When the server walked past our table, my hand shot upward like a high schooler eager to answer the teacher’s question. “Can we get two more of the same, please?” I asked upon getting his attention. “Another round of espresso martinis? I got you, boss.” Leona grinned and nodded in approval, as expected. We go back like four flats on a Cadillac. From study buddies back at the G.O.A.T. HBCU to marketing professionals putting in work for thriving companies, we’ve remained a two-person support system. It’s a celebration every time we link up. So it’s only right that we throw…
Author: Staff Writer
The latest polling coming out of the United States on the war with Iran should be a wake-up call to anyone paying attention. This is not a divided country cautiously debating foreign policy. This is an overwhelming rejection. The people do not want this war, and the data is not even close. A new CNN poll shows that 66 percent of Americans disapprove of the war, with just 33 percent approving. Even worse, only about one-third believe there is any clear plan behind the conflict. At the same time, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 66 percent of Americans want the…
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Pam Bondi is out as his attorney general, ending the contentious tenure of a loyalist who upended the Justice Department’s culture of independence from the White House, oversaw large-scale firings of career employees, and moved aggressively to investigate the Republican president’s perceived enemies. The announcement follows months of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation that made Bondi the target of angry conservatives, even with her close relationship with Trump. She also struggled to satisfy Trump’s demands to prosecute his political rivals, with multiple investigations rejected by judges or grand…
The latest polling data coming out on the Democratic Party is not just bad. It is historically weak, and what is even more telling is that the erosion is coming from within their own base. This is not the opposition attacking them. This is their own voters losing confidence, and that is always the beginning of a political fracture. Recent polling shows the Democratic Party sitting at a net favorability of roughly -20, with more than 55% of Americans viewing the party unfavorably. At the same time, even among Democrats themselves, enthusiasm has collapsed compared to prior cycles. An AP-NORC…
Emily, the Chief Revenue Officer at a global financial services company, learned something about her CEO she cannot unknow. She recently discovered that her CEO is having an affair. The relationship appears private and consensual. It does not violate company policy. She knows his spouse well; their children play on the same basketball team, and his spouse coaches it. The proximity is unavoidable. On Monday morning, she listens as he outlines priorities for the quarter. The strategy is sound. The numbers are holding. But she hears him differently now. This is the same CEO who regularly speaks about integrity and…
China has just taken another decisive step toward the future of money, and once again, the West is pretending this is simply about “payment efficiency.” The People’s Bank of China has now expanded its digital yuan program by adding 12 additional banks, bringing the total number of participating institutions to 22. China launched the digital yuan back in 2019, and despite already having dominant digital payment systems like Alipay and WeChat Pay, they continue to push forward aggressively. The reason is simple. Those systems are private. The digital yuan is not. This is a direct liability of the central bank,…
Minecraft is, perhaps, the ultimate sandbox game. Infinite space, multiple game modes, and seemingly endless updates: The game’s limitless possibilities have helped it sell more than 350 million copies since it launched in 2011 (only Tetris has sold more games, and it had a 27-year lead). In 2014, Microsoft acquired Minecraft developer Mojang for $2.5 billion. That same year, Mojang Studios began trying to figure out how to turn an open-ended game into a narrative film for Warner Bros. By 2022, the adaptation coalesced around Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess, featuring Jason Momoa as Garrett Garrison, a human trapped in-game,…
A senior Trump administration tasked with managing America’s disaster response won’t stop talking about teleporting. Gregg Phillips, who leads FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, first made claims about teleportation on a podcast, describing the feeling of his car being “lifted up” and relocated into a ditch near a church. In another instance, Phillips described finding himself teleported to a Waffle House miles away from his previous location. The Trump administration named Phillips, best known for profiting from election conspiracy theories, to one of the top roles at the disaster relief agency in December. “Teleporting is no fun. … It…
Top executives at the major U.S. airlines have been vocal in sharing their frustrations amid the ongoing partial government shutdown, which has resulted in Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staffing shortages, lengthy airport security lines, and flight delays. The partial shutdown began on February 14 when funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lapsed. TSA officers are classified as essential workers, meaning they’re still required to show up, even without pay. Because of financial uncertainty, many employees called out sick or quit altogether. As the weeks went by, staffing shortages worsened, and wait times grew longer. Airline bosses are at…
Below, co-authors Joshua Steiner and Michael Lynton share five key insights from their new book, From Mistakes to Meaning: Owning Your Past So It Doesn’t Own You. Joshua has worked in government, finance, and the nonprofit sector. After serving as chief of staff at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, he became a banker at Lazard before co-founding two investment firms and serving as an executive at Bloomberg LP. Michael has spent his career in the media and entertainment business. He is the former CEO of Sony Entertainment and now serves on the boards of the Rand Corporation and the Smithsonian.…