Dec 29, 2020Don’t Be a Nixon Next YearCircumstances aside, it’s time to weigh the proposals for your future Richard Nixon had two radically different proposals for space exploration on his desk back in the early seventies. He took the project that gave us the space shuttle. As it turns out, that was another small step for humanity…Resolutions3 min readResolutions3 min read
Dec 20, 2020Journalists and the Cyclops of Our TimesBeing a journalist takes spirit and grit Journalists are a bit like Odysseus: We climb the masts of our ships and shout important information. In Homer’s Odyssey, one of the oldest Western texts, Odysseus faces many trials on his long journey home to be reunited with his wife on the…Journalism3 min readJournalism3 min read
Dec 3, 2019Hooked on MeditationPerfect meditation is a pipe dream but I’ll keep practicing Meditation is free but hard. You are being asked to sit still or lie down in a quiet room and observe your thoughts for a set amount of time. …Meditation7 min readMeditation7 min read
Oct 28, 2019Member-onlyWhat You Eat is a Personal Choice, Respect ThatYou may find being vegan or vegetarian has nothing to do with social justice, lifestyle, or religion You should ask a vegetarian or vegan why they choose to forgo meat or animal products because the root of their choice may uncover a simple lack of understanding on your part. …6 min read6 min read
Published inThe Startup·Oct 14, 2019Member-onlyHow to Write a Knock-Out Interview RequestEmail subtext and system, it’s all in here As a journalist, I’ve sent thousands of email interview requests over the years and wasted countless hours struggling over how to structure them, what to say, and how to say it. Fashioning these requests used to be time-consuming and frustrating because I…Writing7 min readWriting7 min read
Sep 30, 2019If You Want More Interviews Send Out More Requests. Simple.Getting interviews is a numbers game, here’s how to play it I’d never heard of the Pareto principle until about a year ago, and then, on some podcast, it came up, and then someone else in a book mentioned it, and then, I watched a talk on YouTube, and it…Productivity3 min readProductivity3 min read
Sep 9, 2019Don’t Manage Your Time Manage YourselfHow to stick to your best-laid plans You might think that taking holiday snaps is an unlikely place to consider time management but its not. You’ve allocated time to go on holiday, and you’re fully immersed in taking pictures and having fun. That, in essence, is time management. I plan…Productivity4 min readProductivity4 min read
Sep 2, 2019Business Plans are Useless but do One AnywayStarting out as a freelance journalist I was forced to write one, and I’m glad I did Business plans are useless. That’s the prevailing wisdom, but then I did one, and the benefits now outweigh the time and pain it caused me. The German government is generous in helping anyone…Business4 min readBusiness4 min read
Aug 26, 2019These 7 Hacks Will Take You From Zero to Reading 30 Books or More a YearI did the minimum until I figured out how to get more reading in Several years ago, I challenged my wife to a reading competition to get my general reading up. She’s a formidable adversary, devouring roughly a book a week. I don’t remember the exact tally, but it was…Reading4 min readReading4 min read
Aug 19, 2019Off the Record: A Journalist’s Tricky but Necessary BusinessI protect people’s anonymity because otherwise, they won’t talk but it severely complicates my work as a journalist Rule number 1: try to get someone to go on the record. …Journalism4 min readJournalism4 min read
