 |
|
|
|||||
This week, I had the pleasure of attending the Baltimore premiere of a new offbeat romcom, The Baltimorons. The film, entirely set in Baltimore at Christmastime, has had the city buzzing for two years as residents caught glimpses of actor and comedian Michael Strassner, a Baltimore local, and Liz Larsenknown for her role as Jessica Reed on Law & Order, Madoff, and a number of Broadway rolesfilming on the streets. To put it plainly: The film is magic, the kind that can only happen when there’s a deeply honest story being told over a backdrop that also, somehow, manages to tell its own story at the same time. Strassner and Larsen? Epic chemistry. Baltimore? Hardly a third wheel, but a star in its own right. Much of the plota man’s struggle with addiction and wavering mental healthwas pulled from Strassner’s own life. The actor co-wrote the film with director Jay Duplass (who got to hear from me, in a possibly slightly intrusive moment on Wednesday, that I am in fact his biggest fanbut that’s neither here nor there). Strassner has been as vulnerable as his character, Cliff, in interviews leading up to the film’s release, opening up about a past suicide attempta moment recreated in the film’s opening scene. Cliff is six months sober when he loses his tooth on Christmas Eve, and ends up spending the entire day with Didi (Larsen), the only dentist who will see him. A series of hilarious and inconvenient happenings result in him taking her to an improv event, where he performs his skit, “The Baltimorons.” Its not the only time in the film when our city’s endearing (cringe?) accents were showcased. It’s an offbeat love story, yes. But, at its heart, which it has a ton of, The Baltimorons is about resilience. With that in mind, while there is so much that is perfect about the film, Baltimore is undeniably the perfect setting for it. In some ways, it almost feels like a love letter to Baltimoreone that was, honestly, overdue. It sets the record straight about who, exactly, we are. Because, listen: We know what you’ve heard, okay? We know that, if you’ve never lived in Baltimore or spent real time here, you probably get flashbacks from The Wire whenever you hear our city’s name mentioned. But while the 47th president talks about the city’s “crime disaster” (ahem, violent crime is actually way down), the film manages to document the Baltimore that locals know, love, and will gush about whenever we’re given the opportunity (hence, the filmand this piece of writing). A love letter to the city The truth? From the charming streets of Hampden, including the magical, over-the-top holiday lights on 34th streetwhich make an appearance, as does a beloved tabby cat muralto the Baltimore harbor, as far as good-looking cities go, we’re up there. Like, way up. But don’t listen to me. The movie does a far better job of making the case. In fact, it might just change your mind (if not Trump’s). Recognizable landmarks are plenty in the film, but one stands out above the rest. What is arguably the most romantic moment in the film happens under the glow of the now-collapsed Key Bridge. The film’s creators immortalized it (unknowingly at the time), as director Duplass told the crowd after the premiere in a Q&A, ultimately because of Strassner’s insistence. “He was like, ‘we have to come back here and we have to shoot under this bridge. It’s actually critical,” the director explained. “And we were all exhausted. Half the crew had COVID by that point, but I trusted his instincts . . . The fact that we were able to memorialize that thing in a real, genuine piece of art, it’s just like a dream come true.”But it’s not just aesthetic beauty that’s notable in Baltimorons. It’s also the spirit of Baltimore, which the characters oozed. Baltimore is the most down-to-earth place you’ve never been. Strassner, who was born and bred here, is a prime example of that unpretentious, salt-of-the-earth vibe. But Liz Larsenwho was born in Philly, and told the crowd, “I’ve always loved Baltimore”clearly understood the assignment, too. Her character feels so Baltimore, you could easily imagine she grew up in Dundalk or Highlandtown (and I say that with so much love). In fact, she even made some local pals during filming, embracing that “Hey, hon!” neighborly attitude we pride ourselves onas well as Berger Cookies, a remarkably simple and unassuming, yet delicious treat that Larsen enjoyed so much, she started giving them out as gifts. When it comes to the film’s name, I’m struggling not to use the word “perfect” once more. Instead, I’ll say that it’s astoundingly fitting. “Baltimorons” is something we call ourselves here. Because, for starters, it’s way more fun to say than “Baltimoreans.” It also pretty much sums up our self-deprecating vibe. Like Strassner told the crowd this week, “This is who we are”while acknowledging that if he wasn’t from here, he’d “never name a movie ‘Baltimorons.'” Either way, as a Baltimoron, I can say one thing is true: We’re in on the joke. We literally all have rat stickers on our bumpers, ‘mmkay? We know what people believeand we know what’s actually true about our city, with all its kindness, quirkiness, and spirit. And while the story of Baltimorons is one about the resilience of human beings, as the leads lean into hope and second chances, it’s impossible to miss the resilience of Baltimore, flawlessly captured in a way only locals might’ve seen coming.
Category:
E-Commerce
There was scant time to digest the horrifying news before battle lines were drawn around how one should react to it. On Wednesday, a suspect currently in custody allegedly shot and killed popular conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, cofounder and star attraction of Turning Point USA. In the wake of this disturbing tragedy, a maelstrom of finger-pointing and recrimination surged through social media, raising the core temperature of a divided America amid an already markedly tense year. While some, like President Trump, were quick to paint the outspoken Kirk as a martyr for free speech, supporters of the slain provocateur began demanding consequences for those speaking freely about Kirk in ways that they deemed inappropriate. In the name of free speech, people had to be punished for exercising it. High-profile right-wing influencers like Laura Loomer and Chaya Raichik (better known as LibsofTikTok), surfaced social media posts that either celebrated Kirks death or appeared close enough to it to draw their ire. The Federalist, a conservative online magazine, ran an aggregated list entitled, Hope The Bullets Okay: Here Are The Demonic Reactions From Leftists To Charlie Kirk Assassination, giving bereft readers a focal point on which to train their outrage. Going a step further, an anonymous activist compiled a similar trove of posts about Kirk on a hastily assembled site called Charlies Murderersand provided employment information about the offending posters. It was within this censorial atmosphere that right-wing media figures such as Milo Yiannopoulos seemed to gamify the push to extract a penance. Today you have just one job. Get 50 people fired.— MILO (@Nero) September 11, 2025 BREAKING: We're getting word 3 Lee County Florida School District teachers/faculty have been fired for celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk.Keep it up, patriots.— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 11, 2025 Their tactics proved swiftly effective. In less than 48 hours after the shooting, several people lost their jobs for their reactions to the tragedyfor posts that could be described as flippant at best, ghoulish at worst. An assistant dean at a Tennessee university was fired for her Facebook post, after Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee tweeted a screenshot of it. (Looks like ol Charlie spoke his fate into existence, the post read. Hate begets hate. ZERO sympathy.) An employee for the Carolina Panthers communications department lost his job for posting an Instagram video with the caption, Why are yall sad? Your man said it was worth it. (For context, Kirk said in 2023: I think its worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the second amendment to protect our other God-given rights.) As for the woman responsible for the Hope the bullets okay comment in The Federalists headline, comic book writer Gretchen Felker-Martin saw DC Comics flat-out cancel her nascent series Red Hood as a result. MSNBC host Matthew Dowd, meanwhile, was fired from the network for sober, if speculative, analysis. On Wednesday, during a discussion about the environment in which such a tragedy could occur, Dowd said that Kirk has been one of the especially divisive younger figures in this, who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. And I always go back to, hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.” After MSNBC fired the host, many on X appeared emboldened to agitate for more media firings, for even slighter offenses. Psaki: Trumps comments on Charlie Kirk assassination are creating an escalation of the situation.Fire the entire network. pic.twitter.com/nTlq2vKLaS— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 11, 2025 "She should be fired for that kind of rhetoric." @DavidBozell calls on MSNBC to fire Katy Tur for suggesting that President Trump would use Charlie Kirk's death as a political weapon. pic.twitter.com/ValSKuLdHS— Media Research Center (@theMRC) September 11, 2025 What Kirk said about free speech This widespread mob mentality on Kirks behalf, however, went against Kirks recently stated beliefs on how to proceed in the aftermath of a horrible tragedy. Back in June, Kirk gave a lecture to the crowd at the Oxford Union debating society in London. At one point, he lamented the British laws that led to an English woman getting arrested last year for a social media post calling for people to set fire” to hotels housing migrants. (Her post was in response to the July 2024 Southport attack, in which the Wales-born teenage son of migrant parents went on a nightmarish stabbing spree.) You should be allowed to say outrageous things, Kirk said of the jailed womans plight. You should be allowed to say contrarian things. Free speech is a birthright that you gave us and you guys decided not to codify it and now it’s poof, it’s basically gone. Kirk was a staunch free-speech advocate and vehement critic of what has been dubbed cancel culture, the tendency to demand consequences for offensive speech or behavior. Liberty means:If you don't like Gone With The Wind, then don't watch itIf you don't want to leave your home, then don'tIf you don't like someone else's views, then don't listenYou don't have to silence people, erase history, or cancel our culture to feel "safe" in America— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) June 10, 2020 His supporters could be forgiven, however, for having some confusion around the viability of pushing for consequences in response to offensive speech, given that Kirk had previously called for the firing of various media figures with whom he disagreed. In any case, the mission to get retribution for unkind remarks about Kirk has now become an institutional matter. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida applauded a vow from his states Education Commission on Thursday to investigate any teacher suspected of celebrating Kirks death, while Representative Clay Higgins of Louisiana tweeted his intention to use Congressional authority and every influence with big tech platforms to mandate immediate ban for life of every post or commenter that belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk. What is there left to say? One glaring flaw in this approach is the elasticity in defining celebration or belittlement of Kirks death. While many random social media users were indeed using crude language and tasteless jokes to express a lack of remorse, some of the posts that pro-Kirk influencers have shared with their massive fandoms were merely quoting Kirks own words to express a complex mix of emotions around his assassination. Their offense seemed to be simply wanting to add some friction to Kirks express path to sainthood, amid the president awarding him a posthumous Medal of Freedom and ordering White House flags at half-mast. Its worth noting, too, that many of the same people currently policing online decorum in the wake of Kirks murder actively participated in mocking the brutal home invasion attack on then-Speaker Nancy Pelosis husband, Paul Pelosi, in 2022. Indeed, Kirk himself was among their ranks at the time, suggesting on his radio show that a patriot should bail the attacker out of jail. If making inappropriate jokes about political violence is such an inherently fire-able offensea reason to cast aside ones stated aversion to cancel culturewhy is Senator Mike Lee still in office after his risible, trollish posts about the assassination of state senator Melissa Hortmann and her husband back in June? Where were DeSantis and Higgins then? Reacting in unkind ways to such tragedies is either a transgression that should be punishable by harassment and job loss, or, as Kirk once said, If you don’t like someone else’s views, then don’t listen. To grant such grace exclusively to ones fellow ideological cohort, however, is a glaring contradiction that will only further deepen Americas already extreme polarization.
Category:
E-Commerce
I spent nearly a decade as an intrapreneur inside the worlds largest global holding companies. On paper, it looked a lot like entrepreneurship: validate an idea, conduct research, raise or allocate funds, build capabilities, codify processes, launch SaaS platforms, measure value creation, and implement a communication plan. In practice, it was very different. Big organizations are optimized for productivity and predictability, not the full lifecycle of experimentation that product building requires. That law of nature creates a constant source of friction between innovation and day-to-day business. A new MIT study puts numbers to what many of us have experienced: 95% of enterprise GenAI pilots fail to deliver measurable business impact, despite billions invested. The problem is less about model quality and more about the learning gap: Tools and organizations do not naturally adapt to one another, so in-house pilots never become production systems. MIT and other researchers highlight consistent fault lines: Flawed integration: Pilots sit on the side and never embed into real workflows. The companies that do see impact redesign processes and roles around AI rather than sprinkling models on top. Learning gaps and culture: Organizations treat AI like a oneoff project, not an evolving capability, so teams do not learn with the tools. Misallocated budgets: Spending skews to sales and marketing experiments while the highest ROI is often in backoffice automation that reduces outsourced processes and eliminates manual work. Build versus buy: Buying from specialized vendors and partnering works about 67% of the time, compared to internal builds succeeding roughly onethird as often. Shadow AI risk: employees use personal chatbots at most companies, which muddies impact measurement and raises compliance risk. Reports find widespread unsanctioned use. These patterns are not unique to AI. I saw the same dynamics at play when launching products within corporations long before the AI wave became the center point of the software conversation. The code is never the blocker to success. Its all about incentives. Billable hours and shortterm deliverables are naturally at odds with the patience, rework, and staged learning a product needs. Without a protected path from pilot to scale, even strong concepts suffocate in a productivityfirst culture. Context from prior waves reinforces this current moment in time: an MIT SloanBCG study found only about 10% of organizations realized significant financial benefits from AI, with success tied to how well humans and AI learn together. A year later the research emphasized that organizations capture value when individual workers also feel empowered and gain competence and autonomy from the tools. Even now, adoption at scale remains limited: One recent, large CIO survey reported only 11% had fully implemented AI due to security and data readiness constraints. What successful programs do differently The efforts that work do not live as science projects. They integrate early, align incentives with outcomes, and earn trust on the front line. They move quickly from test to tool. The playbook looks like this: Start with a workflow, not a model. Redesign the process where the decision happens, then fit AI to it. Treat AI as infrastructure that changes who does what and when. Pick one painful, measurable problem. Scope narrowly, ship a useful tool, and iterate in place. Tie success to a business owners KPI. The MIT study notes that the winners execute against specific pain points rather than broad ambitions. Choose to build, buy, or partner with discipline. If timetovalue matters, lean into vendors with proven outcomes, then extend. The success gap between vendor solutions and internal builds is material. Shift investment to the quiet ROI. Target backoffice and operational automation where savings are concrete and compounding. Use those gains to fund the next wave. Make learning a firstclass objective. Pair tool learning with organizational learning: training, job design, accountability, and feedback loops. Bring shadow AI into the light. Set clear guardrails, offer approved tools, and measure use so value shows up in the P&L instead of slipping through side channels. The takeaway here is not that AI is overhyped; it is that experimentation without integration rarely creates transformation. Leaders who treat AI like infrastructure, align incentives to outcomes, and build learning into the operating model will escape the pilot trap. The rest will keep adding to the graveyard. James Chester is cofounder and CEO of WVN.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||