There is an inherent challenge in talking about generations. When we are in the midst of the rise of an influential new generation, it's said that we can't truly understand them and that we must leave it to history to be the judge. Yet, when we get further away from...

After the season finale of Girls last weekend, umpteen blogs sounded off, Twitter reached a fever pitch and hasn't stopped since. It seems people can't seem to stop talking about this show. Since it first debuted last year, it's been discussed on op-ed pages, panel discussions, in academia, and just...

When I speak to audiences of marketers and brand managers someone inevitably raises their hand and says to me, "You're a Millennial... How do I market to your generation?" I think the answer to this question seems very simple: You have to place Millennials within positions of power in your...

As Barack Obama stood in the congressional chamber on Tuesday to deliver his State of the Union address, he looked out at a room that housed one of the most diverse Congresses in history, with record numbers of women and minorities, the first bisexual member of Congress, the first openly...

This week I graduated from NYU, but at the same time, another graduation will take place: Facebook will "graduate" to the NASDAQ with its IPO valuing the company at close to $100 billion. Although Facebook was founded by one of the most famous college dropouts of our times,...

David Jones, Global CEO of power ad agency Havas, is among the youngest CEOs in advertising, and among the industry's most innovative and best connected. He was a key adviser to David Cameron's successful 2010 campaign for UK Prime Minister. He's also the founder of One Young World, an annual...

Sitting in a private room at Claridges Hotel in London, you wouldn't know that Bernd Beetz has had a hand in shaping just about every major perfume, fragrance and beauty product around the world in the past ten years. He was in London for the launch of supermodel Kate Moss'...

Crises are everywhere we turn, leaders have abdicated their responsibilities around the globe, and by most objective standards there is a huge mess growing bigger and bigger that is being left for my generation -- the millennial generation -- to clean up. This generation is ready to step up to...

Earlier this month eager students applying to Ivy League colleges were informed of their fates. Ivy League schools reported more applications this year than any year in history, along with more rejections than ever. This week the remaining portion of the estimated 1.5 million American students who applied...

Who are we fighting? Is this a war or not? Do we devote more resources? Less? These are the questions that we've asked in recent weeks about our effort in Libya. They are the same questions we asked as we slipped into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are the...

In the past several weeks election reform laws have been introduced in 31 states including North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Maine and Nebraska. Three main kinds of reform legislation are being floated in these states: elimination of same day registration, elimination of pre-registration, and the creation of mandatory...

If you watched the Oscars the other week as I did, you saw some of Hollywood's best talent on display. The night saw people who had long been due for their moment, from Colin Firth to Aaron Sorkin, actors, writers, directors and artists who have been working hard, honing their...

Recently I told you about TOMS Shoes and the innovative business model they've built, which includes a commitment from Blake Mycoskie, (the company's founder) to give away a pair of shoes to a needy person somewhere in the world for every pair you buy. I had...

It's not often that you get to witness our society changing before your eyes. Last week I had the extraordinary opportunity to do just that. The place I saw this change was, oddly enough, not in our country, but in Argentina. And odder still, it was on a trip with...

The millennial generation might just be the most talked about generation around. Everywhere I look there's another article, about millennials, written by a member of an older generation, pointing out our deficiencies, challenges, and problems. In fact it seems we millennials are one of the most popular targets for criticism,...

I spent my 4th of July weekend as a tourist in Wilmington, Ohio. While Wilmington may not be on a lot of New Yorkers lists of top tourist destinations, I had one of the most interesting and inspiring holiday weekends of my life. That's because I went there to spend...

Last week Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) was mad as hell about the national debt and he wasn't going to take it anymore. People across the political spectrum in elected office and everyday Americans have come to agree that our debt and deficits are out of control and something needs to...

In a little noticed story, late last month, Finland declared internet access to be a legal right for all its citizens, and come this July, the Finish government will be ensuring everyone in the country has at least a 1 megabit internet connection (and by 2015 the legal right will...

Last week I celebrated my 21st birthday. For all that has changed in our world over the past 100 years, turning 21 remains a significant milestone for young people and for the outside world. It's become a sort of running joke among many of my friends that we are now...

For years we've searched for a president who is "like us." We've wrestled with whether or not we'd like to have a beer with George W. Bush, we've talked about elitists and regular folks. But all of this has more or less been a façade. As much as we might...