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When the air is thick with anger,
and division hums louder than truth,
I ask myself:
When did tenderness become naïve?
When did compassion go out of style?

We scroll past suffering,
argue louder than we listen,
forget that every voice
comes from another human body
breathing, breaking, hoping.

And I wonder,
What if the bravest act now
is not to win,
But to soften?
Not to prove,
but to understand?

Peace is not weakness.
It is the strength to pause
before striking.
Love is not indulgence.
It is the discipline of seein…

Executive coaching takes on a new dimension as Jessica Wan — executive coach, classically trained soprano, and former marketing leader at Apple, Smule, Magoosh, and the San Francisco Opera — shares how she’s built a career at the intersection of business and creativity. In this conversation she reveals her formative “flashpoints,” from growing up in immigrant communities to earning her MBA at Berkeley Haas, and how those experiences shaped her Ampersand Manifesto podcast and upcoming Ampersand…

“The human world is shaped by two terrible truths: we are bad at predicting the future and we are good at ignoring the past.”

When I first heard this quote, it struck me with the weight of a paradox we all live with. As leaders, we’re constantly asked to chart the path ahead while carrying the lessons of what came before. Our default modes betray us; we often lunge forward with false certainty about what’s next, while brushing aside the inconvenient or uncomfortable wisdom of history. The result …

“Longevity isn’t about staying the same; it’s about evolving without losing your soul.”

I took this photo at The Black Keys concert I attended at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway. I’ve been following the band since their very first album, and now, 14 albums later, I’m struck by how they’ve managed to grow, shift, and experiment with their sound, yet remain unmistakably themselves. That’s the quiet brilliance of endurance. Whether in music, leadership, or life, the challenge isn’t simply to reinvent; …

Neuroaesthetics unlocks the science behind why beauty, art, and design move us, shaping our emotions and everyday experiences. Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, founding director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, takes us through the pivotal moments that shaped his career and the birth of this groundbreaking field, from the rise of fMRI to the leap of faith that led to creating a center dedicated to aesthetics and the brain. He breaks down how people, places, and things influence our sense of joy, w…

“Real innovation is not always fast or flashy; it is often layered, embodied, and slow burning.”

In The Innovators: How Mature Minds Shape Creativity, economist David Galenson dismantles one of our most persistent cultural myths – the idea of the lone, young genius who transforms a field overnight. Instead, he presents a more nuanced and liberating truth: there are at least two distinct paths to groundbreaking work, and neither is inherently superior.

Conceptual innovators strike like lightning. T…

“Design is the visible soul of intention.”

Look closely. This isn’t just a greenhouse, it’s a living metaphor. This stunning image comes from the Bombay Sapphire Distillery, where architect Thomas Heatherwick designed these botanical glasshouses as a celebration of transparency, creativity, and integration. It’s a place where nature, industry, and artistry are not separated but intertwined. What strikes me most is how this space invites flow. The curves aren’t just aesthetic; they evoke movement,…

The world feels fractured,
Our sweet voices have turned to daggers,
lines drawn deeper than rivers,
walls rising where bridges once stood.

It is easy to believe the dark has won,
to surrender to the shatter,
to let despair whisper: this is all there is.

But, look closer.
Even broken glass catches light.
Even in the rubble, seeds take root.
Even in silence, a heartbeat insists on being heard.

Hope is not the absence of cracks,
It is the lamp we place within them,
the stubborn flame that flickers
not because th…

If you want your team to achieve optimal performance, you need to go beyond logic and speak to their hearts. Tony Martignetti is joined by bestselling author and global speaker Mark Crowley, who talks about the invaluable impact of heart-based leadership. He explains how he explored science-based data to emphasize how leaders should take care of their team’s well-being to unlock better productivity and dynamics. Mark also discusses why it is essential to include real-life experiences when writ…

“The future belongs to those who imagine it first.”

This is the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open in Los Angeles. It is a space dedicated to the power of storytelling in all its forms. Its sweeping, futuristic architecture, designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, doesn’t just house art; it’s a statement in itself. The building curves like a living organism, blending seamlessly with the landscape while also seeming to hover above it, an architectural embodiment of vision meeting possibi…