In late 2019 BC (Before COVID), my wife and I were vacationing in Mexico. Our hotel in Playa del Carmen was just a couple of blocks away from what we’d read was a “tourist trap.” It was known as the “Quinta Avenida,” which translates to: Fifth Avenue. The tree-lined and bustling street stretches for more than two miles and includes …
Doomsdayscrolling. The second I heard the word I knew what it was. The process of looking at your phone and scrolling through Twitter, or Facebook, or a newsfeed, moving from depressing story from depressing story — the rate of infections increasing, the economic impact of the pandemic, the threat of climate change, the possible consequences of the dire things that …
It’s funny what will get some people riled up on Facebook. I started posting on Facebook many years ago as a way to bring attention to some of the stories and interviews I was doing on television at the time. These days I post for my own amusement and perhaps for a bit of shameless self-promotion. But I have learned …
When people say that the internet and the digitization of culture represent something as important as the invention of movable type by Gutenberg in the 15th century, I usually wonder if that can be true. The Gutenberg revolution gave us the Reformation. Luther was the first publishing phenomenon in human history, and later, when it had settled down a bit, …
Yes, advertising works. Ads work if we love them. They work if we hate them. If we ignore them — but still are exposed to them often enough in the background — they’re still working exactly as intended … drilling their way into the back of our minds. Don’t argue with me, please. A good share of my livelihood has been …
When I was in grade school, I had a faithful pen-pal in faraway Ontario. We shared stories of life in our exotic neighborhoods, sometimes amazed at the contrast, more often surprised at how much we shared. Then we stopped. When I’ve moved on to new schools, jobs or adventures, friends and I always assure each other that we’d always stay …