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Cool Buildings, Chester and New York, and My Transport Nightmare

I was in New York this last week to record the "Introduction" and "Acknowledgments" for the audiobook version of The Mayor. My publisher, St. Martin's, wisely would not let me within a hundred miles of recording the body of the book. Another guy, actor

The Scam Economy and the Populist Myth

On May 9, 2025, Gentile was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. Gentile reported to prison in November. Twelve days later, Donald Trump commuted Gentile's sentence to time served.

Private Equity (Again) and an Update

"It's like, what?" one said to me of his fellow docs who sold out, "A BMW wasn't good enough? You need a Ferrari?"

Memorial Day Wisdom from Charlie Madison

Those of you who follow my work (I prefer to think of you as an elite deep underground minority, sort of like the Apostles) may know that I revere Paddy Chayefsky, the great screenwriter. So today I'd like to display here a great speech written by Chayefsky, and

Bend Over and Open Wide

Musk is an obvious threat to our democracy, but Schmidt and the rest are, too, because they are traitors to the idea of America, the only country founded as an idea.

Chester's "School Choice"

People Do Read Books

I was traveling this week. I went to Columbus, Ohio. I saw some friends, but the main purpose of my visit was to talk with author and Congressional candidate Beth Macy. She's running in Virginia. I hope she wins. The Columbus Metropolitan Library invited me to do a

Confessions of a Teenage Republican

I've often mentioned that I am a former president of the Fairfield County, Ohio Teenage Republicans. I make a lot of jokes about it, and tell stories of how I worked for Richard Nixon when I was nine years old. I did not really work for Richard Nixon.

Workforce

This week, Trump's Department of Education, the department he wants to eliminate, issued a proposed new rule. The department called it "Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability." "These proposed changes aim

The Paramount Concern

Trump and Vance v. The Pope

So it turns out that the Trump administration not only threatens most of the nations of the world, immigrants to this country, members of the American press, United States senators and members of the House of Representatives, federal employees...well, this could get to be a long list... it also

Lunacy and Cowardice

This morning, Donald Trump, the president of the United States of America, threatened to destroy an entire civilization. I don't have much to add to what I hope you have no doubt already read about this and about the war and the killing in Iran in general. But

Wall Street Comes to Fayette: Update 4

Hey there! Because I can't let it go, here's another short update on the saga of First Brands, private equity, the private lending business and what all that means for towns. I invite completists to go back to the first post, about little Fayette, Ohio. (I

Pretty Vacant

The Ramones released their debut album fifty years ago this month. The Sex Pistols first performed "Anarchy in the UK" fifty years ago this coming July. But before those momentous events in rock-and-roll history, Rocket from the Tombs was rocking Cleveland. Also fifty years ago this