Google TGIF Meetings under Sundar Pichai

Since the founding of the company, Alphabet (previously Google’s) founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin hosted all-company gatherings every Friday afternoon during which a ask-anything ethos ruled. Sundar Pichai, who took over the reins, on why he unexpectedly changed ‘TGIF’ and what it means to the company’s culture of openness: We are going to continue […]

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, former Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Texas Rangers baseball outfielder <ljswqvgtd Doug Glanville <lybrwuikt wrote in The New York Times,

Baseball is never just about baseball. It is called our national pastime for a reason. The virus has dealt a serious blow not just to the league’s operation but, in some sense, to the nation itself: Our confidence has been shaken, our helplessness reinforced, our anxiety and caution ramped up yet again. Baseball was entering […]

How the Role of a University Professor Changed

Interview with English philosopher Simon Critchley: The big thing that’s changed has been the external environment of what it means to teach in university. Universities used to be communities; they used to be places where intellectual life really happened. They were also places where avant-garde stuff was happening. And that’s—in England anyway—completely ground to a […]

Carol Tome is Remaking UPS

The Wall Street Journal notes that UPS CEO Carol Tome, who previously sat on the company’s board since 2003, has been pivoting UPS away from capacity towards profitability: Since she became chief executive in June, UPS has become more selective about which packages it ships. The company is tearing up shipping contracts midterm. Sales leaders […]

“Canary in a Coal Mine”

American stockpicker Jim Jubak on the story of the real canary in the coal mine: “Canary in a coal mine” is an indicator of danger. In the dark-as-a-dungeon days of mining, miners would sometimes carry caged canaries with them into the tunnels. The birds would die from mine gases that the miners themselves hadn’t yet […]

The Police’s ‘Split Second’ Defense

Perhaps a new criterion for policing is obliged: police shouldn’t fire first to defend the innocent. David French writes in NationalReview.com: There is absolutely no question that police have a difficult job. There is no question that even routine encounters and wellness checks can—on rare occasions—escalate to deadly violence. But there is also no question […]

The Buddha on Climate Change

From American Theravada Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Bodhi‘s keynote address on climate change emergency at the United Nations’first official Vesak celebration on 15 May 2000: We know what lies behind climate change. The causes have been determined with scientific precision. It’s our dependence on fossil fuels, unwise practices of land clearance, industrial models of agriculture, and […]

The Most Beautiful Villages in Greece

Greece is one of the most picturesque destinations in the world. Lori Zaino from The Points Guy lists some absolutely charming Greek villages set upon cliffs, unique small towns, and sleepy little fishing villages anchored along the sea: Assos, Kefalonia Oia, Santorini Fidakia, Central Greece Apiranthos, Naxos Makrinitsa, Eastern Greece Olympos, Karpathos Lindos, Rhodes Karytaina, […]

Spiritual Journey Koya San Japan

Author Pico Iyer suggests Koya San in Japan, where 52 of the fabulous temples offer conveniences and serve meals: The sacred mountain is known as Koyasan outside Osaka, which you ascend by cable car, and at the top, there’s nothing but 135 Buddhist temples, many groves of 800-year-old trees, and 250,000 graves. It’s a very […]

The Buddha: The Mula Dasavi

From American Theravada Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Bodhi’s keynote address on climate change emergency at the United Nations’first official Vesak celebration on 15 May 2000: The Buddha is often praised as a teacher of peace, tolerance, goodwill, and compassion. And while he certainly exemplifies and teaches these qualities, they in no way exhaust the full content […]