Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish A Multicultural Tradition

   I realized as I mixed together onion, fresh cranberries, sour cream, sugar and horseradish tonight that is is not the actual cranberry relish I love, but the tradition of Susan Stamberg slipping her recipe for Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish into on-air conversation, every year since 1972. I’ve heard her suggest it to foreign heads…

The Black Man in Tuxedo Does Not Work Here and Other Unconscious Biases

You’re at a black tie event.  You’re looking for the restroom.  Who do you ask? “Me,” joked our new friend who spontaneously joined us at our table at a recent black-tie-event, jovially laughing at the third time in the last 10 minutes he’d been asked for directions.  “It’s hard to be a black man in…

Consciously building unconscious bias

I was struck by author Malcolm Gladwell’s desicription of “Rapid Cognition” in the book blink, and how he used the example of the car salesman to show how ignoring sub-conscious ‘knee-jerk’ reactions to people can negatively impact the bottom line.  (e.g. assuming someone won’t be buying  a car strictly from their appearance/first impression.)  When we (social…

Kids Movies Still Carry Either/Or Message for Girls

Nancy Olson as Betsy Carlisle in 1961’s The Absent Minded Professor vs. Anna Faris as Sam Sparks in 2009’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs…We’ve come a long way, right?  Not really. One of the joys of having kids (or borrowing other people’s kids) is for the excuse to indulge nostalgic yearnings by re-watching favorite childhood…

“Beer Summit” Off Course. If Done Right, Could be Meaningful

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Henry Louis-Gate – Race Card www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance I’m nervous about the “Beer Summit” tonight.  It actually could be a great opportunity to have a meaningful conversation about how stereotypes and bias play out in the…