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The Same Song, Two Different Feelings: What Tony Bennett, Scott Weiland, and Holiday Music Taught Me About Content
Honestly, this holiday season has been tough for me. Having lost my mom the day after Thanksgiving, I’ve moved away from what the world is doing — office parties, shopping lists, forced cheer. It’s quieter. More inwardly. And obviously, definitely heavier than usual. But that’s the thing about the holidays — specifically holiday music. The…
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It’s a Wonderful Life: The Most Overrated Christmas Film. Do I Have Your Attention? Good.
Every December, as Hallmark movies multiply like gremlins after midnight, one film stands above all others as the “greatest Christmas movie of all time”: Frank Capra’s 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life. And I’ll say the quiet part out loud. I don’t think it’s a timeless masterpiece. I actually think it’s a steaming pile of…
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Your Brain Is Not a Content Machine (And Why Oversharing Will Blow Up Your Life)
It has taken me more than a decade online to realize that your brain is not a content machine. Here’s what I mean by that. Not every thought you have needs to be packaged, posted, archived, or broadcast to the world. As a culture, though, every passing opinion feels like it deserves a platform. But,…
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Remembering Pierre Robert: 5 Lessons from a Philly Legend
If you’re not from the Philadelphia area, you might not recognize the name. Over the past four decades, Pierre Robert has been more than a voice on WMMR – he has been a presence. Known for his warmth, eccentricity, and unmistakable personality, Pierre formed an unbreakable bond with listeners. He wasn’t just a DJ –…
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Writers’ Graveyard: Lessons from the Posts You Never Published
Every writer has a graveyard. Obviously, this isn’t a physical place. It’s a digital one cluttered with half-written drafts, blog posts that “weren’t ready,” and ideas that felt brilliant at midnight, but died in the light of day. The graveyard of unpublished essays, abandoned outlines, and just-needed-one-more-edit files grows quietly in the minds of content…
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Three Versions of “I Put a Spell on You” — and What Content Creators Can Learn from Them
There’s something magical about “I Put a Spell on You.” It’s one of those songs that every generation discovers, partly because it’s more than just a song. Originally recorded by “Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins in 1956, the song was intended as a blues ballad. In Hawkins’ drunken stupor, the recording session transformed into something far more…
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Content Editing as a Superpower: How to See the Flaws in Your Own Work
There comes a point in every content creator’s career where they hit a wall – not because they lack ideas, but because they have blind spots. After writing a blog post, script, or social caption, you read it and wonder, “How did I miss that? ” The truth is that editing your own work is…
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Why Influencers Are Not Content Creators
Recently, a video of fitness influencer Jennifer (@jenniferrpicone) went viral. In it, she is seen adjusting her tripod and lifting weights for the camera, as well as snapping at another gymgoer for walking in the background. The moment didn’t blow up because of the workout but because of the disconnect it exposed: the difference between…
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Why the Best Creators Think Like Teachers, Not Influencers
Many moons ago, I went to college to become a teacher. Life, however, had other plans. After falling into it, I pivoted into writing, and then into content creation. What’s funny is that as I’ve worked more in this field, I’ve realized something: real influencers don’t think like creators. They think like teachers. That’s not…
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Radiohead’s Paranoid Android vs. Weezer’s Cover: What Cover Songs Can Teach Us About AI
In 1997, Radiohead released “Paranoid Android” on their masterpiece album OK Computer, which was unlike anything else on the radio. The track, over six and a half minutes long, features shifting moods, layered textures, and a dystopian vision. During their 2011 summer tour, Weezer also covered the track, including it both in a live studio…