What can we learn about consuming pop culture from the TED ‘Ads Worth Spreading’ list?

TED just released “Ads Worth Spreading” (here’s the full list) as part of a big week for ’em (the 30th Anniversary of TED is right now in Vancouver). There are no trophies for winning, and ultimately you need to fall… Continue Reading

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Demographically, is the U.S. now in a reverse migration? Are African-Americans moving back to the South?

I just spent about five days in Memphis, TN. That’s a (generally speaking) very black, very historical, very proud, very connected back to the US historical landscape (rock n’ roll) place. I’m not from the South, I’ve never lived for… Continue Reading

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The annual spending on men’s wear is up 70 percent since 1998. Here we go…

Check out the chart above, via here. There are other charts of interest in said post, but essentially, here’s a quick takeaway: around 1998, the total market for menswear was about $270 billion. This year? It’s going to approach $500 billion.… Continue Reading

Public transportation ridership rose 37 percent from 1995 to 2013. That’s a good thing, right?

The conventional logic says that public transportation will rise as gas prices rise (basic economic situation there). That seemed to be the case in the 1950s in some cities, but now — via data from the American Public Transportation Association… Continue Reading

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The median age of a TV viewer is now 54. Has advertising basically become a junk science?

I'm a white male, age 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are. — Homer J Simpson (@homersquotes) February 7, 2011 Amen, Homer. We were all taught to believe that the central idea of… Continue Reading

Why did David Coleman and company keep choosing “synthesis” as the word to best represent the new SAT? Argh.

If you’re unfamiliar with David Coleman, he’s one of the architects of the Common Core standards — and now he’s the guy who led the re-shaping/re-branding of the SAT. Here are the basics of the new test: back to 1600… Continue Reading

Is breakfast dead in America?

This is a cool article from Quartz on the decline of orange juice in American life — namely, rising prices of oranges, infections of orange grove, the evil nature of sugar now, etc. — but buried within it is this nugget:… Continue Reading