Know what really grinds my gears?

Out now in the current issue of The Atlantic is my piece for an article on the state of the U.S. economy, especially with regard to innovation and new business creation. Hint: it's not great. Why? Because we have a pretty serious monopoly problem in this country, that is looking increasingly like the gilded age of the late 19th century. As the article explains, nearly every industry is concentrated into a few humongous corporations that control a vast majority of the market in their respective sectors. Whether it's clothing, health insurance, airlines, cable, supermarkets, publishing- you name it- it's an oligopoly.

Pick up a copy, or read the article here. Thanks to, Paul!

True grit

The new issue of The Atlantic is out, and features this piece of mine, for an article asking if "dogged, single-minded persistence" is always a good thing.

The article is centered around a forthcoming book by psychologist Angela Duckworth, titled Grit, where she argues that experiencing setback after setback can be beneficial in education as well as the professional realm. Overcoming these setbacks helps to strengthen one's resolve. And Duckworth found that some of the most successful people have gotten where they are due to their handling of setbacks and obstacles. This may seem self-evident, but the article questions, with the precarious nature of work these days, and how some industries appear and vanish with the trends, is it always a good idea to keep your nose to the grindstone? Is it sometimes better to give up, and try something else?

Thank you to Paul, my AD on this. Grab a copy and check out the story, or find it online here.

This is your brain on bugs

Slugbugs at least. Here's a new piece for the current issue of The Atlantic. It's for an article explaining the thought process behind the stupid (and sometimes evil) decisions companies make. Case in point: the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

Another example from the article is Ford, and the exploding Pintos fiasco of the 1970s. Despite evidence that the models were shown to have exploded when hit from behind (and burning the passengers alive), Ford refused to recall them. My original sketch had the phrenology regions resembling more of a Pinto shape, and flames instead of exhaust, but since the headline references VW, we went with the Beetle instead.

Check out the issue. Thank you to my AD for this, Paul!

C is for Conglomerate

This was a quick piece for the November issue of The Atlantic that accompanies an article on the new parent company of Google: Alphabet. The piece explains how Alphabet is striving to be a modern-day conglomerate- that hodgepodge of varying operations that were so popular in the sixties, but aside from GE, are hard to find nowadays. Will it work out? Only time will tell.

Being that it's Google's new parent company, I thought it made sense to use a bunch of web windows forming a "conglomeration," if you will, that makes the "A" in Alphabet's logo. And here's the page:

Thank you to Kara, my AD! I'll have another piece I just finished up in the December issue of The Atlantic that I'll post when it's out. Same bat time...same bat channel.

Getting metaphorical

My recent cover piece for the Washington Post's Capital Biz magazine ran yesterday. The story describes the recent multitude of venture capital firms in the area, providing investment for new, smaller businesses. Fairly dry stuff, so I had to get metaphorical on its ass!



And they did a great job of linking the article to the illustration by way of the headline. Brilliant copywriting. Thanks again, Mere! It was a real pleasure!