how-things-work

Here's How Sprite Tries to Buy Off Reporters With Free Tickets

Hamilton Nolan · 02/03/15 12:20PM

Here is an email illustrating how brands (Sprite, in this case) pay off reporters and bloggers with free stuff as a direct quid pro quo for coverage. There's also some info about a TOP SECRET Drake and Nas concert we would like to share.

Terrorism Works

Hamilton Nolan · 01/08/15 02:36PM

Terrorism persists because terrorism works. Terrorism works because we let it.

Wall Street Is a Leech

Hamilton Nolan · 12/17/14 01:15PM

The growth of Wall Street is detrimental to the health of America. Let's review.

Down With Meetings

Hamilton Nolan · 11/21/14 10:44AM

Many of you have jobs in which you are required to regularly attend "meetings." Meetings about budgets, or staffing, or strategy, or one million other arcane workplace topics. I would like to point out, to your boss: "meetings," as a practice, are an enormous waste of time.

Please Put Prices on Health Care

Hamilton Nolan · 11/06/14 11:07AM

There are many things wrong with the bloated, expensive American health care system. I would like to complain about one small part of it: the prices. It's not just that the prices are high. It's that... where the hell are the prices?

Without Campaign Finance Reform, Nothing Changes

Hamilton Nolan · 09/12/14 10:57AM

If we ever hope to be a truly fair representative democracy, we need to have campaign finance reform. The Republicans in the Senate have just blocked a proposed Constitutional amendment that might help do that. In America, the money owns the people. Not the other way around.

Against Editors

Hamilton Nolan · 08/18/14 12:00PM

In the writing world, there is a hierarchy. The writers are on the bottom. Above them are editors, who tell the writers what to change. This is backwards. How many good writers has Big Edit destroyed?

Is It Bad to "Play the Blame Game" on Iraq?

Hamilton Nolan · 06/20/14 11:58AM

After breaking Iraq, America is now faced with the question of whether we bought it. As Iraq slides further into chaos, complex choices must be weighed. Does that mean that it's time to stop "the blame game" over how we got here?

We Are Lucky

Hamilton Nolan · 05/19/14 03:25PM

A broad issue that's arisen as an offshoot of the whole Jill Abramson-getting-fired discussion: Do successful people (in the media and elsewhere) get there mainly by luck, or by skill/ virtue/ drive/ other endearing quality? It is luck, of course. Never forget that it is mostly luck.

The Myth of the CEO

Hamilton Nolan · 04/03/14 03:10PM

Mary Barra, the CEO of GM, spent yesterday being grilled by Congress for her company's years-long failure to fix a known safety defect in its cars. Barra's lack of answers is being blamed on the size of the organization she leads. Which is a great argument against the salaries that CEOs earn.

Hamilton Nolan · 03/20/14 02:14PM

Robert Marcus took over as CEO of Time Warner Cable in January. Six weeks later, the company was sold to Comcast. When the deal goes through, Marcus will receive $80 million, "a severance payment that amounts to more than $1 million a day in compensation for the less than two months he ran the company." He earned it.

Boycott Uber If You Don't Like It

Hamilton Nolan · 01/08/14 12:59PM

Uber is a luxury car service that sells increased convenience for a high price. It may be seen as a symptom of a wealthy lifestyle which rubs many people the wrong way. So what should you do if you don't like Uber? You should not use Uber.

Crush Nepotism Wherever It Lives

Hamilton Nolan · 12/09/13 12:18PM

The New York Times reported yesterday that JPMorgan Chase is under federal investigation for hiring the children of China's elite with the explicit goal of boosting the bank's business prospects. Good. Nepotism on Wall Street is just as gross as nepotism at the media outlets that cover Wall Street.