America Trends

While the right of privacy may not be explicit in the United States Constitution, as a tenet it is sprinkled liberally throughout and the U.S. Supreme Court has concurred time and again, particularly as it relates to married couples’ access to contraceptives in Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 and subsequently in cases relating to abortion … Continue reading EP 337 Privacy: America’s Most Endangered Right in the Digital Age

Our guest is Terry Jones, founder of Travelocity.com and co-founder of Kayak.com. He has written a new book called ‘Disruption Off: The Technological Disruption Coming for Your Company and What to Do About It’. Having this conversation with him during the coronavirus pandemic begged us to spend time imagining what impact this will all have … Continue reading Special Edition #7 Disruptive Technologies Further Unleashed in Wake of the Pandemic

Each generation has its capstone event defining the way it looks at the world. As a baby boomer, with the civil rights movement, the first moonwalk, as well as the Vietnam War and the assassinations of our leaders, it was a complicated mix of hope and despair. For those now going off to college for … Continue reading EP 336 The 9-11 Generation Comes of Age

Backyard birdwatchers, you’re eyes aren’t deceiving you. The number of birds in the United States and Canada has dropped by 29 percent since 1970. The head of the National Audubon Society, calls it a ‘full blown crisis’. Birds are the most studied group of animals on Earth given the ease by which they can be … Continue reading EP 335 Birds Are Vanishing From North America

With many young people deciding that the city, once again, is their destination of choice, we wanted to find out whether urban planning today is meeting the needs of this generation. Generations past gave us public water and sanitation, zoning, building codes and roadways that did more to influence our health and well being than … Continue reading EP 334 The Impact of Changing Urban Design

Many of us think that our genes and our lifestyle, or just plain luck, determine our health outcomes. As a society, we’re beginning to understand another key factor is the growing impact of the social determinants of health–the walk ability of our neighborhood, access to medical facilities and transportation, living in areas that aren’t environmentally … Continue reading EP 333 Your Zip Code Has a Lot To Do with Your Health

So many vulnerabilities become more visible and are exacerbated during a crisis, like the coronavirus pandemic. In America, we’ve seen how quickly economic prosperity can be undone and inequities in the system revealed. We also see how lack of attention to public health, except in a crisis, makes the world’s most capable nation look wholly … Continue reading Special Edition 6 America’s Dangerous Over reliance on China for Pharmaceuticals Reaches Tipping Point

Much has been, and will be, written about government’s delays in containing the deadly COVID-19 corona virus. We hear the names CDC, FDA, HHS and a tangle of bureaucracies named during the Administration’s daily briefings. To what extent did the many regulations governing the actions of each layer of government play a role in delaying … Continue reading Special Edition 5 Can America Cut Through Red Tape to Jumpstart Its Economy in the Wake of the Pandemic?

The baby boomers liked their suburban homes, with lots of room inside and out. The millennials, many of whom will be relied upon to buy them, not so much. Between now and 2037 it is projected that 21 million homes will hit the market as boomers downsize, move in with family and require assisted living … Continue reading EP 332 Projection: Twenty One Million Homes to Hit the Market–But Where are the Buyers?

  At our founding, there were very distinctive regional flavors that made up the American palate.  Over time, as part of the industrial revolution, Americans began to standardize the way foods were prepared, thus saving time and assuring us that a trusted brand stood behind what we were consuming.  Today, in a trend that has … Continue reading EP 331 Is There American Cuisine?

Have you ever stopped to read all the fees tacked on to your electric bill, cable bill, mortgage, car or student loan?  It’s a cut by a thousand fees–$1.47 here, $2.50 there and before you know it, it adds up to real money.  In fact, it’s over a trillion and a half dollars a year … Continue reading EP 330 America: Land of the Fee

  At a recent gathering of the leaders of the world’s democracies in Canada, the reporting from the meeting in Politico opened with the sentence: ‘if there’s a word that sums up the current mood of the West’s high command, it’s this: despair’.  On the heels of French President Emmanuel Macron suggesting that NATO leadership … Continue reading EP 329 Are the World’s Democracies on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?

In the realm of groundbreaking work, David Kessler and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross introduced us to the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance in 2005 in the book ‘On Grief and Grieving’. Ms. Kubler-Ross has died, but Mr. Kessler, the world’s most well-known expert on grieving, continues his work and introduces us to … Continue reading EP 328 The Sixth Stage of Grief

  It’s hard to drive past any fast food chain restaurant without noticing that places known for unhealthy choices have added one item that most nutritionists say is better than those historically offered.  It’s the plant-based, or meatless, burger.  So we decided to find out if this new food craze is really as good as … Continue reading EP 327 Plant Based Burgers Are All the Rage

While the major concern we have during this most extraordinary moment is for the health and safety of our friends, family and fellow Americans, it’s hard to avoid the other implications to our personal and national economic well-being.  The two converge most directly when it comes to a long documented over reliance on Chinese manufacturers … Continue reading 4 Special Edition Will a New Economy Emerge in the Wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic?

How did our economy become so titled against the middle class and the poor, thus leading to an embrace of the more nationalistic soundings of Donald Trump in 2016?  We must acknowledge that the fount of his appeal had a wellspring in changes in the America fabric that took placee over a long sweep of … Continue reading EP 326 The Rise of the Transaction Man in America

In an age of more do it yourself retirement planning, it’s good to see Congress put aside differences and recognize that Americans need as many tools as possible to make saving for retirement easier.  That’s the basis for bipartisan support for the first reform of retirement law in 13 years.  It’s called the SECURE Act, … Continue reading EP 325 Should the SECURE Act Make You More Secure in Retirement?

Tribalism is the term that has entered our political lexicon as we attempt to define the raucous, contentious political phase we have entered in this country.  That seems dangerous for a society that is built on the the ideals of fairness, justice and liberty.  All of which would seem to require that we trust each … Continue reading EP 324 Must Politics Be War?

You’re driving in America’s heartland and you’re listening to the radio.  You may hear Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannitty and other more popular conservative talk show hosts, but you’re just as likely to hear hosts from Salem Media, Bott Radio Network or American Family Radio.  Sure, everyone knows the impact that Fox News has had on … Continue reading EP 323 The Council for National Policy May Be the Most Powerful Network You’ve Never Heard Of

Reconstruction interruptus.  It is of the great untold stories in America history.  Lincoln was shot and what died along with him was the hope and promise that America could make things right for so many who had contributed to the economy of the nation, but could not partake in its rewards.  Through a long 100 … Continue reading EP 322 Reparations for Slavery: An Idea That’s Too Late or Whose Time Has Come?