· 6 min read
What Is an October Surprise? Meaning, Origin and Why It Matters
A plain definition of the October surprise, where the phrase came from, and why I put it on the cover of my book.
From the blog
Notes on the generalist idea
Short reads from the author of Common Sense 2.0. Each one takes a piece of the book and puts it to work, and you’re invited to argue with any of them.
· 6 min read
What Can One Citizen Do Before an Election? 9 Things That Still Count
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Here are nine things one citizen can still do before then, and one for the morning after.
· 7 min read
How to Fact-Check a Political Claim in Five Minutes
Five steps, five minutes, and a worked example on a civics statistic that people have been sharing for years.
· 6 min read
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: Summary and What It Means Today
What Paine argued in 1776, the lines worth remembering, and why a plain pamphlet for ordinary readers still matters 250 years later.
· 6 min read
Generalist vs Specialist: What’s the Difference and Which Do We Need?
A specialist digs one hole deep. A generalist knows which hole to dig. I argue America was built by the second kind.
· 6 min read
How to Think Like a Generalist: A Skill You Can Learn
Generalism looks like a gift, and sometimes it is. The rest of us can train it with a pencil and better questions.
· 7 min read
The Tree of Knowledge: A Pencil-and-Paper Game for Thinking in Steps
One pencil, two nouns, a short list of verbs. The game from Appendix 4 of my book, with the rules exactly as I wrote them.
· 6 min read
How to Talk Politics at Thanksgiving Without a Fight
You can talk politics at Thanksgiving and still get pie. Agree on rules before the turkey, ask before you argue, and leave every door open.
· 6 min read
Were the Founding Fathers Generalists? What a 5,000-Book Library Tells Us
Franklin and Jefferson get called polymaths. I think the better word is generalists, and I think they were trained, not born.
· 6 min read
Civic Engagement Ideas for the Months After an Election
Whoever wins on November 3, the country still runs on the meetings nobody attends. Here is a year of them, one evening a month.
· 6 min read
How to Propose a Law as a Citizen: City, State and Federal
You can’t drop a bill in the hopper yourself. You can write it, find the member who will, and in 24 states go around them.
· 6 min read
Books Like Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: Pamphlets That Moved Ordinary Readers
Nine short books that talk to citizens the way Paine did in 1776. The last one is mine, and I’ll say so up front.