Newsletter Archive

This will be the second piece centered around Pierre Boulle’s work. Previously, we leveraged Planet of the Apes to discuss theory of mind. Similarly, this piece will center around human behavior, but rather than compare us to our primate ancestors, we will compare amongst ourselves. The Bridge on the River Kwai, debuted ten years prior…

We begin this week’s piece in a similar breadth as last’s. The influence of data on our lives is enormous, and therefore the ability to analyze it effectively an increasingly necessary skill. As its happened, this skill has been central to several of my past pursuits including engineering school, financial market education, and my SEO…

During prime New Year’s resolution season of January 2024, I made a cliché proclamation; I was going to read more. It wasn’t the first time me and millions of others shared this hollow pursuit. Knowing history, and abhorring the desire to repeat it, I ponied up $45 and paid for Blinkist, an app providing 10-30…

I sit Sunday morning in my mustard writing chair observing the mahogany stained bookshelf on my right. On it sits a compilation of a works ranging from medical reference titles to The Godfather and The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel, a non-fiction work about the man behind the eponymous engine. Amongst the titles is a…

The Gilded Age, defined as the late 1870’s to early 1900’s, was the United States’ first era of excess. Following the Civil War, the technological advancements made during the early Industrial Revolution were now becoming commercialized, most notably electricity, oil, and steel production. Along with this rapid expansion came unprecedented levels of wealth best memorialized…

We are suffering just now from a bad attack of economic pessimism. It is common to hear people say that the epoch of enormous economic progress which characterized the twentieth century is over; that the rapid improvement in the standard of life is now going to slow down – at any rate in the United…

Last week’s piece left two open questions: The answers to these questions are inexplicably connected. To demonstrate, we will answer them in reverse order. The Brain’s Two-Phase Development It is extremely rare to hear the term “late” contextualized positively. In many cases, appropriately so; but in others, perhaps we’ve been misled. Neurological development is a…

If an individual had the following resume, how would you view them: University of California-Berkely: B.A. Economics, Minor in Mathematics and Philosophy Harvard Business School: MBA Harvard Business School: Youngest Assistant Professor in College’s History (24) US Air Force: Captain Ford Motor Company: 15 Years Executive Management, including CEO United States Government: Secretary of Defense,…

It hit me while at Phoenix Airport this week it’s been three weeks since publishing a piece: couple reasons for that. First, I’ve been traveling or have hosted travelers each of the past three weekends. As much I enjoy these experiences, they cut into the hours needed to produce quality writing. Second, and what I’ll…

Pierre Boulle is a name unknown to most. His limited contributions to literature and cinema, however, are transcendent. Boulle authored Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes in 1952 and 1963, respectively, both of which were adopted into the namesake award-winning films. They are among my favorites because of their fascinating examinations…