I read quite a few books in 2023, mostly as audiobooks while making coffee, taking long walks, doing laundry, raking leaves, watering the lawn, showering, washing dishes, preparing lunch, brushing my teeth, shoveling snow (ominously little of that these past several winters!), etc. I sometimes even enjoy watching sports – mostly condensed soccer match highlights from around Europe – with the sound off while listening to an audiobook. You can find a lot of time to “read” if you put audiobooks (or podcasts) on your phone (which you can likely borrow for free from your local library!...

In June, I committed to practicing piano at least fifteen minutes a day for the rest of my life. Here are a few new recordings for anyone curious how quickly a middle-aged man can learn piano with non-intensive daily practice. Georgia On My Mind Sweet Georgia Brown Fly Me to the Moon My previous update (Christmas songs) With thanks to Johannes Plenio for his photo on Unsplash

I’m blessed to live in a safe, walkable town with plenty of trees, good sidewalks, a pretty downtown, and several lovely parks. I used to jog frequently and play squash, but I’ve grown lazier. I now enjoy long walks. On days I’m too busy working, I’ll often walk late at night around our local middle school because it’s nearby and has good lighting. (I occasionally see deer, foxes, and bunnies!)...

Six months ago, I bought a Yamaha DGX-670 – which I’m very happy with – and committed to spending 15+ minutes a day for the rest of my life learning piano. As I explained in Never Stop Learning… Slowly; Old dog learning new tricks in small, daily steps: I’ve said many times that I’ll die regretting I never learned to play jazz. After hearing myself say that one too many times, I decided to do something about it....

NOVA’s “Ancient Earth” I yesterday discovered a fascinating new NOVA science series, “Ancient Earth,” which presents scientists’ best understanding of our amazing planet’s 4.5 billion-year history. Earth began as a molten, lifeless, hellscape with no atmosphere or oceans and evolved step-by-step over billions of years into the amazing live-rich planet we’re lucky enough to inhabit. This incredible story – which enabled your existence – is told by the scientists themselves and depicted visually with visits to rocks and fossils that informed our understanding of our planet’s evolution and with graphical recreations of ancient Earth....

This is the second installment of my hopefully endless series of jazz/bluegrass/bossa nova/Afro-Cuban/etc. recommendations. (First installment) I can’t explain why jazz isn’t all anyone ever listens to. Hoping to infect you with my excitement by giving you more free samples… Red Rodney, Chris Potter, and Bill Watrous Girl from Ipanema The Phil Collins Big Band Pick Up the Pieces Nils Wogram & Harry Watters Cherokee Emmet Cohen Trio + Patrick Bartley + Fabien Mary Live in France 2022 The Brecker Brothers (Michael & Randy) Sponge T-Bones Brasil Ensemble Chega de Saudade (No More Blues) James Carter, Pierre Manetti, & Lévis Adel-Reinhardt Girl from Ipanema Tuba Skinny Thriller Rag Warren Wolf & Wolfpack Four Too Many Zooz Bedford The Beegie Adair Trio Happy Hour (Part Two) With Beegie George Benson Take Five Lucky Chops (with Leo P) Funkytown The Swingin’ Ladies Jazzwoche Burghausen 1995 Michel Petrucciani, Steve Gadd, & Anthony Jackson Take the A Train Sonny Stitt, Howard McGhee, JJ Johnson, Walter Bishop, Tommy Potter, & Kenny Clarke Buzzy James Carter, Pierre Manetti, & Lévis Adel-Reinhardt (again!...

You can find additional music videos in this series at: (Jazz I love (2/?)) I love jazz (and its many cousins, including: bluegrass, bossa nova, Afro-Cuban, etc.) and listen to and watch a bazillion performances. I honestly don’t understand why everyone isn’t obsessed with jazz. In the hope you either love jazz and are looking for new artists or have a latent love of jazz you’re about to discover, here are some artists I love, with one performance from each:...

I really enjoyed this fact-filled conversation about education, friendships, community/neighborhoods, inequality, social and geographic mobility, role models, and college admissions between NYU professor Scott Galloway and Harvard professor Raj Chetty: I encourage you to watch the whole conversation, but I’ll highlight one thing Professor Chetty said: “You’re about 77 times more likely to attend an Ivy League college if you come from the top 1% relative to the bottom 20% of the income distribution…....

Aside from the thousands of Chinese protestors – possibly 10,000 – murdered by the CCP in the Tiananmen Massacre, I long admired post-Deng Xiaoping China and its pragmatic approach to economic growth that lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty. And 28 years ago, I married an amazing woman from China and began seriously studying Mandarin. As I was completing my economics Ph.D., I had a fellowship to study advanced Chinese the following year and was excited to be choosing between The Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies (IUP) at Tsinghua University (China’s MIT) and the Hopkins-Nanjing Center when the U....

According to the United States Federal Reserve: The bottom 50% of Americans own 5.9% of America’s wealth The bottom 90% of Americans own 36.1% of America’s wealth The bottom 99% of Americans own 71.7% of America’s wealth The bottom 99.9% of Americans own 88.6% of America’s wealth Equivalently: The top 50% of Americans own 94.1% of America’s wealth The top 10% of Americans own 63.9% of America’s wealth The top 1% of Americans own 28....