Editorials

“Is It Wrong to Outsource Your Own Job?” | Techonomy | January 2013

Coder outsources own job to China. Proceeds to watch cat videos all day long. Wrong or awesome?

“The End of North Korea” | Huffington Post | September 2012

North Korea is not collapsing anytime soon. But that won’t stop analysts from predicting the end of the world’s most secretive regime. What’s really happening?

“Straight Trippin’” | Huffington Post | August 2012

A new breed of scientists is attempting to put Schedule I drugs into words (peer-reviewed ones, thankfully). This time, they might not be operating under a fantasy.

“Organized Gossip” | Huffington Post | May 2012

The defendant in the ongoing Rupert Murdoch saga is the status of tabloid journalism itself.

“North Korea: The Absurd Kingdom” | Huffington Post | December 2011

In the final days of Kim Jong Il’s reign, I stood in a freezing cave in North Korea. An argument for laughter.

Features

“Why Gangnam Style Marks a Triumph of South Korean Tech” | Techonomy | December 2012

When the sleek, sexy, preposterous world of PSY’s “Gangnam Style” surged to become the number one video on YouTube, it offered us a glimpse of the new South Korea.

“Why Revolution Can’t Come to North Korea” | Techonomy | November 2012

This is the golden age of grassroots regime change. Unless, of course, you woke up in North Korea.

“Floating North Korea” | The North Korea Bog | October 2012

The recent announcement that Russia and North Korea have agreed to write off nearly all of the hermit kingdom’s $11 billion in Soviet-era debt — more than half of North Korea’s foreign debt obligations – reminds us that the bonds between the Sino-Soviet Bloc and its enfant terrible have depreciated into economic surrealism. [Part I | Part II]

“When Great Cinema Becomes Propaganda” | Huffington Post | August 2012

This year, the biggest October Surprise might not have been a surprise at all – Zero Dark Thirty, an Oscar contender released by Sony Pictures.

“How to Crowdfund Your Dream” | Huffington Post | July 2012

Content creators around the world have turned to crowdfunding sites to fund their projects, with remarkable results.

“Respected dictator, prolific author and fashion icon dies at 69″ | The North Korea Blog | November 2011

An obituary for Kim Jong Il.

“Pyongyang” | The North Korea Blog | November 2011

My journey to the least-visited country on earth began with a 1980s Soviet jet that carried me from the bustling streets of Beijing to the empty squares of North Korea.

“The Arirang Festival Mass Games” | The North Korea Blog | November 2011

Imagine the sight of one-hundred thousand humans executing the world’s most impeccable live performance. This is the Arirang Festival, also known as the Mass Games — the greatest acrobatic spectacle on earth.

“How Propaganda Works” | The North Korea Blog | November 2011

There was a point in my trip to North Korea when the gravitas and decorum of the country devolved into madness and hilarity. That point was the Train Museum.

“Spies, Entrepreneurs and the Internet in North Korea” | The North Korea Blog | November 2011

On the surprising stability of the DPRK and its secret pockets of entrepreneurship and self-expression.

Reviews and Interviews

“The Comedy Detective: An Interview with Modern Family‘s Dan O’Shannon” | Huffington Post | September 2012

There’s something dreadfully un-funny about talking comedy with seriously funny people, but Dan O’Shannon is a different breed of comedian.

“Deconstructing a House of Lies” | Huffington Post | January 2012

After watching Showtime’s “House of Lies,” I wondered: Why not build a house of truths?

Reports and White Papers

“Emerging Opportunities in the Payments Industry” | Deloitte Publication | April 2010

Watch out for mobile.

“Managing Divestitures in an Economic Downturn” | Deloitte Publication | January 2009

Obsess about operations. Position for the upturn.

“Shareholder Activism and the Demands of Complicity” | UCLA Philosophy Department | June 2007

My first bout with economics vs. philosophy.

“Political Powerbrokers” | UCLA Center for American Politics and Public Policy | Presented June 2005

A novel masquerading as a thesis.