For a changing America, mushrooms are new taste makers Move over succulents — there’s a new “It” plant in town. Or rather, a new fungus. The New York Times recently declared that the fungus is among us, and it’s hard to disagree. If the exaltation of the mushroom is news…

Technology is Moving Fast — Can Good Decisions Keep Up? Whenever see the inevitable question of how our addiction to social media apps and sites have negatively impact our society, my mind drifts to a cool, cloudy night in Michigan. A ragtag crew of Trump supporters had assembled, their fists…

Nearly 100 Years Apart, Children Write of Illness and Oranges — I originally published this story last year, but alas, here we are, facing yet another Christmastime with the scourge of COVID. …

Deep-seated fears about ghosts and…Airbnb hosts? For years I worked on the commercials for Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights (temporarily RIP, 2020). The job was a bit ironic, since scary movies give me the willies. Nonetheless, I quickly discovered that making a truly, enticingly creepy ad wasn’t as simple…

In 2021, Brands Can’t Escape Political and Social Issues Sometime in March of 2020, when COVID-19 went from the boogeyman in the closet to a force closing schools and businesses, an interesting website popped up. Well, actually, it was a bit terrifying. As an advertising brand strategist, it was one…

The most flown generation shares their thoughts on their post-Coronavirus travel A decade ago, I left my hometown of fifty-thousand people and endless beige strip malls, nervously clutching a boarding pass. It was my first international flight. A year abroad would soon turn me into a life-long parishioner of the…

Waxy scented clues about our societal values, attitudes and fears If you heard about a company making a $6.5 million expansion, with a 20,000 square-foot research and development lab for prototyping, your head would likely to go to many places; maybe burgeoning tech, or some innovative new product. But it…

We’re hardwiring ourselves to seek relatability; it’s time to stop. In 2010 Jane E. Wohl wrote to the language section of the New Yorker with a simple question: her students were using a word she wasn’t familiar with, at least, not in the way she knew it to exist. It…

How American cities will sound 30 years from now Imagine the sounds of London, 1800. Maybe you hear hooves clomping on cobblestone, vendors yelling their wares, newspaper boys singing out hoarse and high. Now take your ears to Woodstock, 1969; you hear the raucous laughter, off-key singing from hundreds of…