Category: Culture & Commentary
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The Timeless Influence of Dolly Parton in American Culture
There are some people who become so woven into American culture that it is difficult to remember when you were first introduced to them. Dolly Parton was one of those people. For me, Dolly came through my parents. They both loved her, although for different reasons, and somewhere along the way I fell in love…
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Content Creation Gets the Attention. Content Curation Gives It Context.
We hear the term content creator constantly. It has become part of our everyday vocabulary as social media has turned millions of ordinary people into photographers, writers, reviewers, educators, entertainers, and storytellers. We generally understand what creators do because we can see the result of their work: they make something that wasn’t there before. The…
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Understanding the Legacy of the Declaration of Independence
Every Fourth of July, somewhere between backyard cookouts, fireworks, red-white-and-blue desserts, and summer celebrations, someone inevitably makes a joke about Independence Day — the movie where humanity bands together to fight an alien invasion. And let’s be fair: it was a great movie. Few speeches captured 1990s blockbuster energy quite like the idea of the…
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Collaboration Over Competition: Lessons from Xanadu
I was born in 1974, and one of my favorite movies as a kid was Xanadu. If I’m being truthful, I didn’t really understand the movie. I was captivated by the music, the roller skating, the choreography, and the dreamy glow that seemed to surround every scene. Olivia Newton-John felt almost otherworldly, Gene Kelly represented…
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Stop Living for Likes: Embrace Real Life Moments
A few years ago, a phrase made the rounds among frustrated small business owners: “Everything is content. Everything is content. Don’t forget to film it. Don’t forget to film it.” That mindset has convinced an entire generation that every meal, vacation, family gathering, walk, coffee run, and sunset needs to be documented for an audience.…
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From Viral to Viable: Lessons for Workplace Creators
There was a time during the pandemic when it felt like the entire internet had collectively decided that every workplace was now a stage. Nurses danced in hospital hallways. Retail workers filmed “a day in the life” content with customers. Fast food employees turned kitchens into TikTok sets. By 2022, the Tortilla Challenge had fully…
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The Snake, The Rat, and the Evolution of Survivor: Why Season 50 Proved the Game Still Works
Fifty seasons. That number alone feels impossible when you stop and think about it. Back in the summer of 2000, when Survivor first premiered with Jeff Probst narrating a strange social experiment set on an island in Borneo, nobody could have predicted what it would become. What started as a survival-based reality show evolved into…
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Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do, and the Danger of Believing Your Way Is the Only Way
One of the more interesting things about Cobra Kai is that it was never really about karate. It is about philosophy. More specifically, it is about what happens when people become so committed to a way of thinking that they stop questioning whether it still serves them. On one side, you have the teachings of…
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Thursday FOODIE Flashback: When a Meal Brings You Back
If you watch enough cooking competitions like Top Chef, MasterChef, or the newer America’s Culinary Cup, you start hearing a phrase that judges repeat often: the best food doesn’t just taste good, it evokes memory. That line stayed with me recently because I experienced exactly that on an ordinary Taco Tuesday at Plaza Azteca. For…
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Wednesday Wisdom: The New American Housing Reality
There’s a conversation happening quietly across the internet right now, and it’s not about dream homes or HGTV renovations. It’s about survival. Lately, I’ve been watching videos where people explain how they are living in hotels instead of apartments. Some rotate hotels every 28 days to avoid residency laws. Others stay in extended-stay suites because…
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Wednesday Wisdom: A Parent-to-Parent Heart-to- Heart About Roblox
Let me start here: if your kids have played Roblox, you didn’t fail as a parent. Most of us said yes because it was 2020, the world shut down, our kids were isolated, and Roblox looked like creativity, connection, and harmless fun wrapped in bright colors. We were doing the best we could with what…
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Florida Day: Sunshine Dreams in Snow
I have been embarking on a song-a-day challenge over on Substack, and thanks to Winter Storm FERN, I completely forgot that it was National Florida Day. Because of course it was. There’s something wildly ironic about celebrating Florida, the land of sunburns, palm trees, and salt-rimmed glasses, while staring out the window at over a…
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