Armchair Sociology
17 Storytelling Moments That Defined 2017
From Donald Trump to The Last Jedi, here are 17 of the stories that defined us politically, culturally, scientifically, financially, and socially in 2017.
From Donald Trump to The Last Jedi, here are 17 of the stories that defined us politically, culturally, scientifically, financially, and socially in 2017.
Here’s how to keep your next family gathering from turning into a minefield of awkward conversations.
I recently heard a PR vendor ask her client what their upcoming stories were. “Well, we have a new feature.” The client then explained what the feature is and what it does. “Okay,” said the PR pro. “But what’s the story?” “What do you mean?” “I mean what problem does Read more…
In politics, business, love and war, we’re tempted to reduce all conflicts to a winner and a loser. By doing this, we imply that one side’s argument (or army) defeated the other soundly. In reality, this rarely happens. That’s because the margin between victory and defeat is often just a Read more…
I don’t remember a word from my graduation. I don’t even remember who spoke at it, much less what they said. That’s partly because I was exhausted (our art school staged our portfolio review and our graduation on the same day), but also because people rarely say anything memorable during Read more…
Last week, Ian M. Rountree and I started Read It All Week, a challenge to read everything we were subscribed to — especially all the blogs we so easily subscribe to, but never actually absorb. We did this for two reasons: To reconsider why we subscribe to certain kinds of Read more…
On Sunday nights, Mack Collier runs a Twitter-based group chat called #blogchat, which I highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about blogging while hobnobbing with their peers. But, based on the defensive reaction to some of my comments from several of the #blogchat participants, I’ve realized that Read more…
I don’t know anybody who loves pop radio. I know people who listen to it ironically, as though they’re not comfortable admitting they don’t entirely hate Lady Gaga. And I know people who admit to liking just Lady Gaga, or just Usher, but still insist they “hate the radio.” But Read more…