For the first time in a long time, I’ve got time. So I think I’ll spend an hour refining those three big goals I’ve been working through. The more refined they are, the easier it should be to figure out some actions that’ll work toward solving the problems created by those three big goals. I’ve...Read More

I know when most people think of retirement they assume they won’t be doing much. I wrote last week that I was so focused on achieving the goal of early retirement also known as FIRE (financial independence retire early) I rarely spent time visualizing what it might be like to not have to work anymore....Read More

I was reminded today about a principle in design that is easy to overlook, but is so critical to accomplishing long term goals. It’s particularly useful when the goal is arbitrary or currently unbounded. I have the goal of designing educational systems and structures which minimize the predictability of student success along racial and socio-economic...Read More

Alex and I have been doing a podcast about living in the inner-city of Milwaukee since this summer.  I don’t post much on it because I never want to force things on people.  I used to just think that some people care about some things and others just don’t and that was fine.  Now, I...Read More

Meg and Alex are back talking about a couple of quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and some of the parallels from the early 1960’s and life in a poor almost all black neighborhood today. While a lot has changed in the last almost 60 years, there are still steps needed to put things back...Read More

Meg and Alex continue their series around public perceptions of their neighborhood. On this episode, they respond to the idea that drug houses exist and the struggle around getting help removing them.    iTunes link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/53206/id1526303091 Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/show/7dJ9rlJW6v1NMG0CMe1SEZ  Read More

Meg and Alex are back starting a new series around how perceptions about the inner city rarely match reality. In this episode the duo takes in the idea that 53206 and inner cities in general are violent, crime ridden places.    iTunes link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/53206/id1526303091 Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/show/7dJ9rlJW6v1NMG0CMe1SEZ  Read More

Meg and Alex are back in the sitting room reflecting on the recent passing of Lucille Bridges. 60 years ago Lucille brought her daughter Ruby Bridges to school. While that is normal for us today, it was anything but that in Louisiana in 1960.    iTunes link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/53206/id1526303091 Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/show/7dJ9rlJW6v1NMG0CMe1SEZ  Read More

In this episode of the 53206 cast, Meg asks Alex what the most surprising thing about living in the inner city is.    iTunes link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/53206/id1526303091 Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/show/7dJ9rlJW6v1NMG0CMe1SEZ  Read More

When I was in high school I didn’t know a person who didn’t graduate high school.  I always thought kids who dropped out of high school chose to drop out.  The fact that Milwaukee Public Schools graduates 2/3 of Black students just seems very off.  In Wisconsin 94% of white students graduate high school and...Read More