The transformation of David Brooks “If Brooks could inspire journalists to engage in public discussion of morality, politics and current events would not be relegated in favor of abstract reflections. Instead, moral scholarship would inform analysis of just about any issue: student debt, income inequality, national defense, healthcare reform, mass incarceration, and on, and on. […]

Disruption is such an overused buzzword. But the word itself does have meaning: As defined by the Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionaries, it is a “disturbance…that interrupts an event, activity, or process” and that causes something “to be unable to continue in the normal way”. It’s also the name for an influential theory about innovation first […]

Is Trump A Likable Character By Screenplay Standards? “In my first post on what makes a character likable, I laid out Eric Edson’s criteria from The Story Solution: Courage; Unfair Injury; Skill; Funny; Just Plain Nice; In Danger; Loved By Friends And Family; Hard Working; Obsessed. To be likable, a character only needs a majority – 5 […]

an assumed admixture “it seems to me that many people now talk about educational performance by students as simply and uncomplicatedly a product of school and teacher inputs. There’s a certain degree of variation between students in their academic performance, whether you’re looking at standardized testing or grades or whatever. What portion of that variation […]

These political scientists may have just discovered why U.S. politics are a disaster This study offers evidence that inequality leads to political polarization. Though they have yet to produce definitive findings, the researchers also believe, as many others in their field do, that political polarization also in turn produces more inequality, creating a vicious feedback […]