The need to protect democracy, the antithesis of monarchy, has never been more urgent. — I moved to London six months ago. Within two weeks a fortnight the Queen died, the pound crashed, and a head of lettuce outlasted the new prime minister. Since then, I’m more struck by the similarities, vs. the differences, between New York and London. One clear distinction though: Royalty. …

Yesterday’s iconoclasts pull the ladder up behind them the moment they become today’s icons — Heraclitus, a 6th century B.C. Greek philosopher, famously said “the only constant in life is change.” He also disliked people and was depressed and irritable. He was right, on several fronts. Change is inevitable, as the cosmos has determined it’s essential. …

I’ve been writing and speaking about higher ed for years now. Specifically, how it’s turned into a luxury good: exclusive, scarce, expensive. In 2020, it looked as if an accelerant (the pandemic) and a disruptor (technology) would change this. It hasn’t. Colleges doubled down on exclusivity. Unremarkable young Americans continue…

Every year we make predictions. The purpose is to inspire a conversation. We also try to hold ourselves accountable. Here are some of our predictions for 2023. 2023: Patagonia Vest Recession

Every year we make predictions for the coming year. We try to get them right, but the real objective is to catalyze a conversation. As I am not the Dark Prince or an alien (either would be fun to roll with in Vegas) I get some right/wrong. Anway, we’ll be…

A good friend is sick, and I’ve been thinking about him and friendship more broadly. Friendship is prevalent across hundreds of species — from chimps to elephants to flamingos. In other words, we are not an evolutionary anomaly. The cynical theory of friendship is that it’s a matter of reciprocity…

Nothing is ever as good or as bad as it seems — My dad claims “communication is with the listener,” usually after he says something absurd he’d rather not own. I believe most men born before 1970 are biologically incapable of apologizing … “I’m sorry” is admitting defeat to the universe. My dad also often says “perception is reality.” These are two…

Time has a lot to do with our perception. Time stands still, yet accelerates. — Day-to-day news is relentless, especially when the news medium … Twitter … is the news. In the moment, it’s easy to let insignificant issues command an unreasonable share of time, energy, and attention. Yours may not be a billionaire bulldozing social media, but you likely have one. Someone at work…

We’re in the midst of a great leap forward in AI — Lately tech has been about failures. How technology has failed us. The more sober assessment is that humans are failing tech. Social media may be ruining childhood, and crypto has immolated billions of dollars. But it’s grown-up children that are ruining social media and pumping crypto. The problem? Tech has…