Brad Rourke

Brad Rourke’s Blog

  • You Know?

    Ever since I was quoted as saying something along the lines of “there’s a lot of stuff out there” in an interview with the Toledo Blade, I have been aware of the usual policy of cleaning up quotations from interviews to best represent what the subject was saying. We all pepper our speech with ums…

  • Late Nights And Pacing Yourself

    I’ve gone through a number of “work phases” in my life so far and reading about the new workstyle shift people are expecting to see in the Obama White House got me thinking about them. The Obama White House is expected to be much different than the Bush White House: Bush famously arrives at the…

  • Gas Stations And Whalesongs

    A couple days ago, I mentioned an essay of my old high school friend Charlie Burleigh. That got me to thinking and I dug around in my old files and I found the essay in question. I want to share it because I think it is one of the best essays I’ve ever read. He…

  • The Power Of Music

    My friend Caryn Martinez has this interesting story about subliminal advertising. Seems that when hearing French music, more shoppers purchased French wine. During German oompah music, it’s all Piesporters and Rieslings. The kicker: in post-purchase surveys, only a handful ever mentioned the music when saying why they bought what they did. Such is the secret…

  • I'm Here. I'm Here.

    The other night, a close friend was ill. The next day, recovered, we discussed an interesting thought that kept going through their mind. Every few moments, with some change in symptoms or worsening of feeling, they felt compelled to describe it to themselves in the lingo of a status update: “X is lying in bed,”…

  • I’m Here. I’m Here.

    The other night, a close friend was ill. The next day, recovered, we discussed an interesting thought that kept going through their mind. Every few moments, with some change in symptoms or worsening of feeling, they felt compelled to describe it to themselves in the lingo of a status update: “X is lying in bed,”…

  • College For Profit: Its Time Has Come

    Andrea Jarrell passed on to me an item she saw in the always-useful Inside Higher Ed. It’s an interview with Harold T. Shapiro, the new chairman of DeVry, Inc. Yes, that DeVry. The for-profit school. Before you turn up your nose, know this: Shapiro is former president of University of Michigan. Many of my friends…

  • Friday Update — 1-9-09

    Friend– Here are a couple of recent posts from my daily blog that I thought might interest you. I used to be in an “entourage.” It wasn’t a star’s coterie, but a charismatic business person leading a startup. The time has stuck with me over many years. Very strange. More here: In The Entourage I…

  • Against Slavery

    Many of my friends know how passionate I am — but certainly not as active as I want to be — about the new Abolitionist movement against slavery worldwide. There are more slaves now on the planet than there ever has been. Many are here in the United States. Facts: [UPDATE: Forgot to mention these…