jedscott

Seen on Twitter: “One sure way to feel terrible is read a pitchfork review of music you love.” https://twitter.com/fmanjoo/status/1015412913132064769 A great way to feel less terrible is to love music that Pitchfork doesn’t even consider. There are a dozen new albums I’ve listened to regularly in the first half of […]

It’s very easy for a young child with short legs to lag behind on a long walk. Long ago, I learned the best way to encourage these stragglers isn’t to yell, cajole, criticize, or encourage. No, the best way is to hold their hands. Holding hands with a child, with […]

Nothing is more American, to me, than the music of America. Jazz, blues, hip hop. Broadway from Gershwin to Miranda. Spirituals, Gospel, classic folk songs to folk, rock, R&B and beyond. The musical landscape of America is as majestic as the purple mountains and amber waves we immortalize in song. […]

Albert Einstein famously said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” However he meant it, it’s fine advice for writers in any medium. Maybe you thought we study theory, notation, orchestration, and advanced compositional tools to make our writing more complex. No. We study it to […]

Sailboats often can’t go directly toward their goal. The physics of sailing dictates that boats can sail a minimum of 35 or 40 degrees away from the wind direction without losing too much speed. So if your goal is directly upwind (i.e., in the direction the wind is coming from), […]

It can be really effective to you make your art for an audience of one. Mr. Rogers imagined he was communicating directly with a single child when he made his favorite show. Lin-Manuel Miranda recently shared that he sometimes writes with himself at certain ages in mind. And of course […]

Enough with the productivity hacks. You’re productive enough. Focus on happiness hacks. Presence hacks. Family time hacks. Longevity hacks. Connection, love, and empathy hacks. If you’re obsessing over 1% increases in productivity, you’re productive enough. You’re. Productive. Enough.

Not too long ago, 99% Invisible devoted a show to the American adoption of air conditioning in the 20th century. It had a lot of repercussions, one of which is that windows were sealed, and indoor temperatures governed to a narrow range. It turns out that researchers have discovered that […]

“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say, ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” – Fred Rogers If you’re […]

When you see a master teacher at work, it can look like magic. The artistry of a brilliant conductor can seem so seamless and effortless that it’s unreachable. Great teachers work smoothly to teach at many levels at once, without breaking a sweat. When you see that happen, remember what […]