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Continue reading →: Stephanie SaysYou can’t see it, but I’m in my office with the lights on very low and a holiday candle burning. It smells great. When I get the Sunday Scaries, I like to embellish my wind-down routine with extra dim light, good smells, and soft music on the radio. My radio…
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Continue reading →: Letters from Ava, Part 2: 4.11.1966My mother, Mary Welton (nee Caldwell), was the youngest of nine children to Ava and Charles Caldwell of Marysville, Ohio. Mom was born in 1939, and her father died before she turned two years old, in 1941. She and my grandmother, whom I always called Ava, were very close. However,…
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Continue reading →: Quick thoughts on Scott Galloway’s predictions for 2026My favorite podcast by a ton is Pivot. I think I would be friends in real life with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, although I’m also not sure they wouldn’t hate me. I kind of fear them both. They’re among the smartest people I don’t actually know, and yet I…
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Continue reading →: My Spotify Wrapped revealed zero surprises. What about yours?Did you check out your Spotify Wrapped this morning? I sure did, and I look forward to it every year. My No. 1 artist has been the same for several years now, smooth jazz pianist Brian Culbertson. I’ve followed Brian’s career since we were both in our early 20s — and…
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Continue reading →: Why I’m experimenting with Patreon as a news creator in 2026I did a thing today. I set up a Patreon account for myself. Part of living the news creator life is establishing multiple income streams, and by multiple, I mean several. When I’m fully settled, I don’t know how many streams it might be. And, no, I’m not soliciting you.…
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Continue reading →: Why Suno’s AI is so useful (and inspiring) for human songwritersI’ve been a musician almost all of my life, and I am not only not scared of AI in music, but I’m also ready for a new era of creativity. I’m still romantic about what music fundamentally is, the byproduct of human depth and creativity. But music can also be…
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Continue reading →: James Blake’s ‘Retrograde’ haunting, not forgottenHave you ever forgotten not a song but a singer? An artist with a name too common for the innovation of their art? That’s been me for weeks, and it culminated this weekend in me rediscovering James Blake and his 2013 song “Retrograde.” The minor keys, the production, the haunting…
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Continue reading →: Letters from Ava, Part 1: 11.25.1969When my mother passed in 2018, I inherited notes, letters, news clippings — a veritable family history. It’s been years for sure, but I’ve always wanted to document some of that history, and celebrate an era when people wrote letters back and forth. My grandmother, Ava Caldwell, died in 1986, the…
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Continue reading →: What I’ve learned about traveling to Europe so farMy first taste of traveling, even domestically, didn’t come until my late 20s. I promised myself after my first trip to New York that it wouldn’t be my last. I’ve been back several times since — and I’ve long been certain that NYC is the greatest city in the world.…
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Continue reading →: From layoff to opportunity: elevate your digital presence nowHad a terrific conversation with a journalism professor from the University of Oklahoma on Wednesday. We were discussing all things digital when I had an epiphany that’s rooted in both business and journalism. Let’s start with the latter. Misinformation and disinformation are huge issues in journalism right now. Meta has…
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I’m Ryan
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