society Archives

Where Has Our Optimism Gone?

Where Has Our Optimism Gone? Issue 156, April 18, 2024 If you were asked to describe the personality of America you might use the adjectives resilient, optimistic, can-do, problem-solving. Our history has been built on these principles and they are still very much embedded in what drives our economy. However, what’s driving our culture seems to be shifting from these positive “optimistic, can-do” characteristics and turning to a darker, more fractious side – if you believe what you see, hear,…

Kevin Novak

April 18, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Are We Playing Monopoly as a Society?

Are We Playing Monopoly as a Society? Issue 153, March 28, 2024 Big tech has been taken to task repeatedly often without a complete understanding of who they are, what they do and how their business model functions. For many, it seems elusive to understand their motives, wrapped up in proprietary strategy. And frankly, just about no one (certainly not the average individual) can figure out what they’ve been up to and what their intentions are. Are they out to…

Kevin Novak

March 28, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

How Clock Time Reshaped the World and Work

How Clock Time Reshaped the World and Work Issue 146, February 8, 2024 We think it’s safe to say that most of us take clock time for granted. Timepieces are ubiquitous; they are on our stoves, microwaves, refrigerators, walls, radios, wrists, and mobile phones. From 1300 to 1600, they were the centerpiece of small towns placed on towers and public buildings, which dramatically changed how people ordered their lives. So fast forward and timepieces have become so affordable and mobile…

Kevin Novak

February 8, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

Is This Us?

Is This Us? Issue 141, January 4, 2024 If you just landed on the planet from elsewhere, or you are a student of modern media, you might believe that America is polarized, disappointed, angry, mentally ill, always dancing in front of its mobile phones, and with a chip on its shoulder. Is this really us? Is this who we are? The issue is whether our actions, beliefs, and values are representative of who’ve always been. Or in the current fractious…

Kevin Novak

January 4, 2024

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

The Future of Personal Agency – Ideas and Innovations from 2040

The Future of Personal Agency Issue 102, April 6, 2023 It can’t come as a surprise that many people feel they are losing their sense of personal agency in the face of such rapid technological change, global disruptions and polarized social and political factions. Personal agency? It’s a “sense that I am the one who is causing or generating an action. A person with a sense of personal agency perceives himself/herself as the subject influencing his/her own actions and life…

Kevin Novak

April 5, 2023

Ideas and Innovations Newsletter

A Modern Fable About Social Media: Ideas and Innovations from 2040

A Modern Fable About Social Media Issue 80, Nov 3, 2022 Over the past 18 years, social media has become a way for organizations to market their products and services. It has also enabled society at large to remove physical borders to connect, express their thoughts and opinions, and share the events of their day-to-day lives. Social media offers efficiency and immediacy in a highly-connected world. Before the internet, connecting took time — whether in person, writing letters, telegrams or…

Kevin Novak

November 3, 2022