Understanding Ukraine - The Third Rome. March 2022. Russians have long had a saying: "Moscow is the third Rome; a fourth there shall never be." The two sides of this coin offer a bright side, and a very dark side. And to those of us who received a typical western-oriented education, drawing a line from Rome to Moscow will seem surprising at best. Read more.

The New Colossus. January 2020. On the occasion of the impeachment trial vote, and in the wake of the State of the Union, when I take comfort on an evening run from seeing Lady Liberty's light shine bright in the dark of night, it seems appropriate to quote the full text that we so often abridge. Read more.

Content a la Carte. November 2016. In the Netflix era, the broadcast network no longer has any value as a brand. Viewers cherry pick their content from a variety of sources that are increasingly disconnected from the originating network. Yet media companies still cling to the notions of channels, content aggregation, and bundling as the way to monetize content. Market forces alone will ultimately erode this model beyond viability. Read more.

Southern Pride. September 2016. I was born in North Carolina and lived my whole life south of the Mason Dixon Line until I went off to graduate school. I attended segregated schools until the 4th grade. My mom's family was from Arkansas, my Dad's family from South Carolina. So my southern roots run pretty deep. Read more.

The Paper Boy. January 2016. We tell ourselves two great fables when trying to take a positive view of the modern global economy. First we tell ourselves that it's inevitable that nations will evolve from agricultural to industrial to service economies. Second we tell ourselves that the Sharing Economy democratizes services in a way that benefits the producers in the Sharing Economy. Is either of these fables really true? Read more.