Sep 11, 20219/11, Almost a Generation On … (written in 2016)NOTE: I wrote this on 9/11/2016 but am publishing it now, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Patriot’s Day, as it’s now called, dawned overcast this year, crisp and cool, in the hills above Los Angeles. As the ocean layer burned off, clouds streamed east to west protesting time’s arrow. …4 min read
Dec 31, 20202020: The LotteryThere is a moment in Shirley Jackson’s iconic story, “The Lottery” when the reader senses things are about to take a dark turn: “A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. “All ready?” he called. In Jackson’s story, 300 residents…Covid 199 min read
Feb 3, 2018Health Care Isn’t a ThingYou’d think by now Washington would have learned: health care reform is a political loser, big time. It has been a minefield for Republicans and Democrats alike. And, for all of Washington’s work to reform health care, Americans’ medical outlooks are actually getting worse. When the Clintons set out to…Health7 min read
Dec 27, 20172017: The Year Targeted Therapies Came TrueIt is easy to dismiss 2017 as a carnival of political dysfunction. But outside the political glare a larger story played out in science and medicine, one with as much potential to affect humanity as anything the politicians conjure. In 2017, the promise of targeted medicine came true. Since the…Cancer13 min read
Feb 19, 2017Contrarian Thinking on Autonomous CarsI live in the heart of car culture, Los Angeles, so I spend a lot of time behind the wheel, mostly listening to podcasts. This week I listened to a great @a16z discussion on how autonomous vehicles will change cities and transportation. About three minutes in, as I zipped into…Self Driving Cars5 min read
Jan 21, 2017From Here to 2020Peggy Noonan is right in her column reviewing Trump’s Inaugural Address — he is a man alone. An ideologically-agnostic populist who co-opted the Republican brand, Trump is — as Huey Long used to say of himself — sui generis, a class (in the scientific sense) all his own. In politics…Politics5 min read
Nov 26, 2016MAGA: Make Alzheimer’s Go AwayThanksgiving is a wonderful time to gather with family, to share and reminisce, to feast and tell stories about friends and family. So it is a cruel coincidence that drugmaker Eli Lilly announced on Thanksgiving eve that one of the most heralded treatments to slow Alzheimer’s Disease has failed. This…Health4 min read
Apr 30, 2016In Between“The future ain’t what it used to be,” observed Yogi Berra, capturing as only he could the ambivalence of change. Berra’s wry observation aptly describes the mood in the US. We are mired in a Tale of Two Cities narrative, a clash between the seemingly exponential growth in software-driven commerce…Politics4 min read
Dec 27, 2015What’s Missing From Hillary Clinton’s Plan to Cure Alzheimer’s DiseaseAlzheimer’s Disease (AD) could be the sleeper issue of the 2016 presidential campaign. For politicians AD is a perfect storm. The science is complex and uncertain, the stakes are huge, the issue is raw and deeply emotional for families afflicted, and there are no obvious medical or financial solutions. …Alzheimers12 min read
Nov 26, 2015Reading About Business: A Different Kind of ListA couple of colleagues recently asked me to recommend books to help them develop a better understanding of business problems. On one level, this is an easy “ask.” Lists of great business books are a dime a dozen. …Business Books20 min read
