The Cooper Hewitt - Photo by the Smithsonian Institute Last fall, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Museum of Design invited visitors to submit exhibition ideas. Here's what I shared: Hi Curators, I’d like to propose that the Cooper Hewitt curate an exhibition on “Designing Community: Solutions for a Fragmenting World.” In this moment of deep division, … Continue reading I pitched the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum on an Exhibition & Symposium. Here’s what I wrote.
Social Connections
NY Daily News: ‘Save the Sheds!’
The other morning, my son and I sat along Amsterdam Ave. on the Upper West Side. He, in his stroller, delighted in the wonders of a fresh blueberry scone. I sat with a warm coffee in hand, my wool jacket pulled tight, watching the passersby. To my left were shelves of pink and blue hydrangea … Continue reading NY Daily News: ‘Save the Sheds!’
Redistribution Isn’t Enough
Imagine for a moment that you and a group of strangers are asked to design a set of rules that will govern the city that you live in. Except there’s a catch: while deciding on these rules you don’t know whether you’ll be rich or poor; young or old; able bodied or disabled; smart or not; black, white, male, female, gay, straight, etc. In other words, you know nothing about what your circumstances will be when you emerge from your deliberations.
Hunting for a sense of community in Hunters Point
Sitting outside of Cantina, a Mexican restaurant in the Hunters Point area of Long Island City, yesterday, I stared at the glass towers and wide side walks around me. I took in the street-level retail -- a handful of restaurants and a coffee shop -- and noted the playing fields in the middle of it all. I watched as masked couples pushed strollers by... The neighborhood felt soulless and I was struggling to put my finger on why.
NYT: COVID is Showing Us Which Entrepreneurs Matter
One of the themes I've been tracking through this project is the power of entrepreneurship and small business not just to create jobs and wealth, but to serve as integral parts of local communities. This is something I think a lot about in my work with early stage healthcare companies — how can even venture-backed … Continue reading NYT: COVID is Showing Us Which Entrepreneurs Matter
Medium: “The Public Option”
Last fall, I put together a piece examining the death of local news, why it matters, and why we should get serious about public funding to save it. The crux of my argument boils down to this: [L]osing local journalism is something that should worry us. It’s not just about an antiquated technology or business … Continue reading Medium: “The Public Option”
WaPo: ‘We Need a Major Redesign of Life’
After a while, I lost track of how many articles I read during my twenties about how Millennials "refuse to grow up." We were putting off marriage, not buying our first homes, not having kids, and not settling down in our careers, the trope went, because we were in a state of "extended adolescence." (Somehow, … Continue reading WaPo: ‘We Need a Major Redesign of Life’
NYT: The End of Babies
Great read in yesterday's Times about the economic and cultural headwinds to having a family in this day and age. The piece, "The End of Babies" by writer Anna Louie Sussman, starts with the mystery. Declining fertility isn't just a consequence of policies: If any country should be stocked with babies, it is Denmark. The country is … Continue reading NYT: The End of Babies
When an economist goes to Burning Man
A Nobel prize winning economist, an urban planner named Coyote, and a New York Times reporter venture into the desert... No, it’s not the setup to a joke. On the contrary, it’s the framing for an interesting profile of Paul Romer, 2018 winner of the Nobel prize in economics, in yesterday’s Times, who is attending … Continue reading When an economist goes to Burning Man
Towards social policy rooted in social networks (the IRL kind)
It's 2059. The results of a study on the ability of genetic engineering to help poor kids escape poverty are out and they're not pretty. It turns out that even a high IQ can't overcome structural inequality. Or, at least that's the scenario presented as part of a new oped series from the Times, which … Continue reading Towards social policy rooted in social networks (the IRL kind)
Bernie Zipprich 