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Sometimes the most interesting thing a brand can do isn’t outspend everyone else — it’s become the…
When a 130-year-old industrial conglomerate builds a media operation, the broadcast paradigm has already ended.
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Inside You
People who grew up with little but were raised with dignity carry a kind of class that n…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. I have to admit that the people I most admire have rarely been th…
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The industry word for tracking everything a shopper does online and selling that profile…
When the largest retailer on earth normalizes tracking, the conversation should center on industry-wide accountability, not any single brand.
Inside You
People who find financial stability late in life hold money differently than those who a…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. There is a specific feeling that arrives when you first have enou…
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The lower-middle class isn’t bad with money — they’re paying a tax the wealt…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. The lower-middle class doesn't have a money problem. That framing…
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There’s something quietly uncomfortable about realizing the spreadsheet you spent…
The gap between possessing data and extracting real-time intelligence from it will define which marketing organizations survive the next cycle.
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People who still use AOL email addresses aren’t always behind the times — for poli…
The campaigns that win are the ones that treat every email address as a relationship, not a broadcast endpoint.
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People who were taught to write carefully in school sometimes find AI-produced prose uns…
Readers never had a content shortage problem; they had a meaning shortage problem, and AI amplifies whichever one publishers choose.
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Are Netflix documentaries real? What the gap between “based on true events”…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. At some point while watching a Netflix documentary, you probably…
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I’ve interviewed 50 people who came of age before mobile phones and a surprising n…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. Think about the last time a close friend called you without warni…
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I’ve asked 100 people about their relationship with television and the answers oft…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. According to Nielsen data, Americans spend an average of more tha…
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A developer building an AI agent found that the system had recommended a small obscure p…
The moment of recognition arrived without fanfare. A developer — building an AI agent to assist with dependency management — watched the system surfa…
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10 songs from the 70s and 80s I wish I could hear again with completely new ears
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. There is a version of listening that is only available once. The…
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I’ve talked to 60 people who were the calm one in a chaotic household growing up —…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. Therapist and author Pete Walker, who works with survivors of com…
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I’ve interviewed 50 people who grew up without much money and many of them said th…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. "Does it ever go away?" she asked. We'd been talking for a while…
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10 must-watch movie classics that may hold up better now than almost anything made in th…
To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. There are ten films on this list. The oldest was made in 1957. No…