Thank you to the readers who bring the “letter” part of this newsletter to life. When you respond to something I write, this feels more like a conversation. Receiving your emails is always important to me and I’m excited to see every message, whether they align with what I wrote or contain something entirely unexpected just because it was on your mind. Last week, I loved reading everyone’s views on free expression. And I winced slightly but paid close attention to a couple readers’ concerns t...

No one can deny the benefits of laughter with a straight face. Just smiling will make your day better and support your well-being. At a time when Americans are being threatened with all sorts of horrible consequences if we don’t speak and behave in particular ways, I'm thinking about the value of something deeply human that we all share in common: laughter. When I taught at UCLA and in California high schools, my students and I cracked each other up on a regular basis. Laughing didn’t distrac...

We Cannot Turn Away Don't worry, I’ll keep this short. We can’t not talk about talking with each other, whether or not we agree. We can’t not talk about gun violence and policy.Open-Source Learning is yours. Free.Get the white paper here We can’t not talk about controversial topics, or even settled topics that have been politicized or made controversial by people who don’t have our best interests at heart. We can’t not talk about why one dead shooting victim gets more attention than other dea...

The word treaty has been used for more than 600 years to convey a sense of negotiated agreement between two parties with the power to make a promise and keep it. But an agreement is only as strong as each party’s willingness and ability to keep their promises. In the First Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, the United States promised the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations that the great plains “as far as the river flows and the eagle flies” was Native ...

We wrestle with motivation and persuasion every day. You’re a leader wondering how to get people to support your agenda. You’re an ER nurse wondering how to get management to provide what patients need. You’re a commuter wondering how to get our government to stop kidnapping people off the street. You’re a family member wondering how to get a loved one to stop smoking and start exercising. You’re a self-reflective person wondering how you can stop drinking and go vegetarian without alienating...

Hi there! I submitted a talk about SEARCH TERMS to SXSW, and their Panel Picker (which counts for 30% of their decision) closes this weekend. Would you please take a moment to let them know you support the idea? Much appreciated! Here is the link: https://participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sxsw26/community-voting-sxsw/page/community-voting/session/1753577030721001b42K

I’ve been out of the classroom for a few years and I’m working mostly with private sector companies and conference audiences. I see firsthand how schooling impacts our performance on the job and in life after we graduate. It isn’t pretty. I’m struck by the depth of our needs for motivation, leadership, and collaboration/ team communication. Not to mention health, curiosity, meaning, and the ability to more effectively use our tools. Understanding our minds, bodies, relationships, meaning, and...

You and I and every other global citizen can make tomorrow better than today by remembering that we need each other. Everything we learned, we learned from a mediated experience, usually with the help of someone else. Our mentors created those experiences by investing time, energy, and often money. We need to recommit to the importance of what we learn in those connections between people, ideas, and our experiences, because together we can accomplish things that we can’t by ourselves. (Like m...

Last week I mentioned that my latest book project has evolved into SEARCH TERMS. The way we seek out and engage with information isn’t just a function of our personalities or even a symptom of our bias –it’s how we change our minds and our patterns of behavior to become a fuller expression of who we are. When we challenge ourselves to think about new ideas, in new ways, from new perspectives, we grow and improve. But what exactly does that look like in practice? This week, I’m sharing an exam...

Let’s play a game. Before you read on, have another look at the title of this week’s newsletter. Can you guess what a Greek myth and a band from the 1970s might have in common with fig trees? I was looking into how fig trees mineralize CO2 (more on that below) when I found myself humming an ELO song from my youth, so I opened a browser and typed: Turn to stone. Even though much of the World Wide Web has been polluted by self-interest and automated content, it is still the ultimate treasure tr...