Category Archives: Pop Culture

The times they are a changing – early 1960s vs. today

How are we different? Well, we …

1. Watch way more TV.

Watch way more TV.

The daily TV consumption of American households has skyrocketed over the last 50 years from 5 hours to over 8 hours per day, according to Nielsen. Note that if a household is watching 8 hours a day, it may not mean each member of that household is present for all 8 hours.

Seinfeld now defender of coffee

If you haven’t checked out Jerry Seinfeld’s new web show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee then you should – it’s a lot of fun. But a recent article in Grub Street NY (NY Mag) reveals that he’s only a recent convert to the joys of coffee. Here are three revealing insights he provides on his new found liquid friend:

  • “When you go into 3 Guys Coffeeshop on Columbus, don’t complain that it’s not as good as Gimme! Coffee or Mudd or one of these places. Appreciate that for what that is. Know the difference, but don’t be a pain in the ass about it.”
  • “We want to do a lot of stuff. We’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup.”
  • “Eating is annoying and difficult to arrange … meeting someone for coffee suddenly seemed like a wonderful, compact, accessible, and portable social interaction.”

Check out the rest here.

 

The story behind the famous Elvis/Nixon photo

Is told on Buzzfeed with a series of related photos. (Hint: there is a  War on Drugs theme). As  a side note, the photo above must be one of the most bizarre celebrity couple pictures I’ve ever seen.

Presidents and their hats

Behold presidents with hats :-)

And a cool video on presidents and hats after the jump! Continue reading

To ‘nudge’ or not to ‘nudge’ – that is the question

M. Ryan Calo has posted “Code, Nudge, or Notice?” on SSRN. It provides a review of three popular notions regarding regulating human behavior. Here is the abstract: Continue reading

Giving, Taking, Altruism, and more

Adam Grant (University of PA – Wharton) has been receiving a good amount of buzz regarding his work on altruism and organizational theory – garnering a NY Times magazine feature, Today Show interview, and more. Here he is below showing off his magic skills and explaining his book “Give and Take”.

Leaving Las Vegas! Okay, maybe just leaving tenure …

but the former sounds somehow cooler. Of course, I’m not going anywhere. But who would ever give up a tenured position? Apparently more people than you might think. An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education delves into this phenomenon – and it’s interesting – and not as sad as the Nicholas Cage movie referenced above. Here’s a selection: Continue reading