I’ve mostly been able to ignore the subprime mortgage mess. I don’t work in finance (although several of my classmates at Columbia are walking on eggshells), and my investments are mostly long term so the volatility in the markets doesn’t really concern me. But then I read the following paragraph in The Economist: The boldest […]
The topic of the week is responsibility. Individual responsibility. Community responsibility. Societal responsibility. How do we divide up responsibility among all affected parties? Who should be held accountable when something goes wrong? Where does the balance lie between being free to do as one wishes vs. being responsible to others? I don’t have answers in […]
This post is going to be a little bit disjointed. I apologize from the start. I have several themes running through my head, and I know they all tie together, but I may not be able to express the connection coherently. But I’ve been mulling it over for a few days now, and it’s not […]
I have written a book, titled You Have A Choice: Beyond Hard Work to Meaningful Impact, which is now available on Amazon and on Bookshop. You can also ask your local bookstore to order it through the Ingram catalog. I was so excited when I first held in my hands a book that I had […]
Amazon link The plutocrats have always known that solidarity is the answer, that the sum of us can accomplish far more than just some of us. This is a fantastic book describing how racism has benefited “some of us”, while costing us the benefits of solutions that help all of us. McGhee suggests that “the […]
Amazon link Written as a dialogue between a passionate but unhappy youth and a wise philosopher, this book takes on big questions like what it means to be happy, and how to live a meaningful life. It’s based on the work of psychologist Alfred Adler but you don’t need to know anything going in, as […]
When confronted with an uncomfortable situation, we often stay silent because we don’t know what to say in the moment, or we don’t want to get involved. For instance, when we witness people making potentially racist or sexist comments, it’s easier to say nothing, because why take the risk of an uncomfortable confrontation? And yet, […]
Another year is in the books, and, as usual, I want to take the opportunity to reflect on 2022, and set my intention for 2023. In last year’s reflection, I added self-care as a priority for myself along with family and coaching, and that went surprisingly well. I managed my commitments better, as I realized […]
Amazon link I’ve been following Lily Zheng (they/them pronouns) for years on LinkedIn to get their DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) insights, and their book is even better. They call out the DEI industry for failing to live up to their own saying that “intentions do not equal impact”, because despite the best of intentions, […]
[11/20/22: Thanks for the feedback! The current version is in this Google doc, so please comment there moving forward] [11/9/22: This is a rough draft of what I hope will be the first chapter of the book I am writing. A lot of this material will be familiar to long-time blog readers, and I’ve linked […]
About me: I'm an unrepentant generalist finding my way in a world of specialists. I started this blog to review books, but I later expanded to write on whatever interested me across a range of topics.