The Honest Broker

5 days ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

Is the backlash against tech overreach a real thing? Or am I kidding myself when I claim that we will experience a revival of the humanist and Romanticist values of the 19th century? The leaders of that movement pushed back against slavery, exploitation, and the excesses of the Industrial Revolution. Against all odds, they were victorious. Even huge businesses and nation states eventually backed down. Could it happen again? People tell me it’s impossible.

6 days ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

I’m always worried when people do a podcast ABOUT me, but don’t invite me to the table. That happened again today. I often just ignore these things—it’s usually best not to know what people say behind your back. I could tell spine-chilling tales of what happens to eavesdroppers. They punish themselves by their indiscretion. So just don’t do it!But Derek Thompson wields a lot of influence right now.

1 week ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

Many articles have been written about me over the years. But I’ve never been hit with an opening sentence like the one published on Monday by The Atlantic. Last year, I visited the music historian Ted Gioia to talk about the death of civilization. Whoa! That makes me feel like a Bond villain. I need some henchmen—any volunteers? What an unexpected turnabout! For many years, I was known as an expert on music, especially jazz and blues. But now I’ve taken on a new guise.

1 week ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

This has been a whirlwind day at The Honest Broker. And I’m only halfway through it. I woke up to a deluge of emails. Well, that happens daily—everybody and their dog know my private email address—but it was a flood of Biblical proportions today. The emails were in response to a feature article about me in The Atlantic. It went live this morning. I’m depicted in quite a surprising way. I tend to think of myself as a cheery, upbeat bloke. But I’m a bit scary in this profile.

1 week ago | honest-broker.com | Ted Gioia

The best conversations take you on wild journeys. I’m sharing one of those today. Below I talk about my favorite adventure films. But then we go on a long trip—you can call it an odyssey, if you like—before coming home with some big conclusions. Along the way, we deal with everything from Raging Bull to the Book of Revelation. So put on your seatbelts. . . TED: So what do want to talk about today? INTERVIEWER: Today I want you to stop acting so elitist—that’s why we’re going to talk about action films.