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After Martinelli’s announced it would not renew contracts with local apple growers, one Pajaro Valley farmer has been flooded with calls, ideas and offers from community members eager to help replace the major buyer. While potential partnerships with school districts, nonprofits and other local organizations show promise, growers say finding markets large enough to absorb the thousands of tons of apples once sold to Martinelli’s remains a significant challenge.

Heather Cox Richardson is one of today’s unlikeliest social media stars. The Boston College historian has been teaching and writing about 19th-century America, Reconstruction, and the Civil War for decades. But it was only in 2019 that her work took off when she began writing her daily newsletter, Letters from an American, a no-nonsense analysis of the news through the lens of US history.

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The newsletter became one of the most popular on Substack. And today, Richardson has millions of loyal fans who rely on her to make sense of American politics and provide a little sanity and democratic reassurance even as she herself is concerned about the direction of the country today.

“I’m worried about where we’re going. Just don’t even start me,” Richardson tells host Al Letson. “But I am heartened in this moment by the number of people who are rediscovering that they do have agency to change the future. And of course, that’s always been the story of our democracy.”

On this week’s More To The Story, Richardson talks about the decades-long failure to hold corrupt American leaders accountable, the still-resonant death of Reconstruction, and what she sees as the tragic hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson.

Find More To The Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, or your favorite podcast app, and don’t forget to subscribe.

Note: If you buy a book using our Bookshop link, a small share of the proceeds supports our journalism.

With the Murray Street Bridge set to be closed through September, business owners and community leaders have plans to bring visitors to the neighborhoods around the Santa Cruz Harbor this summer. Jessica M. Pasko’s weekly look at local business also includes updates on a project to connect four regional airports, including Watsonville’s; legal jabs between air mobility rivals; and plenty more names, numbers and dates to know.

Neil Muller, newly appointed Group CEO of managed service provider Node4, has died after an alleged stabbing at his home. He was 54. Muller, a well-respected and long-serving figure in Britain's tech supply chain, was found with chest wounds at his residence in Claverdon, Warwickshire, in the early hours of June 7. Warwickshire Police said in a statement: "We received a report from ambulance services at 6.15am about a man in his 50s who required emergency medical care following a stab wound in his chest. Sadly, he was declared deceased at the scene at 6.37am." A 55-year-old woman from Birmingham was arrested on suspicion of murder at 7.33am and has since been released on bail. Police confirmed an investigation is underway and said there is "no wider risk to the public." Muller had only taken on the Group CEO role at Node4 this month, tasked with refining its strategy and expanding its AI-augmented managed services platform. The MSP said it was "absolutely devastated" by his death, adding: "Although Neil only recently joined Node4, he made a meaningful impact in a short space of time. Our thoughts are with Neil's family at this very difficult time." Before Node4, Muller led Digital Space for seven years, and prior to that he was chief exec at telecoms biz Daisy Group, whose B2B ops merged with Virgin Media O2 last year. Muller started his career at Computacenter – one of Europe's largest services-based resellers – rising through sales and operations to become UK and Ireland managing director during a 21-year tenure. Mike Norris, Group CEO at Computacenter and a close friend of Muller, told The Register that he was "deeply saddened from a personal point of view." Norris was not alone: many in Britain’s tech business community expressed shock. Charles Bligh, former TalkTalk chief operating officer, wrote on LinkedIn: "Just so shocked to hear this terrible news. Neil was a class act and he filled the room with his energy and leadership. My condolences to his family and his children should know their father was a respected, liked and thought leader in the business community. I know this is cold comfort. Neil you will be missed terribly and RIP." Muller is survived by his wife and two children. ®