When Henry Ford Met Thomas Edison

I am fascinated by the encounter between two generations of entrepreneurs.

Thomas Edison on Resilience

In the early evening of 7 December 1914, an explosion rocked Thomas Edison’s film-finishing building, part of he complex of buildings surrounding his laboratory. The building was swiftly evacuated, just ahead of the fire that swept the two story structure. As the film stock fed…

Thomas Edison’s Lifelong Struggle With Focus

Thomas Edison supposedly proposed to his second wife in Morse code. He learned it as a telegram boy. He would study it for 18 hours a day until he had mastered it. Randall Stross’s The Wizard of Menlo Park provides an insight into Edison’s learning…

Thomas Edison’s Greatest Invention

I believe Edison’s greatest invention was his public image. He was no doubt a great inventor of…

Are Great Cities Polarizing?

I was napping on a hill called Bernal Heights one afternoon. I was woken up to a buzzing sound over my head. I opened my eyes and there was a drone hovering above me. I looked around and a woman with a controller and joystick was operating it. I approached her, and asked her…

Lessons from the Founder of the American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded during World War 1 by Roger Baldwin. During the time, activists and conscientious observers were jailed for not joining the draft. The 1917 Espionage Act was being used…