Persuasion
Trash
There is a myth that white collar crime is an elevated type of crime. That it’s sophisticated. Smart. For people who can hack computers and use calculus to pull off a heist, invisibly in plain sight. Not like your run-of-the-mill criminal who breaks into your retail center and steals a shipment of cigarette boxes, wearing (…)
Political Performance Art
I had other things on the docket today, but I’d be remiss if we don’t at least address WTF happened yesterday. TL;DR Someone tried to assassinate Former President Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, grazing his ear instead, killing a spectator, and wounding a few others. The suspect is now dead. I’m not a (…)
What Arguments Are Worth Your Time
In response to the story I shared last week, many of you disparaged yourselves for not having the courage to say what I said. I realized I didn’t add an important distinction: That wasn’t courage. I rarely speak up when adults say inane and cruel things anymore. Not because I don’t want to, but because (…)
Saved
You can’t save people who don’t want to be saved. You can pull them out of a bathtub, but you can’t *make* them want to live. To love someone is to let them sit in their own consequences. To risk losing them if they want to be lost.
The Media’s Integrity Problem
Last week, I shared that I had experienced an unexpected and very sudden divorce. What I didn’t share was thanks to the very public nature of my ex-husband’s job, I had a front-row seat to the vitriolic and unethical world of politics and media – and the absolutely corrupt and coordinated relationship between them. I (…)
Be Wary of Anyone Selling You Certainty
About a decade ago I went down the rabbit hole of learning about food. I started with the woo-woo stuff (Kris Carr’s book isn’t bad), did a stint with the conspiracy theorists (Forks Over Knives, Anything about gluten and your brain), and then graduated to the promised land of Michael Pollan. If you haven’t read The Omnivore’s (…)
It’s ok not to know something
Trust in institutions is at an all-time low, with, I think, good reason. However, it appears we’ve overcorrected because now we claim to, “do our own research,” and cite, “this person I follow on TikTok,” Reddit threads, and Instagram memes. Listen. I love the democratization of information, but our absolute trust in non-peer-reviewed assertions that (…)
Why People Who Go To Therapy Become Better Copywriters
During the previous run of The Copy Workshop, I thought a live fireside chat with a professional copywriter would help invigorate the classroom, so I invited my friend, Carolynn, to speak to students. And while traditional speakers give tips, tricks, frameworks, and takeaways – Carolynn gave us the opening scene of The Godfather. [To find out (…)