Europe between the Oceans

Everyone must buy this book: Barry Cunliffe, Europe between the Oceans: 9000 BC - AD 1000 (Yale University Press (2008).

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Is There Something Wrong with This Business Model?

I am a "faithful listener" of (to?) National Public Radio. But sometimes it is hard to be faithful; sometimes I must stop up my ears. Why? Because NPR -- for years! -- insists on putting on (almost always at the end of an hour) a review (and sounds) of some recent iteration of rock music. What's going on? Is it that the people who run NPR are boomers who just can't reconcile themselves to the fact that they are no longer 20 somethings cavorting in the 1960s? Or is it because NPR feverishly chases the "youth market" -- even as its listenership ages? I suppose a bit of both is the explanation. Well, I can't help NPR about coping with (non-)intimations of mortality. But I can suggest to NPR that it embrace the idea of an adult listenership, a sophisticated adult listenership that grows weary of repeated attempts to discover the Bob Dylan of the 21st century. Old folks, you know, aren't always bad. Some of them have money. Some of them participate in making public policy. Some of them still have some intelligence and creativity in their grey matter. Embrace grownups, NPR! By doing so, b'gosh, you might just find that you attract some young'uns who yearn to be grownups. And who knows: your marketing people might just finally take note that older folks generally have more money. Or maybe not: your marketing people might still be hung up over the fact that they've gotten older and can no longer play the way they once did. But consider this: there is nothing more unattractive than an old person trying to act like a child. Grow up!

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Trees by House

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