fresh wipers."

Also make sure your headlights are clean and in good working order, and if your car has fog lights, inspect them and plan to use them. Headlights and high beams can be dangerous in heavy fog or snow, as the light reflects off the particles in the air and reduces your visual acuity.

Give your vehicle extra time before you get on the road and build extra time into your commute.

Rick Ricart, president of Ricart Automotive Group, advises "caution on and off the road."

"You need to have patience in the morning and let your car warm up and the engine expand. The cold won't affect the car unless you're fighting the cold," he said.

"And while you're on the road, give extra room between you and the other drivers. You can employ all the tips and tricks for safe driving but not everyone else will. Don't let them ruin your day — give them room on the road."

Stock your car with tools and safety gear that will help you out in the event of a breakdown or accident, or if you get stuck in the snow.

Winter conditions compound the severity of potential accidents, breakdowns, or other automotive mishaps. You should keep a jacket, blanket, and gloves in your car in the event you find yourself stranded in the cold, and keep some sort of high visibility items, like reflectors, that you can deploy outside your stopped vehicle.

Beyond the basics like an ice scraper and the tools and supplies needed to change a tire or jump a dead battery, also consider snow chains and even a box of cat litter — when spread on packed snow or ice, litter can create the traction needed to get your vehicle unstuck and back on the go.

Don't stop unless you have to, especially when you are driving uphill.

According to AAA, one of the best ways to stay safe in wintry roads is to never stop "if you can avoid it." This helps prevent skids and spinout. Go slow and anticipate upcoming obstacles and traffic lights.

The advice is especially important when driving uphill.

"Don't stop going up a hill," AAA recommends. "There's nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some inertia going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill."

The association also advises drivers to avoid giving the engine too much gas in snowy or icy hills, as it can cause the tires to lose traction and spin.

• In an interview with the New York Times, Tom Hanks discussed his antique typewriter collection, which used to number somewhere in the hundreds. It has now "dwindled" to around 120.
• He's not the only celebrity collector.
• Ben Stiller has spent thousands of dollars on "Star Trek" props, while Rod Stewart is a devoted model train enthusiast.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sometimes celebrities really are just like us — they get obsessed with random things and become dedicated to collecting them. The only difference? They have thousands of dollars to spend on building their collections.

Tom Hanks, for instance, revealed that he's been building his typewriter collection since he was 19 — although it's beginning to shrink because he's been giving them away. He's not the only one who has started to offload their prized possessions. Leonardo DiCaprio has also auctioned off some of his action figures (hundreds of them).

Keep scrolling to learn more about celebrities and their sometimes bizarre collectibles.

Tom Hanks has over 100 typewriters.

According to an interview with the New York Times, at one point, Hanks had "hundreds" of antique typewriters, though his collection is currently down to 120.

He started collecting them when he was just 19 years old. "I'm soothed by having it. I'm soothed by knowing that I can take it anywhere with me,"Hanks said of his typewriter collection.

In classic Lara Croft fashion, Angelina Jolie collects daggers.

In 2008, Jolie told W Magazine that her mom took her to buy her first daggers when she was 11 or 12 years old, and she even passed down her love of knives to her kids. Jolie also said that she and then-partner Brad Pitt had "already bought Maddox some things," though she did make sure to note all the daggers Maddox had were dulled.

Quentin Tarantino has a sizable board game collection.

A 1994 Rolling Stone profile called the director's hoard of TV and movie-themed board games "one of the world's most impressive collections." Rolling Stone cites some of Tarantino's favorites as "The Dukes of Hazzard,""Dawn of the Dead," and "Universe" games.

Demi Moore recently insured her vintage doll collection for millions of dollars, according to Radar.

In a September 2019 interview with Harper's Bazaar, Moore revealed she collects dolls "by the roomful," and that her hobby started after her 2000 divorce from Bruce Willis.

Radar reported in April 2019 that, according to an insider, Moore had insured her collection for $2 million, and that it "consists of thousands of playthings."

Mike Tyson is particularly fond of X-Men action figures.

Tyson's love of comic books is well-documented. In his autobiography, "Undisputed Truth,"Tyson cops to quoting one of his favorite characters, Apocalypse, in an interview. "I was just a big kid, quoting a comic book," he wrote.

In a 1996 episode of "Inside Edition," Tyson can be spotted showing off his respectably sized collection of X-Men action figures on his coffee table.

Rock star Rod Stewart is a model train enthusiast — and he just unveiled a set that took him 23 years to build.

The "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?" singer even books a second hotel room when he travels so he can bring his model train collection along. He also has a permanent set at his house, which as of November 2019, takes up the entire third floor of his home. It is modeled after Manhattan.

"For me it's addictive. I started, so I just had to finish. I'm lucky I had the room. If I'd have [realized] at the start it would have taken so long, I'd have probably said, 'No! No! Nah!'" he told Railway Modeller.

Leonardo DiCaprio has auctioned off parts of his extensive collection of action figures and toys.

At one point, DiCaprio had in his possession "over 150 'Star Wars' figures, including the legendary Vinyl Cape Jawa,""over 200 superhero figures, featuring a 'complete set of Mego superhero figures,'" and "approximately 200 robots and space toys,"according to Celebrity Inventory.

Jerry Seinfeld is partial towards Superman memorabilia.

The comedian's car collection is well-known, as he has an entire series dedicated to it, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." But in a Reddit AMA, Seinfeld revealed that he also has some notable items of Superman memorabilia, including " a few old Supermans with the Curt Swan art from the '60s," and "a really nice model of Kal-El being loaded into the rocket and then another model of the rocket landing in from of Ma and Pa Kent."

Martin Scorsese has been amassing vintage movie posters for five decades.

Scorcese's poster collection is so extensive that it warranted an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 2015. The exhibition featured 34 posters and was "centered around a rare, billboard-size poster for the 1951 film 'The Tales of Hoffmann.'"

"For me, and anyone who grew up before a certain time — sometime in the 1980s I'd say — posters were a key part of the movie-going experience,"Scorsese wrote in the introduction to the coffee table book, "Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood."

Ben Stiller has a few iconic props from "Star Trek," making him the envy of Trekkies everywhere.

Not only did Stiller name his production company"Red Hour" as a reference to an episode of the original '60s "Star Trek" series, he's also revealed that he owns two pairs of Spock ears that Leonard Nimoy himself has signed. He also spent a reported $27,500 on the only known surviving Gorn head (an alien from the iconic episode "Arena").

• Read more:
• The unusual hobbies of 14 rich and famous people
• 20 of the most expensive celebrity memorabilia items ever sold at auction
• 35 things from the '90s that are worth a fortune today
• This superfan decked out his apartment with nearly 1,000 collectible figurines

• A white Christmas tree is a sophisticated option that adds a wintry feel to any space.
• To simplify your search for the perfect one, we curated a list of 12 white Christmas trees that range in size, shape, and decorative touches like built-in lights.
• Check out all of our holiday gift guides for 2019. 

The traditional Christmas tree is a holiday classic, but it can be nice to shake things up every once and a while. That's where the white Christmas tree comes in, bringing a decorative touch that's a little more unique.

White Christmas trees can be striking and elegant, and the neutral color palette gives you total freedom to get creative. We've even seen them decorated with purple and orange ornaments, cobwebs, and witchy accessories for Halloween. They're also fairly simple to assemble and collapse for storage. 

To avoid endless searching on your end, we rounded up 12 trees based on customer reviews and features included.

For more Christmas decorations, browse our holiday buying guides: 

1. Best artificial Christmas trees
2. Best pre-lit artificial Christmas trees
3. Best tabletop Christmas trees
4. Best Christmas tree decorations
5. Best Christmas tree toppers
6. Best Christmas decorations
7. Best Christmas tree skirt
8. Best Christmas tree stand
9. Best Christmas lights
10. Best Christmas tree ornaments

A 7-foot tree that is surprisingly affordable

$57.99, available on Amazon

This tree is composed of PVC, which is resistant to weathering, chemical rotting, corrosion, shock, and abrasion. These features mean it's likely to last you quite a few years, making it more cost-effective over time. It's also tall and full at the base, good for large spaces.

Tree height: 7 feet 

Base diameter: 52 inches

Light count: unlit

Other considerations: 100% warranty-refund or replacement

A realistic winter tree that works for both indoor and outdoor settings

$129.99, available on Amazon

This tree is full, plush, and simple, allowing you to leverage your imagination when it comes time to decorate. The 9-foot height makes it the tallest on our list, though it's available in other sizes as well. Plus, it's compatible in both indoor and outdoor settings.

Tree height: 9 feet 

Base diameter: 60 inches

Light count: unlit

Other considerations: no warranty

A short and narrow tree that's easy to assemble and store

$29.99, available on Amazon

This waterproof tree fits nicely in small spaces, like studio apartments, dens, or classrooms. It arrives in three pieces for easy assembly. 

Tree height: 5 feet 

Base diameter: 30 inches

Light count: unlit

Other considerations: no warranty

An 8-foot Spruce tree with sturdy metal legs and plastic pads to protect your floor

$56.99, available on Amazon

This full tree features durable metal legs and plastic pads, providing balance, stability, and protection against damage on both your tree and floor. It's made with 1,138 lush branch tips, which create the illusion of a genuine spruce tree. 

Tree height: 8 feet

Base diameter: not mentioned

Light count: unlit

Other considerations: no warranty

A 6-foot tree that has a good amount of clearance for decor or presents underneath

$44.99, available on Amazon

This tree has 1,000 branch tips to ensure that you'll create a full-body look. It arrives with a sturdy metal stand, and only takes a few minutes to set up. The branch-fluffing process takes a little extra time, but it'll result in a tree that looks full and lush. It also seems to have a decent amount of clearance underneath so you can fit gifts or decorative items without issue.

Tree height: 6 feet

Base diameter: 44 inches 

Light count: unlit

Other considerations: 90-day return policy

A glittery tree with bright, clear lights

$161.70, available on Home Depot

This tree is adorned with glittery branches and 550 clear lights for a bright, shimmery look. It's also packed in a reusable storage container, and comes with easy-to-follow assembly instructions and a metal stand.

Tree height: 7 feet 

Base diameter: 47 inches 

Light count: 550 clear lights

Other considerations: 90-day return policy applies

A snow-flocked tree that's wrapped in 550 warm white lights

$189.99, available on Amazon

Though it technically isn't a white tree, its thick layer of faux snow gives it a nearly all-white canvas to work with. It has all the natural characteristics of a winter Pine tree, but comes with warm white lights. Its hinge branches and wide base provide volume and body.

Tree height: 7.5 feet 

Base diameter: 52 inches

Light count: 550 warm white lights

Other considerations: 90-day return policy applies

A lush tree that's an ideal centerpiece for large rooms

$223.56, available on Amazon

This full-body tree is 59 inches wide, making it ideal for large living and dining rooms, foyers, or offices. Its size and simplistic design provide a blank canvas, offering you endless decorating possibilities. It's also prelit so you don't have to worry about lights.

Tree height: 7.5 feet 

Base diameter: 59 inches

Light count: 750 warm white lights

Other considerations: 2-year limited warranty

A tree that comes with a huge selection of blue ornaments

$159.99, available on Amazon

If monochrome trees are your thing, then this option is ideal. This tree includes a pack of 135 blue Christmas ornaments and decorative items for a color-blocked look, but you can also fleck it with your own ornaments for a personal touch. The lights included have to be manually wrapped; the tree comes with two sets of 39-foot strings. 

Tree height: 6 feet

Base diameter: 42 inches 

Light count: 120 clear LED lights

Other considerations: No warranty information provided

A 2-foot twig tree that's perfect for desks and tabletops

$8, available on Target

This all-white tree Charlie Brown tree provides a clean and minimalist look. Its light weight and small size make it easy to bring it to work or fit on your desk or tabletop at home. 

Tree height: 2 feet 

Base diameter: 14 inches 

Light count: unlit

Other considerations: 30-day return policy

A fuller mini tree that works as a table centerpiece

$34.60, available on Walmart

This tree is compact, but full-bodied. It comes prelit with clear lights for subtle glow, making it a perfect centerpiece for any table.

Tree height: 2 feet 

Base diameter: 16 inches

Light count: 35 clear lights

Other considerations: 1-year limited manufacturer warranty

A pencil-like tree that's perfect for narrow spaces

$79.99 on sale (originally $139.99), available on Michael's [you save $60]

By design, this tree is tall and thin, fitting perfectly in tight, narrow spaces. It has 210 clear lights, so all you need to do is deck it out in decorations. 

Tree height: 7 feet 

Base diameter: 20 inches

Light count: 210 clear lights

Other considerations: 5-year warranty for the tree and 2-year warranty for the lights

• Gift baskets should be thoughtfully curated and contain items that fit your recipient's tastes and interests.
• Whether their holiday indulgence of choice is chocolate, cheese, or wine, these 16 gift baskets and gift boxes check the boxes off for both quality and relevance. 
• Need more gift ideas? Find all Insider Picks holiday gift guides here. 

A gift basket is a common and easy gift to give to a client, host, or your in-laws, but all too often, gift baskets share the same pitfalls. Once you take a closer look at the basket teeming with treats, you realize only a small percentage of its contents are actually worth keeping. Or, there's an excessive amount of packaging that makes the basket look more substantial than it really is. 

When you're gifting a gift basket or gift box, you want something with both quantity and quality. Gift baskets shouldn't be cheesy presents that seemed like a last-minute buy. Instead, they should be thoughtfully curated and contain items that fit your recipient's tastes and interests. 

The top 5 best gift baskets:

1. A cheerful assortment of Godiva chocolate
2. A collection of cheese from a New York City institution
3. A snack box with treats from a different country every month
4. Boozy gummies and the actual vodka that inspired their creation
5. Beer and gourmet snacks to go along with game night

Here are 16 gift baskets worth keeping. 

Boozy gummies and the actual vodka that inspired their creation

Tito's x Sugarfina Candy Bento Box, available at ReserveBar, $48

Pour a tiny Moscow mule in the included copper mug and say cheers to these creative gummies inspired by and infused with Tito's Vodka. In addition to the candy and mug, your recipient will get a bottle of Tito's. 

A peppermint hot chocolate and bark set

Peppermint Bark Tartan Gift Crate, available at Williams Sonoma, $89.95

There's no better time than the holidays to indulge in a steaming mug of rich peppermint hot chocolate. It goes well with a chunk of sweet yet refreshing peppermint bark and the appropriate festive drinkware. 

A carb-heavy box of pastries and breads

Signature Bakery Tray, available at Harry & David, $69.99

The tray of cookies, cakes, and other pastries will be a big hit for anyone who loves lingering in bakeries. Reviewers love the lemon poppyseed cake and raspberry galettes. 

A cheerful assortment of Godiva chocolate

Holiday Celebrations Chocolate Gift Box, available at Godiva, $104.95

No one is ever unhappy with a box (or six) of chocolates. The huge assortment of candy includes your classic milk and dark chocolates, along with Bundt cake- and holiday-inspired chocolates and truffles. 

A limited-edition gift from a famous specialty coffee roaster

The Blue Bottle Year in Coffee 2019, available at Blue Bottle, $42

Blue Bottle's retrospective has a blend for every season of 2019, from the floral notes of spring to the warm radiance of winter. The Oakland-based cafe is known around the world for its commitment to the craft of coffee. 

A healthy variety of nuts and fruits

Oh! Nuts Holiday Nut & Dried Fruit Gift Basket, available at Amazon, $28.99

There are a few out-of-the-ordinary fruits in this box: dried summer plums, papaya, and pear. Pair them with crunchy nuts, meat, and cheese, or enjoy them on their own. 

A cheesy collection from a New York City institution

Greatest Hits, available at Murray's Cheese, $95

If they crave a mild cheese, there's a manchego. For a sharper edge, try the cheddar. There's also an aged gruyere and creamy mini brie. To go along with this sampler of Murray's Cheese's popular varieties, there are cherry preserves, crackers, and almonds in the box as well. 

Nostalgia-inducing Mrs. Fields cookies

Mrs. Fields Just Smile Box, available at FTD, $24

Your favorite food stand from the mall offers a box of 24 bite-sized cookies and 12 brownie bites that arrives right at their door. It wouldn't be a "Hello Sunshine" box without one frosted sun cookie. 

The starter kit for a cozy night in

Unwind with Pinot Noir, available at Winc, $110

The artistic bottle is an exclusive collaboration with the Tappan Collective, an art-buying site that features some of the best emerging artists. With the included corkscrew and orange-ginger-jasmine candle, their night in is complete. 

Crunchy, flavorful popcorn

Popcornopolis Gourmet Popcorn 5-Cone Gift Basket, available at Amazon, $39.98

We love snacking on the savory and sweet popcorn from Popcornopolis, and your recipient will, too. The delicious non-GMO popcorn comes in four flavors (caramel, cheddar cheese, white cheddar, and jalapeno cheddar) and is wrapped up in distinctive striped cones. 

A lemon-themed gift basket that also gives back

Alex's Lemonade Stand Gift Basket, available at Cheryl's Cookies, $49.99

15% of proceeds from sales of this basket goes to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, which supports cancer research. The lemon-centric assortment includes muffins, cookies, and cake. 

Ninety servings of 'tea drops'

Obsessed Collection, available at Tea Drops, $99

Tea Drops are tea leaves that come in fun shapes such as hearts, flowers, and stars. As the name suggests, they simply drop the packed tea leaves into boiling water to create their cup. The tea kit contains both caffeinated and non-caffeinated varieties. 

A box of Japanese snacks they can't get in the US

Classic Box, available at Bokksu, $49.99

Bokksu works directly with snack makers in Japan, so your recipient won't be able to find these unique and delicious treats here. Every month's box has a different theme and contains 20 to 25 snacks, as well as a tea pairing. The December Bokksu, "Snowy Hokkaido," celebrates Japan's northern prefecture and its beautiful, snowy winters. 

A snack box that travels to a different country every month

Yum Yum Box, available at Universal Yums, $29

If you know that they're open to treats from all over the world, gift a box from Universal Yums. They can travel the world and sample the sweet and savory snacks from countries such as Greece, Indonesia, Colombia, and Italy. 

Beer and gourmet snacks to go along with game night

Game Night Gift Crate, available at Gourmet Gift Baskets, $124.99

A selection of IPAs, lagers, and ales will instantly make their game night more entertaining. They can sit by the fireplace as they drink beer, snack on cheese and nuts, and play their best game of checkers on the handsome stained-wood checkers board. 

A gift basket disguised as surprised Santa

Dylan's Candy Bar Santa Candy Tin, available at Nordstrom, $35

Stack the tins of gummy wreaths, candy cane pretzels, and chocolate chip Kringles to create St. Nick's body. The treats-holder now doubles as countertop decor. 

Looking for more gift ideas? We've got you covered.

• Our master list of every gift guide you'll ever need
• Creative gift ideas under $25
• Thoughtful gift ideas under $50
• Clever gift ideas under $100
• Cool stocking stuffers on Amazon
• Affordable tech gifts under $25
• Thoughtful gifts for her, all under $50
• Cool gifts for him on Amazon

• JCPenney opened a new concept store in Hurst, Texas, this month, which will function as an experimental "lab" to help assist the company's ambitious turnaround plan, according to CEO Jill Soltau. 
• The store includes new features like personal styling, instructor-led fitness classes, and a barbershop, among other services. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As JCPenney continues to fight its way to a turnaround, its recently opened concept store has become the embodiment of the struggling, 117-year-old retailer's reinvention strategy. 

The store — which opened on November 1 in Hurst, Texas, just outside of Dallas — includes several new features informed directly by customer surveys and data collection conducted by JCPenney over the last year. On a call with investors on Friday, CEO Jill Soltau said the store is intended to function as a "lab" for the company, where it can test new business strategies and see what sticks. 

"I want to be clear that the brand-defining store is an investment in the future. It is not a prototype to roll out across all our stores and it is not a flagship store," Soltau said on the call. "There are over 100 touchpoints that will inform future actions as part of our future strategy, all focused on putting the customer at the heart of what we do." 

Though the success of the store remains to be seen, it's been a much-needed bright spot for the beleaguered brand, which has struggled significantly in recent years. The third quarter of 2019 was no exception, as comparable sales decreased by 9.3%, driven in part by the consolidation of inventory and elimination of low-performing categories.

However, JCPenney showed promise in its ability to cut back operating losses and ultimately boost its profit forecast. Though an operating deficit of $97 million is certainly not indicative of a thriving brand, it's a significant improvement over the $300 million loss the company reported in the same period last year 

For JCPenney, the Texas concept store — with its personal styling services, on-site barbershop, and instructor-led fitness classes — may not be a prototype, but it could help JCPenney find the way to a more prosperous future.

Here's what it's like inside.

SEE ALSO: JCPenney is kicking off its Black Friday sales earlier than many of its competitors this year

The JCPenney concept store opened on November 1 in Hurst, Texas.

"This store is more than a renovated location, it is the fullest articulation of our customer-centered strategy, an investment in our future and a lab to inform decisions to return JCPenney to sustainable, profitable growth," Soltau said in a statement after the opening. 

It opened to significant fanfare, with a full band performance and a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Several JCPenney executives, including Soltau, came to christen the new store.

The store is noticeably different aesthetically from its traditional department store counterpart, with bright lighting, innovative architecture, and shiny displays.

The product assortment is also carefully curated to better meet the demands of shoppers.

"From the moment customers walk through the doors, they will discover the assortment is thoughtfully built and organized around how they live their lives and the many different occasions in their day, week and year," JCPenney said in a statement around the opening. 

It also includes several modern design elements, like this geometric seating arrangement.

The concept store includes local flare like this sign near the register that declares it "the best pickup line in Texas." It also integrates a buy-online-pickup-in-store feature.

There's no shortage of Texas pride throughout the store. Cowboys cheerleaders even came to greet fans and shoppers at the grand opening.

JCPenney is using the store to test personal styling with the launch of "The Styling Rooms," a free service for shoppers to receive personalized, one-on-one consultations with staff experts.

The Styling Rooms also include "Style @ Your Service" technology to request a new size or color from sales associates directly from the dressing room. 

Technology is a major theme throughout the concept store, and it includes several interactive features and high-definition screens.

In the activewear section, JCPenney debuted "The Movement Studio," where shoppers can participate in instructor-led fitness classes, much like brands such as Athleta and Lululemon do in their stores.

As part of its focus on experiential retail, the concept store includes various tutorials and "lifestyle workshops" on everything from cooking tool demonstrations to beauty tips.

The new store features JCPenney's first barber shop, called "The Barbery," which offers haircuts, shaving, and shoe shining.

A customer gets his beard shaved and styled at The Barbery during its grand opening.

Visual merchandising has been a major focus for JCPenney, Soltau said in the call with investors on Friday.

"Visual merchandising was something JCPenney had moved away from in the past, and that was a mistake," she said on the call. 

A glimpse at the various departments, like men's apparel, demonstrate JCPenney's commitment to improving its visual merchandising.

The women's department is also well organized and filled with stylish apparel.

Here's another view of the women's department.

Only time will tell how this concept store will inform and ultimately impact the JCPenney turnaround plan, but Soltau and the team remain optimistic.

"The all-in shopping enthusiast likes the mall, but we know we need to be more than just a department store," Soltau said in the call to investors.