Robots and other forms of automation are going to transform the job market, but how much? There are four points of view. And that’s a good way to understand what it means to be an analyst. The pessimist looks at the decline of jobs like secretary or factory worker and sees the same pattern in automation…
I need to decide how to publish my upcoming book Writing Without Bullshit. Here’s what I want from a publishing model: everything. I’m not going to get it, of course. But you can help me figure out which imperfect model is best. So far I don’t have a book, I have an outline. I’ll finish the manuscript by December….
I just finished Steven Pinker’s book on writing style. I like Pinker’s take on writing; I learned a lot from it. It’s a great guide and you should read it, but be aware that business writers need to bring a different and more practical perspective to the advice in this book. Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker is…
If you want to publish a non-fiction book, don’t start by writing it. Start by writing a proposal. Tell the editor at a publishing house what’s in it and why it will sell. If you can’t do this, you’ll never be able to write (or sell) a book. Nobody writes a book first and then…
The New York Times published a brutal takedown of Amazon culture this past weekend. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sent around an internal email to deny the charges. But Bezos’ reply is so weak, it makes you wonder if his heart it is in it. The Amazon story, “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace,”…
No topic has more bullshit than people writing about diets and nutrition. I learned that from my favorite food expert, Kerri Hawkins. Today, I interview her about the way diet companies, food companies, restaurants, and media bullshit us about food. Kerri is the the past president of the Massachusetts Dietetic Association and has helped people to lose…
Today, I unveil the plan for my book. I’ll be pitching it to publishers soon. Here’s the title, subtitle, and table of contents. I took a shot at the flap copy, too. I’m avidly interested in your reaction. (I wrote the title, subtitle, and flap copy as they would appear on the book. I enhanced the…
Jon Stewart inspires me. In my moments of absolute fantasy I imagine I am in some small way contributing to the work he began. So it gives me great pleasure that he devoted the final moments of his final show to the theme “Bullshit is everywhere.” He cites, for example: The bullshit of infinite possibility:…
Now I know who’s responsible for all the packaged, processed food in the supermarket. It’s the Army. I’ve just read Anastacia Marx de Salcedo’s Combat-Ready Kitchen: How the U.S. Military Shapes the Way You Eat, a new book published this week. I’ve known Anastacia a long time, but I had no idea she could write…