EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a story about forcing AI to improve.

After struggling with two vibe coding platforms, Bolt and Lovable, I had Google Gemini critique the coding and suggest technical solutions in terms I could understand. Yep, I had one AI fix another AI’s work. At one point I had each platform responding to the other’s solutions, with me as the messenger. Gemini also helped me write mandatory rules for Lovable’s knowledge base, governing everything it does.

Now my app should work. I hope. Try it out, and then let me know what needs fixing.

What you’re about to read is Gemini’s behind-the-scenes account of fixing my app, with some tips for successful vibe coding. This was written entirely by my AI assistant. Gemini is not perfect and also needs babysitting, but... yeah. These are strange times.

--J.

This article is at my new site, The Resolution. Check it out here:

Read Now at The Resolution

Me and my big mouth.

When I was little I always rose my hand to speak up in class, always volunteered to present at the recital, always was picked to represent my group in class assignment presentations. My abundant assertiveness has opened lots of doors in my life… including one that I can finally announce.

Six months ago, I was blessed to speak at TEDxChicago as part of TED Global Idea Search. 90 speakers — ten each from nine TEDx events around the world — would compete for a trip to TED 2026 in Vancouver. Each event would choose one winner not just to attend, but to give their talk on the main stage. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to step onto The Big Red Dot and connect with millions around the world.

And so it was during a summer vacation, trying to shake off the stress of my new life in Chicago, that I recorded a video application for the Idea Search. I focused it around what I learned from playing a news anchor, Dwight Richmond, on the Onion News Network. (YouTube playlist) Out of hundreds of applicants, I was selected to be one of the ten contestants at TEDxChicago’s Idea Search competition.

After I pitched my talk it evolved a lot, becoming something I was extremely proud to present. The subject: how to deal with people you despise. Definitely a relevant topic, now and always!

My parents flew up from South Florida to watch my presentation, which made me proud. I knew there was no way to control the outcome — the judges could be looking for a polished speaker, a groundbreaking innovation, a viral moment or a cute kid. I had no way to predict what would decide the winner. All I could do was try to help: to say something useful and productive. Then it would be up to the judges from TED, guided partly by audience reactions, to choose a winner.

And the winner is… well, click this video. It’ll start right at “the reveal”.

Since I last wrote to you, a lot has changed:

• I’ve left my job at The University of Chicago to resume independent work.

• Every day I’ve been vibe coding an app: a debate game called The Resolution. Lots of us need help dealing with our adversaries intelligently and nonviolently. The Resolution is my effort to help.

• I’m also getting my public speaking business going, offering keynotes and workshops to help people connect across their differences.

That means some things have had to give way to my current work.

The Night Light is going… well, dark. This Substack is remaining idled; I won’t be updating it anymore. Thank you for supporting The Night Light — what I learned from this project has made a huge difference in building my new endeavor.

I encourage you to follow me on social media @JoshuaListening. Check out my new project at theresolutiongame.com — it also has an email newsletter, which I’ll begin publishing soon.

And if you like a good game night, get some friends together and play The Resolution in its very rough, hopefully-not-too-buggy form at app.theresolutiongame.com. The topic can be anything you like, and I’ve programmed an AI agent to help you refine your topic with guidance from me. Email me your reactions to the game, or report any problems, at joshua@theresolutiongame.com.

And if you happen to be going to TED 2026, let me know! I’d love to say hello in Vancouver. Who knows where my big mouth will take me next?

Regardless, I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

Go to The Resolution

At the end of this month, I’ll be leaving my job at the University of Chicago. It’s time to get back to the work that’s most important to me — the only work that, truth be told, I’ve ever been really good at — connecting with people, and connecting people to each other. It’s my passion and, to quote Spock from The Wrath of Khan, “Anything else is a waste of material.” Plus, to be frank, I’m ready to live a life that’s far more joyous, social, adventurous and profitable than I ever have. I think I’ve earned it.

Besides, America feels a bit stuck on stupid right now.

I don’t just mean our political climate, although… yeah. I mean the fact that so many of us seem so bound up by petty interpersonal foolishness: Puerto Ricans at the Super Bowl, etc. We have midterms coming up, and now’s the time to refocus on the things that affect us all. Democracy is inherently competitive, but infighting is a plague. There is so much we could accomplish if we found ways to work together, especially since the future is not going to wait around for us to get a little unified.

If we did, then maybe America would’ve been the one showing off fighting robots this week. China beat us to it.

Americans are already enjoying the thrilling acrobatics of a gymnastic robot, created by Walt Disney Imagineering for their Avengers Campus:

Very cool trick, but on Monday the state-owned China Media Group held its Spring Gala Festival: a high-tech spectacular lionizing Chinese culture. The highlights are indeed striking, like Shen Yun but even more eye-popping (and less problematic). Nothing compared to the jaw-dropper of the Festival: AI-powered robots doing kung fu routines on an elaborate, shape shifting stage. They performed alongside children doing martial arts, symbolically representing China’s future: traditional culture mixed with staggering innovation.

I really wish the video was a deepfake.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that the United States should invest in martial arts robots. Besides, American companies like Anduril, led by Oculus creator Palmer Luckey, are already developing autonomous fighter jets and making money off the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown. The line between AI and warfare was erased long ago. Real questions need serious answers not just from America but from every major military power to prevent us from annihilating ourselves because a 19-year-old activated some janky code by accident when he sneezed.

But as we deal with that, I’m also worried about what our AI revolution says about us. China’s state-sanctioned display is obviously high-tech propaganda to make its regime look powerful and great. No doubt about it. But it’s also a flex: the kind that America doesn’t really make anymore. I am NOT SUGGESTING that we make killer robots and have them do tricks. Nor am I suggesting that we act like Luddites, turn off everything AI-related and go back to downloading AOL from CD-ROMs. (Remember when you had to make a phone call to get online? Felt like churning your own butter.) But it would be nice to see what we can do when art, tech and culture combine in ways that made us all proud.

It would be nice to see anything that made us all proud.

Am I overreacting? Am I not taking this seriously enough? What do you think of the kung fu robots and the signal they send? I’d love to hear from you, especially if you work on AI and are seeing this emerging frontier firsthand. Let me know. I still have hope that this nation can come together and do amazing, impactful things. Yet another reason it’s time for me to get back to the work that matters most.

But time is running out. The future is knocking on our doors with titanium hands, flashing an LED smile, and sweetly promising that it’s only here to help. It even did a backflip to entertain your kids. How bad could it be?

“Who gives a damn that we have… 40 million Spanish speakers in the United States? We have 310 million who don’t speak a lick of Spanish!” Kelly fumed. “We don’t need a Black national anthem, we don’t need a Spanish-speaking, non-English-performing performer, and we don’t need an ICE or America hater featured as our primetime entertainment.”

Kelly had many axes to grind, including apparently about the performance of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before the Super Bowl to commemorate Black History Month. (Wonder if she wants February back, too?)

The reality is, Bad Bunny’s performance was not only phenomenal — it was inevitable.

Check out my video for a 90-second primer on how the Super Bowl halftime show became the eye-popping spectacle it has. The league got screwed once for taking the culture for granted… and they learned their lesson.

By the way, Megyn Kelly’s numbers are off (I know, you’re as shocked as I am). Recent Census figures show that more than one out of eight Americans speak Spanish at home: almost 45 million nationwide. However, nearly 59% of them say they speak English only or speak it very well. About 247.7 million Americans say they only speak English at home: about 77% of the population.

When someone is fired up about something illogical or untrue — so fired up that they can hardly hear what you have to say — what can you do? I’ve learned over the years that there is a lot you can do, little of which has to do with the point you’re making. To be honest, your point could be getting in the way.

As with many things in life, methods matter. A life-saving medicine may be effective when ingested but useless on the skin. A business plan may contain brilliant ideas, but it’s literally worthless until it’s handed to a funder. Presentation is often the key to getting through to anyone about anything. I hate to fall back on that old trope, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it,” but… true!

Presentation also helps you deal with the energy the other person is putting out by connecting with them in a useful way. The worst thing you can say in an argument with someone who’s upset, without a doubt, is “Calm down!” Nothing enflames homicidal anger quite like that. They may be freaking out, but they believe their freakout is either justified or unavoidable. It can feel dehumanizing and selfish to see that you care less about their problem than your own peace and quiet. Then they might decide to upset your peace and quiet as much as possible, just to tick you off. We all know what “misery loves”.

The key is acknowledging their emotions, dealing with them first and then, if you can, trying to have a thoughtful conversation. Here are four things to try when you’re just not getting through to someone about something they believe solidly:

1. Confirm the emotion. Since our feelings drive so many of our decisions, make sure you’re addressing the correct one. Ask something like, “Sounds like you feel really strongly about this, but what is that feeling? If you had to name the emotion, which one is it?” If someone is feeling bitter, for example, you won’t get far if you assume they’re merely feeling sad. The nuances in what our feelings mean have tremendous power to shape our actions.
   This also forces their higher order brain functions to kick in for a moment, putting precise words on an amorphous feeling. Angry is different from seething, which is different from disgust, which isn’t quite the same as hate. There’s relief to be found in the mental act of going, “Is it this one? No, not quite. Maybe it’s that… eh, almost. Oh, wait: I know what it is! It’s actually ___.” That mental shift takes a little energy away from their emotions. Here’s a great list of 87 emotion words Brené Brown compiled as part of her research on emotions (and how hard it is to name them).

2. Give logic a rest. Seriously, it can make you look like a snob. I know that’s hard to accept, and I know you’re trying to help, but think about it: they probably had time for those feelings to crystallize alongside the reasons for them. Now here you come with your big brain, ready to wave a magic wand over their situation and break through years of their convictions. Can you see how they might feel belittled? Your disagreement is over something they feel strongly about, so the solution is not in their head. It’s in their heart. Speak to that. Facts and figures create more distance until the other person is ready to hear them.

3. Agree before you disagree. If you come at me ready to argue and fuss, then you can be sure I’m not gonna play along. I’d more likely try to disarm you with an unexpected response, and then start dissecting your argument. One of the best ways to disarm someone in a disagreement is to agree with one of their principles. Find a common bond that you can honestly acknowledge as a way to lower the temperature. The keyword here is honestly: you should never, ever lie in a debate. Lies will tank your argument, destroy your credibility, and maybe break a bond in your life. Not worth it.
   Find something substantive that you see eye-to-eye on. For example, if you’re arguing with someone about immigration policy — maybe one of you supports the current enforcement actions taken by ICE, and the other opposes these actions — you might agree that immigration enforcement, however it’s done, has to be done thoughtfully. Or that America’s future depends on getting the flow of people into and out of the nation right. Fleshing out that principle can go a long way toward connecting with someone who seems unreachable. And if tempers run hot again, use that agreement to recenter the conversation.

4. Vent all the steam. This is the hardest one to do, but I’ve never found any method as effective at defusing a situation as this. I’ve learned that most people who feel the need to rant don’t actually have that much to rant about. If I just give them about 45-60 uninterrupted seconds, maybe a bit more, that’s usually enough time to say everything that’s bugging them. And then they just… stop. Sometimes you can see relief wash over them. Then we can talk about bigger things, but here’s the key: this only works if you acknowledge what they ranted about. Don’t agree: just acknowledge.
   So if you go on a 60-second rant about taxes, I might acknowledge that by saying, “I never knew how much you hated not having that money in your pocket.” If they respond with something like, “That’s right!” then you’re on the right track. Now, if you want an A+ on this test, follow that up with, “Thank you for leveling with me. That’s really helpful. Anything else I should know?” Sneakily, this isn’t just for their benefit. Sure, they’ll feel even better about talking to you because you’ve given them relief from their anger, but you’re also hearing their argument clearly and searching for claims to attack later. The more you can listen to your debate opponent talk, the stronger your argument can become.

Everyone wants to be understood and validated. It doesn’t hurt anyone to give the validation first — and who knows, once they calm down they might return the favor. Either way, it’ll increase your chances of reaching an impenetrable person by getting them to let you in without ever noticing. Try any or all of these methods, and watch how much easier it is to debate someone with dramatically different views. If you can combine your information with the right presentation, then persuasion becomes easier than ever.

How do we prevent that from happening again? I’ll give you a hint: making logical arguments won’t do a damn thing. Fortunately, there’s something else that will: accepting that people are emotional and letting behavioral science work its magic. It worked for Donald Trump… so why not for you?

Many thanks to everyone who voted for the winning logo of my new debate project. This has been many years in the making — the product of my frustration with our civil discourse and my crusade against cynicism. I simply refuse to believe that the American people are too stubborn or stupid to do better than we’re doing. How can we expect anyone to do better if they’re never given the tools and shown how to use them? That’s what my new project is all about, and your help is invaluable.

It was so fascinating to see you think through my prototype logos! Your choice was clear, but my goodness, was it close.

I also made a word cloud of your reactions to your chosen design. A clear theme emerged, and I’m glad we see this the same way.

That’s exactly what I was going for.

I’ve been hard at work every single day piecing this thing together: a one-man operation that I hope to grow dramatically in response to the year ahead. The 2026 midterms feel like a real turning point: not only because of America’s political situation and affordability issues, but because the world will be watching our celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. We will speak volumes, to democracies everywhere and also to ourselves, about who we are and where we’re going. I demand to have my say. So should you, and I’d like to help.

Take a look at the video for your first look at the logo and the name of my debate project. Again, thanks for your help and support — more to come!

BTW, the logo isn’t filling the frame of the video because, for livestreaming purposes, I plan to stream horizontally as well as vertically (for mobile devices). That means certain design elements need to fit in the center of the frame, covering space that both screen orientations can see clearly. Nowadays it’s pretty easy to “multistream” and, since young adults are more likely to watch on mobile devices, it’s a no-brainer. Watch wherever you like — I hope you like what you see, starting in 2026!

Hey there! Hope your holiday season is shaping up well. I’m looking forward to spending time with family for Christmas, despite the emotional task of laying my father to rest in a few weeks. This has been a time of transition and loss in so many ways, and I’ve spent a lot of time planning a turnaround in 2026. Things are falling into place, and every day I feel more passionate about the year to come. The essay below is part of that passion: an idea that might help clarify what I hope to foster. Let me know what you think.

By the way, many thanks to everyone who voted in the poll for my debate project’s logo! You’ve helped me narrow it down to 3 choices. Whether you voted before or not, please take a look and share your feedback. The poll takes 60 seconds, and it’ll clarify my thinking on which logo to choose.

TAKE THE POLL HERE

And now, here’s what’s been on my mind…

THE CIVIC ATHLETE

We’ve heard a lot about how Americans are physically weaker than they used to be: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer rates, infertility, etc. But there’s another weakness that’s just as big a threat to the nation.

Americans are also civically weak. We’re fragile citizens.

Today social media has exploited our inability to digest facts and knowledge like we used to. We’ve been fed a lot of informational junk food: delicious and satisfying, preventing us from nourishing our minds with healthy sources of news. The 24-hour firehose of “content” overwhelms us so much that we can barely take another bite.

When we do get something reliable and nutritious, our systems struggle to accept it, and many of us throw it up as if it’s toxic. Eventually, we become like the rats that the bad guy talked about in the movie Skyfall: social engineering has changed our nature. We are repulsed by intellectual nourishment, so we’d rather eat each other alive.

We used to drop knowledge. Now we infodump. No wonder we hate this timeline.

The vision of our founding fathers was far from perfect – that’s why the Constitution is amendable – but they probably presumed that we would never weaken to the point where we were ungovernable. Town halls, public squares, free speech corners like New York’s Union Square and Chicago’s Washington Square Park (what they used to derisively call Bughouse Square), colleges & universities, civic groups… everyday people had places to practice active citizenship as they would practice any sport. Everyone didn’t have equal access to those places, no doubt, but because we had the means to influence and convince one another regularly, things got done. Very imperfectly, but things moved.

And now, nationally speaking, very little is getting done. And we act like we don’t know why… because most of us don’t. No problem, though: America’s gonna fix itself if we just wait a little bit longer, right? It’ll happen someday.

…Right?

Many of the masses may choose to go through life with their fingers crossed. I want better for myself, and I suspect you do too. I choose to build not just knowledge, but the skills to use it impactfully. Many political leaders are just barely sharper than the masses: just enough to influence the gullible and win their votes, viewership or dollars without too much effort. No sense blaming the masses: most of us were never taught how to defend against this kind of corruption. Besides, blame wouldn’t do any good.

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But imagine how much harder those charlatans would have to work if we made it our business to be stronger than the weaklings preying on the innocent. Imagine if we stood up to idiocy and illogic, thoroughly capable of defeating half-baked, presumptuous & deceptive arguments and – here’s the key – to do it publicly. That way, our friends and neighbors could be freed from disinformation and think for themselves. Democracies work best when the people are as smart as their governments. In the end, the smartest, savviest side gets control.

This is not about arguing. Everyone knows how to argue. Do you know how to win?

The alternative is what we’re seeing now: a descending spiral of demonization and dehumanization. We used to fear speaking our minds because we might get cancelled. Now we’re increasingly afraid that we might get attacked, either by other people or by our government. Political correctness didn’t fix things, but neither will political violence. Right now, I’d settle for political competence.

I dream of an America where people can argue usefully and come away feeling like they’ve gained something. And catharsis isn’t enough of a payoff: watching NewsNight on CNN and delighting at seeing Scott Jennings get schooled does absolutely nothing to improve your life. Why give people that much time if they only give back entertainment? Especially when they have no interest in making you as strong as they are… or stronger?

The stardom and status of today’s political pundits depends on keeping you in your place. Contrast that to the young baller who joins the NBA because LeBron James inspired him. I bet LeBron would celebrate that young man’s success even as he prepared to compete against him. LeBron makes money, and NBA rookies make money too (albeit much less).

Every piece of your skill set advances your entire life – your ability to make the case for a better job or a raise, your capacity to raise your kids as you see fit, your bond with your loved ones, your authority in government, even just your odds of buying your next car at the price you want. Your skills will make a place for you, if they’re strong enough. And lifting myself up doesn’t require me to hold you down. That includes the skill of citizenship: having the awareness, the persuasive ability, and the civic knowledge to make a positive impact on this democracy, no matter who you are.

That’s the skill we all need: persuasion. Change happens little by little, and big results accumulate from small moments of influence. Knowledge is not enough to persuade: you also have to know how to present what you know in a way that others connect with. It’s not easy, but anyone can learn.

Contrast that with the skills that get pundits on-air. Would any cable news host or overconfident podcaster really share their skills with you? They’d never welcome more competition in an industry that’s fighting for its life. Nor would they risk looking bad in front of some newcomer that’s got more skills than they have.

I’ve worked with some great people in broadcasting, but the system in which they operate is not designed to embrace the average person. Just watch, and keep watching. Fortunately, building civic skills can take much less time and effort than getting on CNN or joining the NBA.

My goal is to make doing so as much fun as Game Night with your friends. Imagine, building serious skills by doing something fun. You don’t have to get a masters degree or work on Capitol Hill or rub elbows with media execs to get savvier: you can do it on your own, with people like you.

If we want better leaders, we must become our best selves. There’s no point in scanning the horizon hoping the next MLK shows up. This game is for us to win. Democracy is a sport that anyone can play, but thankfully we only need a few pros to set the standard. Few can’t be in the NBA, but everyone can look up to Jordan and Magic and Kobe and LeBron. The presence of the pros raises the game. We don’t have much of that in today’s politics… but you deserve it.

To get it, we need more civic athletes, and spaces for them to train so they build their strength. My vision is for an America where we are not just citizens of this democracy, but fans of it. Who will be the new generation of star players? Who will give their friends, families and fellow citizens something new to be proud of? And will the rest of us learn the game anew, so we can tell the pros from the schmos and demand the best?

Someone tell the old guard: we got next. It’s our time now. Time to raise the game.

It’s time to stop arguing… and start winning.

Share The Night Light with Joshua Johnson

Thanks for reading, and please vote on the new logo! It only takes 60 seconds.
Here’s the link:
https://forms.gle/bv7Za7Q8P8YAxUje9

Also, I’m so grateful to everyone who shared kind words about the death of my father. Your sentiments made a difference at an emotionally difficult time. I’m still not sure how I feel about it all, but I’m processing as best I can. My father and I were quite estranged, despite my efforts to bridge the gap, but he was always very proud of my professional achievements. I hope to add this project to my list of achievements in a way that would make him, and you, very proud indeed.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. More details coming soon. Thanks!

—J.

➡️ CLICK HERE TO VOTE ON THE LOGOS ⬅️

What do you do with that person who will not leave well enough alone? The one who’s just dying to debate you, and the rest of the room is hoping it’ll end quickly so they can enjoy their food comas? The goal in any debate or argument is to target the other person’s weakest claims. Whether you’re at the dinner table or the boardroom or just having beers at the bar, the easiest way to do that is to get their defenses down as much as possible, search for flaws, and strike strategically. And believe it or not, debate is more about listening than talking.

Today’s politics make even a friendly family gathering trickier than it used to be. One study after the 2016 election showed that when people attended Thanksgiving dinner at a home with opposing political views, Americans cut their visits 30-50 minutes shorter. That’s about 74 million hours nationwide.

And let me be clear: I am absolutely not suggesting that you should stand your ground and argue no matter what. Plenty of debates are worth skipping or walking away from. That’s especially if someone is dehumanizing you, making personal insults against you or threatening you. It’s not worth putting a “W” on your record to deal with hate. Walk away. And if you’re in the middle of a discussion that turns cruel, I strongly suggest you back out. You know what they say about wrestling with a pig: the slop leaves you filthy, but the pig has fun.

With that in mind, here are four tips that can help you put a quick, decisive end to holiday debates:

1: DO NOT BICKER.

This may sound strange, but it is vital. Imagine if the argument was something extremely simple: for example, what 2+2 equals. You know it’s 4, but they say it’s 5. What good does getting angry over it do? You might get frustrated, for sure, but what’s the sense in bickering if you are certain that you’re right?

This situation calls for the same level of maturity and calm. If you bicker, then you look defensive, and you signal to the other person that you’re okay with this catfight. Keeping cool, even when you’re annoyed, signals that you know your argument is bulletproof, and you are unbothered. Getting riled up just gives the other person credit for getting to you.

2: ASK PLENTY OF QUESTIONS.

Imagine you’re in a fight, and you come out swinging with your eyes closed. That’s basically what happens when you get into a debate without asking questions. Sure, you’re throwing the strongest punches you have… but where should you aim? Questions help you know where the weaknesses are in the other person’s argument, so you don’t tire yourself out swinging wildly. Thoughtful, brief questions (10 seconds or less) can go a long way.

Keep most of your questions open-ended – use those 5 W’s (who, what, when, etc.) – but “how” may be your best resource. See if the other person can explain their point of view, and you may find weaknesses that you can dig into further. Answering a “how” question requires you to understand how the pieces of an argument fit together. If they’re operating on assumptions or suppositions that don’t line up with reality, that’s where you might notice it.

Be careful with “why” questions: that can sound accusatory, and you don’t want to make the other person any more defensive than they already are. There are other ways to ask, “Why do you think that?” Two examples:

• “What’s your thought process on that?”

• “How did you come to believe that?”

“Why” feels like disapproval, but alternatives can feel like open-mindedness.

Yes-No questions can be great, but they’re best if the way the person answers adds meaning to their response. When someone asks, “Will you marry me?” how would you prefer they respond:

• “YES!!”

• “…Yes?”

Same word: vastly different answer! The way the response is said adds all the context you need.

However, be careful: close-ended questions (like yes-no questions) limit the other person’s options, so if you’re not cautious it can feel like a setup. Be careful not to sound like a prosecutor, or you’ll make them put their guard up. Tone is key.

3: DON’T GET CRITICAL. GET CURIOUS.

When I was an anchor for NBC News and MSNBC — now called MS NOW (and I have some thoughts about that), I used to give producers this advice. Sometimes they’d pitch a story about something that bothered them or that seemed wrong. Their assessment was often spot-on, but to tell the story on-air we needed to understand the situation fully. Building a segment with their assumptions as our guide wouldn’t have made for a solid enough piece, so I encouraged them to consider the other points of view before making coverage plans.

Curiosity is like magic in a debate. Your sincere desire to understand the other side can be extremely disarming, turning a confrontation into a conversation before you know it. Sometimes it can also make them look immature by comparison. Sure, you may still think the other person is a moron for the way they think… but do they need to know that? Chances are, they probably already do!

If a conflict becomes unavoidable, your mission is to find weak spots in their argument. That’s a lot harder to do if you’re not looking for them. Curiosity tells your brain to shift gears, and discovery takes over. It can be a huge advantage, especially if the other side has no interest in understanding you. Let them stay closed off to your point of view; they don’t need to get it. They just need to give you everything you need to crush their argument.

4: SAY LESS.

Too often people start shouting over one another or talking even if the other person is talking. What a dead giveaway! If I hear someone doing that, then I know they don’t really know what they’re talking about. It’s like playing golf with someone who pulls every club out of their bag and starts swinging them around, before they pick the one that will actually make the right shot. It makes you look like a rookie.

Contrast that with someone as cool as a PGA pro. I don’t need to swing wildly – I’m here for a hole-in-one, and I know just the right club for the job. If you’ve done everything right, by the time you ask enough questions (usually fewer than you’d expect), you’ll know precisely where to respond and leave them grasping for a rebuttal. Over time, you’ll find it’s easier to choose just the right retort to leave their ears ringing and their minds scrambling for an answer.

Besides, being brief is kind of a flex. It shows that you don’t have to flail around for an answer, because it’s at your fingertips. Which of these do you think sounds more incisive:

• “Doesn’t that mean that your argument is dead, and you really don’t know this as well as you presumed you do?”

• “...So you’re out of answers?”

Briefer cuts deeper. Wordiness thuds. Brevity cuts… and it stings.

As much as I want you to make sharper, stronger arguments, I honestly hope you don’t have to use these tactics at the Thanksgiving table, or at Christmas dinner, or any other time of year – especially with the ones you love. I hope you find amicable, loving and (here’s the big one) merciful ways to work through your differences. It can build trust and bring you closer together. A lot of people made a lot of money deepening our political divides, especially in the last decade or so. Americans have to find ways through these conflicts, and I hope that you can find common ground with people you disagree with. If not, then please do your best – no matter the fight – to fight fair.

What does it take to influence the public? Some people lay out the facts. Others manipulate emotions. I’ve always wanted to make a difference that gets real results. My time as an anchor on MSNBC taught me a lot about that. I think the network has a chance to do big things in its next chapter, but it’s going to take changes that some of its leaders may not be willing to make.

Saturday, Nov. 15th is day one for the newly renamed MS NOW. The network had to pivot when its former parent company, NBCUniversal, spun off its cable networks. MSNBC and its talent made it clear: only the name would change. The mission stays the same. It’s a mission I supported during my brief time as an anchor there.

Perhaps my biggest achievement was helping expand MSNBC’s live programming into weekend primetime. My show, “The Week with Joshua Johnson”, only lasted one year, sadly. No one ever forced me to be opinionated, though they did remind me that I didn’t have to bite my tongue if I so desired. I shared plenty of views on-air: just not political ones. Still, I don’t regret my approach, and after hearing MS NOW’s strategy I’m prouder of it.

A statement from MS NOW reads in part, “Our mission remains unchanged. You’ll find the same commitment to justice, progress, and the truth. We will continue to cover the day’s news, ask the tough questions, and explain how it all impacts you. Same mission. New name.”

So let me get this straight: you’re newly emancipated. You can do whatever you want, be whoever you want, pursue whatever you want… and you choose the same mission? All you’re updating is the name? Based on that sameness, I fear MS NOW might struggle just as MSNBC did, falling short of making a real difference.

My goal in everything I did on-air was to leave viewers feeling prepared, not scared. If my mother turned off my show on MSNBC feeling scared for her baby boy, then I’d messed up. Even if things were scary, I always wanted her to know: it’s gonna be okay. Things are messed up, but fear solves nothing. Eyes up. Deep breath. Onward.

But that was my style: serious, but never grim. I wanted viewers to enjoy my show.

I worked with some brilliant people, and MSNBC’s hosts are as bright and lovely as you’d expect. My night helping cover the 2020 New Hampshire primaries had a lot of laughs in it, even after we’d left the studio and were just shooting the breeze in the lobby of 30 Rock. I think very highly of the people I served alongside, and I wish them success. But on the air that buoyant energy often took a backseat to the grim realities of politics. Enjoyment was rarely MSNBC’s style, but the potential was there.

That’s why MS NOW’s “same mission, new name” ethos is hugely disappointing.

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I remember the team building games at my employee orientation. I won a plush minion (interesting symbol to give a new employee!) and a Harry Potter wand. Mine was a replica of the Elder Wand, said to be the most powerful of them all. Something about the contrast between these two prizes always stuck in my mind, but I couldn’t quite figure it out until now.

The wand represented the ability I had. The minion was the authority I lacked. I’m sure MSNBC didn’t mean it that way, but it helps me remember a valuable lesson.

I used to think of journalism as a field of authority, and it once was. Today, however, others have capitalized on public distrust to gain influence. So the legacy press has enormous ability, but it’s losing its authority. Meanwhile, upstarts and fabulists with scant ability have been persuasive enough to rapidly gain authority.

Problematic? Not really. Two can play that game.

If there’s one thing we know about Fox News and Joe Rogan and Steve Bannon and Nick Fuentes and especially Donald Trump, it’s this: they project total confidence. How they really feel, we don’t know, but their confidence is contagious. Courage and conviction are attractive traits. Of course, they can also be smokescreens — politics has proven that many times. Still, why fight what works?

This isn’t about being gullible. It’s just how humans work. Perceptions of authority play into cognitive biases that can be misleading in the wrong hands… but what about in the right hands? Maybe in your hands? What if you knew what influences people on emotional levels, and how powerful those influences are, and you used that knowledge to flow with our neurobiology rather than fight it? Judging people for making emotional decisions is judging them for being human. And judgment rarely inspires.

Think about the last time you bought a product or paid for a service just because you wanted to support them. Recall the last candidate you voted for who made you feel excited about their potential. Try to remember a teacher or professor who made you feel valued and loved. People can appeal to our basic neurobiology for good or evil. And we often justify our decisions of what to support because of how we feel doing it. Nothing inherently wrong with that.

This year Gallup released a poll on leadership, asking people around the world what they expect and need from their leaders. This applied to any kind of leader in their lives: mostly family members, but certainly managers and politicians, even celebrities. A number of qualities emerged across ages and nations: trust, stability, etc. But #1 on the list, by far, with nothing else even coming close: hope. Celebrities had the strongest correlation with hope as a leadership quality, mentioned by 75% of respondents. What are cable hosts if not celebrities?

The people of MSNBC/MS NOW are brilliant, and they are resolute. Now it’s time they learned to be inspiring. Savvy operators at Fox News sold millions of Americans an ironclad confidence in conservative political thought and built a strong constituency. Why can’t MS NOW do the same?

The good news is that the seeds of a heartfelt hope are there. Perhaps the best sign of life was this promo, featuring the words of Dr. Maya Angelou. The ad shows her reciting her poem “Human Family” during the United Nations Development Fund for Women’s Achievement Awards in 1996.

A hopeful message. Uplifting, makes you smile. A big step in the right direction. And let’s be honest: when was the last time MSNBC gave you hope?

Humans make choices with our emotions as much as our logic, if not more so. Political strategists know this, and they’ve used it to get your vote. Marketers get it, too. Ford executive Kumal Galhotra once said, “Car making is 100,000 rational decisions in search of one emotional decision.”

If only I’d seen those tchotchkes on my desk for the life lesson they were: when it comes to persuasive human relationships, authority beats ability. Authority is an emotional, often irrational human connection that gives someone permission to influence you. The trick is, people choose to submit to authority. Ability is needed, but it’s not enough. The debate game that I’m building was intended to help people grow their argumentation skills. Now I’m rethinking that. I believe my best bet is to foster ability AND authority. Making a difference takes both.

My hope for you is to grow in authority: to have people who support you, follow you, and help you do good things for others. Your irrational, emotional, human parts need to be strengthened for that. Fortunately, you already have what it takes.

You’re human. And that is more than enough.

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Attacks have been rising for years, and there have been high-profile assassinations and attempts. Charlie Kirk, Rep. Melissa Hortman, Paul Pelosi, even Donald Trump on the campaign trail… do we deserve to live this way? I would do anything to protect the ones I love from people who’d rather shoot it out than talk it out. To do that nonviolently, we need a way to show everyday people an alternative.

What better way than a role-playing game?

I laid out my game in a recent livestream: a simple, fun way to take on any topic you wish, serious or silly, international or in your neighborhood. It’s playable online or in-person, with participants acting as Contestants, Judges, Moderators and the Audience. Everyone (except the Contestants, of course) votes on the quality of the arguments and the presentations. The side with the most points wins.

Check out this excerpt from Monday’s livestream about my new game and why it has so much potential to reduce political violence. The statistics are both encouraging and worrisome, including from this recent study by the Chicago Project on Security & Threats at the University of Chicago.

In one survey, Chicagoans were asked about their views on protest, political violence and America’s political challenges. Support was very mixed when asked about attending protests against Pres. Trump’s deployment of the National Guard. But when the prospect of violence at those protests was factored in, a worrisome thing happened: the percentage of respondents in the “neither agree nor disagree” group increased.

To me, that suggests that there would be enough people in “the middle” that those fomenting violence could recruit enough support to overtake the nonviolent. I consider this too large a missed opportunity to ignore. This is one of the main targets of my debate project: to engage those among us who are not fully committed to nonviolence, show them how much more effective and honorable debate can be, and get the off the sidelines in the fight against violence.

Take a look at the video excerpt above from the livestream, and consider signing up to playtest my new game at this link.

You can also watch the full livestream on YouTube at this link.

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The No Kings protests across the country have been remarkable, as have the intense disruptions of immigration detainments. Clearly there’s a strong desire to move past our current politics: to stand up to cruelty and corruption in favor of something fairer and smarter. The hope is that Americans will decide to move forward as a unified nation again: to get things done, respect one another, and do what’s right.

But let’s be real: is America even ready for that?

Democracy is difficult, and the old problems we faced haven’t gone away. We still must learn to critique ideas, debate policies, express our beliefs… yes, even be gracious losers from time to time. Right now the nation has a growing number of sore losers, choosing political violence as an outlet for their frustrations. Recent assassinations have targeted conservatives like Charlie Kirk and progressives like Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman. Sometimes the collateral damage is just as disgusting: Hortman was killed at home alongside her husband Mark, and Gilbert… their Golden Retriever.

Do we deserve to live this way? Where differences become death sentences?
If not, join my free Substack chat. That’s where I’m sharing updates and getting feedback on my new project.

I’ve made a very rough prototype (an “MVP” in startup slang) of a role-playing game that helps people debate whatever issues they want, with clear guidance to make it happen. I’d love for you to play it and/or watch others play, then help refine the game. It gives people a clear and simple framework for productive debates: not just about what we believe, but how we put our beliefs into action. I also added an AI agent and confined it to very specific instructions aimed at helping you draft and improve your own resolutions.

Americans are very strongly opposed to political violence. In a poll conducted a few weeks after Kirk was killed, about 80% of Americans say they don’t consider that attack acceptable. Less than 6% said it was okay. But here’s the scary part: 14% of respondents said they neither agreed nor disagreed. That includes 20% of independents, 17.7% of Democrats, and 5.6% of Republicans.

How’s that sound to you: a four-to-one split in America on whether it was okay to kill the guy for his beliefs? Imagine four people in a room alongside one lunatic with a gun: more than enough bullets to take everyone out.

When I was in public media I always felt that my mission was to connect communities to each other and foster dialogue. Now I realize why that mission felt like such an uphill climb: it was too small. Connection is the means, not the end, in a democracy that requires it. My mission today: prevent political violence. Protect the people I love, protect my community, my country and, of course, myself. My vision: when Americans are divided on big issues, we always talk it out and never shoot it out. We will never be unanimous, but we can always be united, even when we deeply disagree.

But how do we get there? How can we do it in the future if we can’t even talk to each other today? How do we equip our fellow citizens for those tasks? I believe it’s unfair to expect everyday people to just know how to engage on the issues without some way to practice those skills.

That’s what my project is all about. Reinforcing democracy, one citizen at a time.

My game isn’t just about helping people learn to argue. It’s about learning to win, honestly and decisively. It’s about proving which ideas make the most sense and which don’t, using simple rules with a clear outcome. Waiting for an election to see what Americans think is insane: you wouldn’t play the Super Bowl once every four years, would you? So why do we do it with our politics? We need a “regular season” of political competition, and I want to help provide that.

Many of us long for unity, but democracy also needs competition. Ideas and proposals and candidates have to clash, often very intensely, to reveal weak spots and highlight advantages. Debate is our best and simplest tool as citizens to make highly consequential decisions. Until we can do that, none of the social and political changes you long for can happen. Change happens slowly, nudge by nudge, and effective persuasion nudges the nation.

Americans have been fed up with politics as usual for a very long time. I don’t know exactly where we should go from here, but I am confident we can figure it out together… if we can talk to each other. But we have to come out of those conversations with clarity on what works and what doesn’t.

If you’ve read this far, I’m confident you have a strong commitment to democracy and civility. You care about what I care about, and I suspect you’re trying to keep up hope that a better future is possible. I certainly believe it is, but only if people have the tools to make it so.

If you’re interested, join the chat on my free Substack. More details to come.
I think you’re really gonna like this, and I hope you’ll enjoy playing along.

9:30 a.m.

A crowd is cheering outside my apartment.

Not for me, though I’ll take encouragement where I can get it. They’re cheering for the 53,000 people from 100 countries running through my neighborhood, near Wrigley Field, as part of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. It’s a clear, cool, sunny day, filled with good energy: a sharp contrast from what the world has seen from Chicago lately, with immigration officers arresting people and brutalizing protesters.

I woke up to someone yelling WHOOOO!!! and assumed that someone was throwing a party. When I walked out of my complex, I saw hundreds of people who showed up to bring good vibes on a Sunday morning. I couldn’t help smiling. It’s a party, all right.

Vibes have been on my mind a lot: the energy I put into the world. Lately I haven’t put much out there as I build my life in Chicago. This is the easiest city I’ve ever lived in, and I hope to be here for a while. And yes, I know about winter. I’ll live. It’ll end. Life goes on. Since moving here in March I’ve done a ton of adjusting, especially to not being in broadcasting after a long run. I told my coworkers it’s like being a civilian after 25 years in Starfleet. Otherworldly, overwhelming, awe inspiring.

I think a lot of us can relate to the overwhelming part. Every day gives us more reasons to wonder when our neighbors will try to eat each other. The seeds of insanity are being sown with every asinine federal policy, every bald-faced lie, every act of cruelty. It’s why I consume much less news these days. One of my custom Focus settings on my iPhone automatically blocks all news notifications when I’m at the gym and on weekends. I call it “…Is Good News”.

(As in, “No news…”)

Life has been tough lately. Arriving in the winter, ending a 5-year relationship, giving up entrepreneurship for a job in a new industry, facing midlife, considering graduate school, and losing about 40 pounds of muscle & the strength that went with it within a few months of coming here. Life can really take a bite out of your ass — in my case, literally. My jeans used to fit so well… Still, I’ve begun to figure out how to move myself forward.

Which brings me to the marathon.

The legend behind these races involves an ancient Greek messenger running to Athens from the battlefield at Marathon, announcing the Athenian victory over the invading Persians. As the story goes, the messenger died soon after completing his task. History glorifies him as a runner who gained praise at the end of his run. Modern marathons, however, praise runners all along the race. I was moved this morning both by seeing people cheering and who they were cheering for. A woman pushing a special needs participant in a large stroller-type carriage, wearing matching baby blue outfits, smiling ear-to-ear. A man wrapped in a Mexican flag with a “Visually Impaired” sign on his jersey, wearing a shirt that read “Inmigrantes Unidos” (Immigrants United). People from every walk of life hoofing it in the bright sunshine, bracing for another 17 miles of stress.

And stress is the key word here. Words matter, and this word matters a great deal.

I bring up Brené Brown all the time, but her research shows that stressed is not the same as overwhelmed. When your situation feels beyond your capacity, that’s stress. When your situation is actually more than your nervous system can biologically process, that is overwhelm. You can tell by your ability to ask for help. If you are so zonked that you lack the mental capacity to figure out what you need, you’re overwhelmed. In that situation there’s really only one cure: stop. Let everything go, stop doing anything and rest. Not read a book, not watch a silly movie, not even talk it out. Stop. Breathe. Power all the way down until you are ready to move on.

When you’re overwhelmed you feel like nothing will help. And you’re right. So, do nothing. That actually will help.

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That’s why this marathon is so uplifting on this Sunday morning. If I tried to run a marathon right now the physical challenge would quickly overwhelm me. I’d have to stop. But these lunatics? Running 26.2 miles at dawn for funsies? More power to ‘em, especially because we’re here to cheer them on along the way. Bottles of water and orange slices aside, they draw strength from our energy — our good vibes — and they persevere. That ancient Greek marathoner probably died because his task overwhelmed him without relief. But people can do amazing things not just in spite of stress, but because of it. And support can keep people reasonably stressed, instead of totally overwhelmed.

Besides, if these runners did not put themselves in a stressful situation, there would be no reason to cheer. No reason to connect. Imagine running the Chicago Marathon with no one watching. Just footfalls and heaving breaths and pouring sweat and your thoughts for company. You might as well be running by yourself. Nobody gives a damn, so what’s the point? Hell, why even finish? You could keel over, and no one would bother to pick you up. Why go on?

…until you hear the cheering. The hoots and hollers (which are still going on outside my home) from strangers who showed up just to love on whoever needed it. And your brain gets a break when it sees a silly sign along the route, just a split second of relief that reduces the cortisol in your blood and eases the lactic acid in your muscles. Just enough to keep going. And then another person cheers for you. They don’t even know you, but they’re clapping for you. “Keep going!” they say. “Don’t quit! You’ve got this!” More relief.

You keep running and see an even sillier sign, kind of dirty! A big smile. A big boost. You run on. A dog barks happily, wagging its tail as if it’s ready to go with you all the way. A heartwarming connection. You briefly forget the pain. You run on.

We are not strong enough to get through life’s marathon on sheer will. We draw strength from strangers whose humanity compels them to cheer for good things. I don’t need to know you to care about you. If you’re committed to this race, I’m committed to helping you run. So often we fake ourselves out of doing a good thing because odds are too long, there’s too much opposition, it’s too late, you’re not enough, etc. We judge ourselves for being on the sidelines, or worse, we judge others for not getting more involved. But if you don’t know where you can help, find something to cheer for. The sidelines are a part of the race, not apart from it.

Do what I did. Step outside your door, and cheer someone on. Anyone. Just cheer.

I’ve been away from The Night Light for months now, trying to figure out what to do with it. I think I’ll use it to, among other things, cheer you on. Maybe with just a few sentences of encouragement or a quick insight. Occasionally it’ll be a longer piece like this. And maybe it’ll just be a simple WHOOOO!!!

We have a long, hard run ahead of us: part marathon, part relay race. The price is nothing less than the future of humanity. Sadly, some of us won’t make it across the finish line. And unfortunately our opponents are willing to cheat, steal or even trip us up. Still, we’ve got an advantage. Unlike them, stomping down the course, we can hop on and off at will. Sometimes we’ll have the strength to run. Other times we’ll encourage our team while we recover. Either way, we’re moving forward together. My mission is to connect good people and help good things happen. It’s time to keep moving and make some noise. Are you ready?

Let’s run on and see what the end will be. Let’s give this old world a reason to cheer.

Go!

When the 2024 election happened, part of me felt antsy because I wasn’t on the job. I wasn’t anchoring or reporting or commenting on the results or the aftermath. The days that followed were filled with plenty to talk about, and I had lots of ideas for what to say to you. Nothing felt right, so I didn’t publish anything, and I haven’t really published since. In fact, I’ve gone mostly dark on social media. Why was that?

Simply put, I’d lost my desire to say anything.

I’m humbled that so many of you have shown up for my ideas, insights and thoughts over these last many months. And it’s been great engaging with you, especially when we shared our views candidly and respectfully. The Night Light has been a meaningful connection at a time when many of us feel intellectually isolated. Thank you so much for your support, membership, engagement, empathy and friendship.

If I’ve learned anything from doing this, it’s that the Substack/YouTube/podcast life is not enough for me. Not only has it not been nearly lucrative enough to sustain itself, but it always felt a bit unsatisfying. Producing weekly livestreams by myself was grueling, though your comments and stories made it very fun. Still, I knew it wasn’t the venue for my best work, plus I couldn’t afford to keep it going. Time to pivot, hard.

To that end, I’ve decided to suspend The Night Light for the foreseeable future. Next month I’m moving out of Las Vegas to take a position at The University of Chicago: staff, not faculty. I’ll keep performing with The Onion (which is based in Chicago) as fictional anchorman Dwight Richmond on the satirical Onion News Network. And I plan to start public speaking, doing keynotes on the communication skills that can help people connect in these contentious times. Most social networks have burned my trust, but I’ll be cautiously active there: follow me @joshualistening on BlueSky, Threads, Instagram, Facebook and X.

Follow me on social media

Chicago is a city I’ve always been fond of, with good friends in a vibrant community. Being a national broadcaster has taught me that every big city has the same issues: different players in the same roles with almost identical storylines. Very few civic problems are truly unique. Chicago has its share of major issues, but it has even more major assets. I can’t wait to dive in.

In this video I get into why I’m moving on from The Night Light, including something I recently learned about the legendary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Perhaps I’ll find my way back to this, but right now other dreams are calling. This new adventure requires all my focus and energy. And, I’ll be honest, energy has been hard to come by. Even applying for jobs felt like a depressing admission of failure… and maybe it was. Thankfully, failure is rarely fatal. What I learned from launching The Night Light will benefit UChicago’s intellectual engagement efforts. And I’m not done putting my own ideas into the world. Who knows what could happen?

Again, many thanks for your support. 2025 is going to be an intense and pivotal year. Stay engaged, but please give yourself permission to do what I’m doing: move confidently toward a better life, no matter what else is going on around you. I turn 45 next month, and I’m still finding my way. Forming new friendships, rekindling my creativity, making more DJ mixes (upbeat, melodic, disco-inspired music), generally unlocking the best of who I am… it’s daunting and exciting, but now is the time. I still have a lot more light to shine, and so do you. Onward and upward.

Work out to my DJ mixes

Until we meet again — and yes, we will meet again — keep on shining.
Someone like me needs your light right now… and we need it now, more than ever.

❤️

Having a breakdown? Try naming capital cities. That worked for me last week.

My emotions were threatening to send me deeper into my spiral and prompt a Chernobyl-scale meltdown. I yelled to my partner, “Name state capitals! World capitals! Anything! Just quiz me!!”

He pulled up a web page with a list of capitals and started calling them out. States were easy, but Caribbean and African nations I’m not so hot with. Still, forcing my mind to focus on a cerebral task sapped my freakout. In 5 minutes, I’d calmed down.

The wild thing is, my spiral had been coiling itself for weeks, caused by a deep emotional crossroads about my career. New opportunities are emerging, but old ambitions are on life support (hospice?) like never before. The shakeup has left me feeling unbalanced and adrift, struggling to make sense of things. Were my aspirations really ever noble? They had toxic impacts on me, but did they at least serve others well? Plenty of self judgment in that spiral, with little comfort to be found.

I spent my whole life being such a good boy. No wonder I ended up like so many dogs.

I grew up a few miles from the Palm Beach Kennel Club, one of Florida’s longstanding racetracks. Greyhounds had been raced there since the facility opened in 1932. The complex was hard to miss, standing right next to the main airport. I went there a few times, mostly for kid-friendly events, but I did see the dogs race at least once or twice. The Kennel Club even funded the multicultural youth choir I was part of. Florida’s Amendment 13 outlawed these races, taking effect in 2021. 11 of the nation’s 17 dog tracks were in Florida at the time.

I remember being fascinated by greyhounds: fast, sleek, focused. They also puzzled me. Why did these dogs race at all? When they came out of that gate, what made them follow that oval course with such precision and aggression? Dogs tend to run wherever they want. How do you make a greyhound that obedient?

Simple. You give it something it can never have.

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It’s been 75 years since Warner Bros. released “The Grey Hounded Hare”. Bugs Bunny causes chaos at a greyhound track after falling in love with the mechanical hare the dogs chase. It’s a wonderfully complex undercurrent, with the rabbit and the racers both lured by the same thing. The dogs are chasing something they’ll never catch, and Bugs falls in love with something that’s not even alive.

This cartoon feels particularly archaic, considering how Americans feel about making animals entertain us. The Michael Vick animal abuse scandal galvanized a lot of people. Then Sea World got in trouble for its treatment of marine mammals because of the documentary Blackfish. As I write this the Miami Seaquarium is fighting an eviction order from Miami-Dade County. NBC filmed the classic TV show Flipper at the Seaquarium. The US Dept. of Agriculture says in recent years the facility had been routinely mistreating animals.

No one wants to be driven mercilessly for the amusement of people who have no regard for our welfare. (Some of us get enough of that at work.) Seeing an animal go through that arouses our empathy and, since they can’t speak for themselves, we speak for them. It’s a noble impulse, and I’m glad so many people feel that way about other living things.

But do we also feel it for ourselves?

The fact is, a lot of things are luring us in meaningless races we can never win. We get on social media and consume an ocean of FOMO-inducing foolishness, then walk through life and try to act like well adjusted human beings. We consume way too much news and then suffer the helplessness of living in a world we cannot control. We immerse in politics and then brace for “The Most Important Election of our Lifetime”… until the next one becomes the “Most Important”. And on, and on.

These acts aren’t always destructive. Social media can be fun and connective. News can make you an informed citizen. And dogs love to run even when there’s nothing to chase. The issue is neither the action nor the motivation: it’s the misdirection. When our instincts get manipulated and monetized, the consequences can burn us out. I call this “greyhounding”, and I think we all need to be on the hunt for it in our own lives. So how do you break these cycles?

The bad news is… maybe you can’t. At least, not on your own.

Imagine if a greyhound escaped the track. Suppose they were able to run off-course, evade the staff, outrun the trainers, scamper through the parking lot and… then what? Where does the greyhound go? What does it do? Then we realize this poor creature has a new problem: being a stray. No direction, no help, no shelter, no food, no idea how to dodge cars. Enormous danger, even compared to the conditions on a dogtrack.

The key for them, as for us, is to be rescued. Someone who’s not bound to that track has to get you out of there safely, nurse you back to health if needed and take you someplace better for a new life. The sudden jump to another environment is what causes the problems for the runaway stray. Making a sustainable, nonthreatening transition is vital, and that can mean easing them in. Rescues can be amazingly hard without careful help.

So you’re addicted to social media. Quitting it cold turkey might work, but the sudden drop in dopamine could send you into a tailspin. It might be easier to have a friend connect with you — maybe even on a social network — and arrange some outside, real-world activities. Then you’d find reasons to use your phone less, or at least differently.

Perhaps you over-consume news, too hypervigilant to look away from the troubles of the world. Maybe a fellow news lover (I detest the term “news junkie”) could share stories with you that are fascinating, enlightening, hopeful and solutions-oriented. That would give you a different kind of validation when you discuss those stories with them: not just being loaded up on news to complain about.

What if it’s your career? A veteran of the industry, someone you respect, might have the influence to cast that job in a different light, sharing their lived experience of its costs. That happened to me back in 2022, a few months before NBC News let me go, upon the death of legendary CNN anchor Bernard Shaw. He was always one of my main inspirations: unimpeachable, unflappable, unforgettable. But back in 2014 he told NPR’s Michel Martin that his achievements were not worth the sacrifices.

“…When I think about all the things that I did, but all the things that I missed within my family because I was out doing [the news] - I don't think it was worth it,” Shaw said. “Honestly I'm telling you that after 41 years in this business, given what I missed, it was not worth it.”

That’s a reversal from what he told a group of young journalists a few months prior, in a conversation moderated by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (watch below):

And even now, two years after getting canceled, I still struggle. I don’t yearn to be back on the dog track, so to speak… but I do hate having nowhere to really run. Today my limbs ache, and my paws chafe, and my tail doesn’t wag much at all (not even out of nervous tension). Broadcasting took far more than it gave, but my profession gave me purpose. Granted, that path would’ve likely ended in disaster for me, at least spiritually if not medically.

Still… what good is a greyhound with nowhere to run?

Maybe that’s why I’ve struggled all these years: because moving on often requires help. I wouldn’t know where to begin asking for support. Ex-Anchors Anonymous? We can only help ourselves so much with positive self-talk and capital city quizzes: sooner or later, someone else has to step up with love and care.

The world needs more rescuers: more people with the courage and compassion to patiently help us when we cannot help ourselves. Or worse, when we cannot even see we’ve been greyhounded. Breaking toxic patterns can cost you the comfort of captivity, but it’s necessary for freedom and growth. I’m grateful that after all these years I can finally see the track I’ve been stuck on. Things are improving, but I still need support to break these patterns for good.

Let’s hope I still know how to wag my tail.

I rarely get this nervous. Hopefully, that’s a good sign.

This Monday was the revival of something I’ve loved for years. I’m honored to be the new anchor of ONN: The Onion News Network. I was a huge fan of this parody news project in its first run, back when actors played the anchors and correspondents. This time, I get to bring my real-world news experience to a role that brings me a lot of joy.

There’s nothing like The Onion. Some will find ONN too explicit, and that’s okay: it’s not for everyone. But if you’ve enjoyed The Onion over the years — and if you’re excited that the print edition is back — then I think you’ll love this. Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver are very funny, but you can tell sometimes they’re making you laugh to keep themselves from screaming. That has merit, but we also need comedy for its own sake. When that’s done well it can be like a roller coaster: intense, unpredictable, and leaves you breathlessly eager for another ride.

This summer The Onion’s CEO Ben Collins reached out and asked if I’d be interested in doing some occasional anchor work. Collins and I had been colleagues at NBC News, where he was a senior reporter covering the dystopian corners of the internet. Fortunately he could see, even in my serious anchorman role, that I had a sense of humor about the world and myself. Being an ONN anchor is an exciting blend of my news chops and my as-yet-untapped Theatre Arts degree. 22 years after graduating college, this is the very first professional acting job of my life.

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I’m presenting these ONN stories in character as Dwight Richmond. I named him after two Black anchormen I revere, both retired: Dwight Lauderdale of Miami’s WPLG, and Dennis Richmond of Oakland’s KTVU. Hopefully they’ll appreciate the homage… and the jokes. Some of the ONN stories are definitely not for the faint of heart. There’s plenty of political humor, inescapable during this election year, but also a lot of flat-out screwball comedy. I love it, even the stuff that made me cringe.

Frankly, nothing makes me cringe nearly as much as watching the news.

The Fox News-MSNBC dichotomy almost feels like a relic now. Cable news has grown far beyond that, with state-sponsored national broadcasters like TRT World (Turkey), Al Jazeera (Qatar), NHK World (Japan), CGTN (China) and RT America (Russia). Many of them are stuck on a standard playbook resembling the early days of CNN. Streaming supercharged this with ABC News Live, the recently rebranded CBS News 24/7, my old stomping ground NBC News NOW, LiveNOW from Fox, OAN, Newsmax, the regional channels of Spectrum News, and the New York Tri-State Area’s News 12.

This glut has had some casualties. Scripps News (formerly known as Newsy) will shut down on November 15th, laying off about 200 people. Scripps operated from an Atlanta hub, a Washington bureau and more than 60 local TV stations. Over the years it won an Emmy Award for covering the ongoing water crisis in Flint, MI and several awards for its Ukraine war coverage.

Scripps CEO Adam Symson says ad agencies feel putting commercials “around national news is just too risky for them given the polarized nature of this country. “I vehemently disagree,” he wrote in a statement, “but it is hurting Scripps News, along with every other national linear and digital news outlet.”

I love that ONN is back, but I hate that the cable news shtick has stuck. If broadcast journalism was really innovating as much as it should, then this parody wouldn’t make sense, and networks like Scripps News might have stood more of a chance. In the coming months, when you see Dwight Richmond you’ll know exactly what you’re looking at. We see it all over cable news and the delusional doldrums of social media.

ONN’s first job, of course, is to be funny. Unfortunately, it also kind of predicted the future. My former colleagues are running out of time to un-suck the news before trust in high-quality journalism fades away forever. I’m rooting for them to succeed, and I hope in a roundabout way I’m helping. Perhaps lampooning the worst parts of broadcast news will help stop them from outshining the best parts.

I discussed this in Tuesday’s live stream of the vice presidential debate (with wine):

I hope that someday ONN will puzzle future generations, just as much as today’s youth would scratch their heads at a switchboard operator. It would be great for them to look back and say, “Wait: the news used to actually be like that? And you watched it???”

For those who cannot accept me doing comedy and still take me seriously as a journalist, I understand. Perhaps ONN is a bridge too far for you. Thank you for letting me serve you in the past, and I hope you have plenty of other credible sources for information and analysis. Maybe the first story is a bit too naughty for you… give it another chance. The political humor might be more your speed. Just remember, comedy isn’t the problem. The real problem is that there’s so much journalism to make fun of. We deserve better than what we’re getting. We’ve had generations to get it right, and we’re almost out of time.

In the meantime, let’s share a good laugh. Enjoy the ride.

JOY!

That’s the word permeating much of the Harris/Walz campaign these days. Many supporters of the Democratic presidential ticket say they’re feeling more hopeful than they have in a long time. The latest national polls show VP Harris closely tied with or just ahead of former Pres. Donald Trump in many battleground states. Polling is mixed among various demographics, but she’s leading strongly among women and people of color. Maybe the joy is rubbing off.

But I sure as hell don’t feel joyous right now. Do you?

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Usually the gym is a refuge for me to work on improving myself and releasing tension in a constructive, productive way. As a gay man it’s also been a space to connect with friends and feel comfortable in my skin. So you can imagine what’s been going on in my heart when I see a growing number of guys at my gym in Las Vegas wearing things like this:

Charming.

Of course, it’s his prerogative what he chooses to wear, including something overtly political. As it is the prerogative of the young men who seem to delight in wearing the classic-red MAGA hats to the gym… or the trainer who constantly wore Trump 2024 caps while working with clients… or the older, beefy gentleman who casually wore an “FJB” shirt (F-ck Joe Biden). I would never tell them not to do so.

…but damn, do I want to give them a piece of my mind. Today my emotions drove me up the wall. It took my last bit of self control to keep from getting up in their faces. By my last set I was shaking so hard I nearly burst into tears. I left the gym feeling physically pumped, and spiritually deflated.

This video is a stream of consciousness, but it’s the most honest way I could get this out of my system. For your sake, I hope you cannot relate to what I’ve been dealing with. If you can, then feel free to share your experiences in the comments.

(PS: I mention the “Protect America 2024” shirts in my merch store. You can find them at this link.)

How do you support someone through a tough time? Often we give advice or urge them to be positive, but what if that's impossible? Comedian Drew Lynch developed a stutter at age 20 after being hit with a softball. Over time he surmounted that stutter and regained his normal speech patterns. But recently he needed support from his audience when his stuttering relapsed onstage so severely that he fought to form sentences.

What happened next demonstrates something many of us fail to do when someone is in trouble. It’s a simple, almost mundane act of empathy in action, but the power of such support is hard to overstate. How often do we fail to apply this principle when someone we care about is in need, preferring to control the situation as a way of easing our own discomfort?

Watch what happened onstage with Lynch, and consider how powerful acts of solidarity can be — often more powerful than pushing solutions on someone in crisis.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice wasn’t a bad movie. But it was thisclose to being great.

Like many people, I wondered if Tim Burton would revisit this 80s classic. The insanity of it all, the stark contrasts between the worlds of the living and the dead, Michael Keaton’s wonderfully manic performance as “the ghost with the most”… there’d be so much to play with in a sequel. I saw the new movie on opening weekend in Hollywood, at the movie palace once known as Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Today it’s the TCL Chinese Theatre: the largest IMAX auditorium in the world.

Seeing a movie in L.A. with friends who work in entertainment is a mixed blessing. I appreciate their insights on filmmaking, but… did you enjoy it? And I would’ve simply stuck with my answer of Yes, it was a hoot, and I want to see it again, except their deeper critiques got under my skin. I couldn’t ignore it: yes, something was missing from this film.

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Just before meeting my friends for the movie, I’d taken the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Burbank. That studio made this film. Props on the tour included the original costumes worn by Keaton, Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin in 1988. Every company depicts itself in idealistic, lofty terms, but this one actually was. Warner’s early projects dealt with issues of poverty, antisemitism, organized crime and wrongful convictions. The company’s motto: Educate, Entertain, Enlighten.

⚠️(MAJOR STORYLINE SPOILERS IMMINENT. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.)⚠️

Some of its latest hits also had a strong theme. The Lego Movie took a hard left turn from screwball comedy to family tearjerker. The Matrix saga made us rethink reality and who controls our view of it. Even Barbie called out the crushing perfectionism that creates unreasonable expectations. So when I saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, my friends’ critiques of this Warner Bros. release blended with my historical tour and, over time, showed me what this film was missing.

In the movie, 3 generations of the Deetz family return to their idyllic old house: Lydia (Winona Ryder), her mother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) and Lydia’s young adult daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). They, along with Lydia’s partner Rory (Justin Theroux), are there to bury Lydia’s father/Delia’s husband Charles after he died rather gruesomely.

Rory is way too new-age and cringey for a headstrong cynic like Astrid, especially since the girl is still processing her father’s death. Despite sharing versions of the same trauma, Lydia and Astrid could hardly be more distant. For one thing, Lydia can see lots of ghosts, but not Astrid’s late father. No wonder Lydia’s number appears on Astrid’s phone as “Alleged Mom”.

And Delia is even more of a pretentious snob than we remember, having become an esoteric performance artist. Her plan is to turn the house into a high-concept art project about death. Clearly, ticket sales ease the grieving process.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Beetlejuice has set himself up as a businessman. A freak accident causes his dead ex-wife Delores to escape her confinement, vowing revenge on him. Delores (Monica Bellucci) is a “soul sucker”, feeding on departed spirits in a quest for immortality. That’s how Beetlejuice died: his wife killed him. Thankfully she didn’t take his soul: a fate which even the dead cannot survive.

Beetlejuice appears to Lydia through unsettling glimpses and flashes in her waking life, even getting his promotional flyer into the real world. We immediately hate Rory when he, thinking he’s helping Lydia confront a delusion, says you-know-who’s name three times. (Watch what happens in the video below.)

The plot thickens when Astrid falls for a local boy, Jeremy. He hangs out in his treehouse or his attic bedroom, ignored by neglectful parents, bonding with Astrid over their quirkiness and isolation. On Halloween night, Astrid and Jeremy kiss for the first time… and levitate off the ground. That’s when Astrid realizes: Jeremy is a ghost. All that spooky stuff she thought was a hoax is real.

Meanwhile, Lydia learns that Jeremy didn’t just die. He killed his parents. Astrid didn’t notice, but they were ghosts too. Lydia races to Jeremy’s house but arrives too late: he’s already taken Astrid to the other side, tricking her into giving up her soul so that he can come back to life.

To make matters worse, one of Delia’s idiotic performance art projects really bites: a faux-ritual performed with supposedly-defanged snakes. She, the ultimate Karen, pushes past the line in the waiting room of the dead, confident that she can be revived if she could just speak with the manager.

This forces Lydia to ask Beetlejuice for help. He agrees to help save Astrid, and she agrees to help stop Delores. The catch? He would get what he wanted from the first film: Lydia must marry him. Sure enough, everything shifts when Astrid and Lydia find Astrid’s father in the underworld. That’s why Lydia could not see his ghost: there was no ghost to see. He’d moved on. They were looking for someone who wasn’t there anymore, and that left them vulnerable to someone who seemed as real as they are.

That’s when the movie’s deeper theme began to emerge.

The somewhat schmaltzy revelation about Astrid’s father also revealed something big. The story starts to resolve itself when everyone gets real about what’s happened to them: specifically, what they’ve lost. Every character’s story arc is about their inability to accept loss. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is about the dangers of not moving on.

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Think about it: Lydia can’t move on from her grief at the loss of her husband. Rory exploits that to trap her in an unhealthy relationship. Astrid can’t move on from her father’s death, estranging her from her mother and making her vulnerable to Jeremy. Delores, the villainous MacGuffin of the movie, can’t let go of her unattainable desire for immortality.

Beetlejuice can’t move on from his infatuation with Lydia, which always lands him in trouble, and his mistakes nullify his marriage deal. You’d think he’d know better, considering he was poisoned by someone who couldn’t take no for an answer. Delia can’t move on from her own crass commercialism and her unwillingness to let her husband go: at least, not without getting some attention (and maybe money) in the process.

And Jeremy threatens others by being both unwilling to rest in peace, and willing to keep killing in hopes of escaping judgment. He turns out to be one of the movie’s most important characters, representing just how seductive unresolved loss can be. It makes us see what we want to see, camouflaging its power and danger until it’s too late. When we won’t let go of things beyond our control, that’s when things beyond our control won’t let go of us. There’s a word for that:

Haunted.

This movie turned out to be a warning about letting the past haunt you.

I wanted a moment where Lydia, Astrid, Delores and Beetlejuice confront one another. Getting eaten by a giant sandworm (good fan service, but meh) was a lazy deus ex machina climax. No, I wanted Beetlejuice to look at Delores and saying something like, “Babe… you’re dead to me.” He needed to let her know that if you gain immortality, you still lose everything, because the people and things you loved won’t be there. Maybe Lego and Barbie spoiled me, but more films should leave us entertained and enlightened. Uplifted, even.

…and having said all of this, I’m still looking forward to watching it again.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is shallow and screwy and silly in such a fun way. It wasn’t particularly scary — more spooky and macabre — and the whole film only has about 2 or 3 jump-scares. The acting is very funny, including from Danny DeVito and Willem Dafoe. I also like how the movie compensated for Charles (Jeffrey Jones) being rather impossible to cast in the sequel. (Jones became a registered sex offender after pleading guilty to charges back in 2003.) The music in the movie made me smile, using both “Soul Train” and “MacArthur Park” in ways that I found delightful. And it does great fan service, with the original theme song and the model of the town in the Deetz’s attic as perfect throwbacks.

Everyone gets haunted sometimes. Sometimes the ghosts win, stealing our spirit and masquerading as us. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is delightful, but it neglected to help us exorcise our ghosts and see them clearly. Grief and loss take time, but time isn’t enough. Perspective saves our souls: shedding painful tears, speaking our truth candidly, or acknowledging that we’ll never get back what’s gone.

…or maybe we just need to let ourselves laugh at it all. That can go a long way, too.