Last Friday, fans of shock-jockery, giving offenceand early seasons of The Apprentice received a major blow to their existence: Katie Hopkins, the hard-right social media personality, waspermanently suspended from Twitter, the platform upon which she built her international notoriety. While celebrities typically fade into the ether when banned from social media, all was not lost in the case of Hopkins. The former MailOnline columnistappeared to swiftly pivot to a new app, Parler, which claimed to reject Twitters perceived culture of bans and would let hersaywhatever the hell she wanted.

Hopkins' fans downloaded Parler and began following and supporting hernew verified account. She posted that she was considering taking legal action against Twitter, and asked fans if theyd be willing to help fund this.Acolyteseagerly agreed and began donating to a link she posted on the site. But after $500 had been donated, it was revealed that the account was not run by Hopkins at all, but had accidentally been verified despite Parlers allegedly flawlessprocess. The CEO, John Matze, was forced to post a public apology.

The Hopkins fiasco has helped catapult this otherwise low-profile social media app to greater attentionin the UK, with right-wing commentators, Conservative MPs, and jaded Twitter users creating accounts in recentdays. However, in other parts of the world, Parlers existence has been heavily checkered and already holds particular connotations. And while its popularity may not be equivalent to that of Facebook or Twitter, its prominence is rapidly rising.

Parler launched in August 2018 and was billed as the oneunbiased social media platform. It followed in the wakeof Gab, another free speech project, which launched publicly the year before. Like Gab, Parler presented itself as a placewhere no one would be banned, have their content taken down, or even experience a brief suspension. It quickly became synonymous with Trump supporters and home to Twitter-banned icons of the alt-right.

Parler exploded in popularity in May 2019, when Politico reported that Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale was considering setting up an account for the president to pre-empt feared censorship on Twitter. The appalso made headlines a few weeks later when Saudis supporters of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman joined the app over Twitter free speech concerns (the influx wasso largeit temporarily made Parler inoperable).

Instead of retweets, usersgive echos;instead of likes there areupvotes (much like Reddit); and the reach of each post is made publicly available, with a live counter of how manyusers have seen a particular post. Its easy to find anti-Semitic, Islamophobic and pro-conspiracy theoryhashtags and, though community guidelines do exist, the repercussions of breaking them appearto be non-existent.

Endorsements for Parler from popular figures on the left or the centre are nowhere to be found. However, the app does boast the approval ofalt-right starssuch as Candace Owens, Milo Yiannopolousand Gavin McInnes. Parscale has since createdhis own account and met with Parlers chief executivein the White House last summer. And while Trump himself doesnt have an account, several of his children (his close advisers) do.

In the UK over the last week, Parler has become a major political talking point. Right-wing pundits, such as Tories like to party too Brexiteer Emily Hewertson and formerBreitbart UK editor Raheem Kassam, have advocated using the app in lieu of Twitter, and at least 13 MPs appear to have created accounts. Conservative activist Darren Grimes posted on Parler last night: Ive just heard from Parler there have been 200,000 UK sign ups over recent days, using the hashtag #Twexit, the apps reliable rallying cry, which becomespopular every time a new wave of people migratefrom Twitter to use it.

Hewertson tweeted about Parler on Monday afternoon, encouraging users not to use the app as an excuse to be racist. The concept is good, she subsequently posted, Its just a shame that every app has to attract extremists. Would love to see some more people from the other side of the argument on there. Needs balance.

Although Parlers mainstream popularity in the UK is only just beginning, any lingering hope of balance has already been thwarted. Despite its lunges at self-awareness through its branding and message, Parler exists as an echo chamber forhard-right views.

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What is Parler? Inside the pro-Trump unbiased platform - New Statesman

President Donald Trump's re-election campaign is banking heavily on its ability to turn out what it believes is his excited base to defeat presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. And at the same time, he seeks to depress turnout for Biden by defining him in ways that are unpalatable to the key voting blocs he needs to win.

But Trump keeps shooting himself in the foot and putting his campaign (and the White House) on the defensive. Take the most recent example: Trump's statement at his rally Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that he had told officials to slow down the testing of Americans for COVID-19. Days later, his campaign and the White House are still doing damage control.

Statements like these leave Trump and his allies unable to go on the offense against Biden. Trump has, for instance, sought repeatedly to question Biden's mental fitness including multiple times last week. However, not only is Biden's health not exactly a major topic of national conversation, but, when it has been, the conversation has also spawned questions about Trump's own faculties.

It all feels very much like the same playbook Trump and his campaign employed to secure their unexpected victory against Hillary Clinton in 2016, down to their repeated claims that there is an enthusiasm gap between the campaigns and that Biden has "zero energy."

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On the surface, Trump is not wrong; his base is far more excited about him than Democrats are about their candidate, just as in 2016. However, Trump and his advisers have seriously misread the electoral landscape in 2020 if they think the metric against which they should be measuring enthusiasm for Trump is enthusiasm for Biden.

Long before COVID-19 devastated Americans and the economy and the horrific public killing of George Floyd, the American electorate was tired and angry. It is tired of the incessant drama emanating from the current occupant of the Oval Office, and it is angry at how this presidency has played out because of that drama.

That is why new voter registration surged before the 2018 midterms and actual voter turnout 53.4 percent was the highest it had been for a midterm election in over 50 years, not because of overwhelming enthusiasm for individual Democrats.

Reliable Republican voters like suburban women and senior citizens have been increasingly drifting toward Democratic candidates in both polls and elections since Trump took office, not because Democrats have been winning them over, but because Trump and Republicans have been losing them. And a recent Fox News poll showing Biden with a 10-point lead over Trump among voters 65 and older only confirms the growing problem for him.

And these are not the voters he can count on staying home and not voting.

Trump and his team's plan to secure a second term by trying to drive down voter enthusiasm for Biden and depressing Democratic turnout is built on a shaky foundation one that rests on a stunning lack of self-awareness and examination. Certainly, Trump broke the mold of how presidents are elected and behave in office, and some Americans love that. But he and his team have failed to recognize how deeply other Americans do not like it, let alone acknowledge those who are fed up with the chaos and commotion.

Voters might not have much of an opinion about or even like Joe Biden, but they are openly expressing their desire to vote for him simply because he is not Donald Trump.

The president's campaign, which is being advised by Karl Rove, would undoubtedly note that, in 2004 and 2012, the challengers to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama did not benefit from anti-Bush or anti-Obama voters; with relatively low turnout, those voters stayed home in too great numbers, unconvinced of the necessity to turn out or of their own power.

But Trump is neither Bush nor Obama to the voters who have serious problems with him, and that line of thinking fails to account for what Biden represents to millions of voters: stability and tranquility after a years-long Trumpian tempest. He is, unlike John Kerry or Mitt Romney, a reminder of an era of relative calm.

That is why Trump's demeanor and governing style are self-sabotaging his re-election prospects. Look at Evangelical Christians: Trump's support among white Evangelicals has dropped by 15 points since March and now stands at 62 percent. The reasons seem to be his handling of COVID-19 and the fallout from the killing of George Floyd. While the polling reflects white Evangelical voters nationally, rather than in key states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Arizona, it is such a steep drop that alarm bells should be going off within the campaign.

But with each and every outlandish utterance or tweet, Trump fuels the exhaustion and anger voters are feeling toward him, rather than toward the system, and pushes away voters from key voting blocs that he desperately needs to win. Biden might not have as much enthusiasm from his base as Trump, but Trump certainly is enthusiastically pushing voters toward Biden.

While he and his campaign naively still hope that they will be able to direct the focus on Biden, both the media and voters are not about to ask, in the midst of a pandemic, a recession and a conversation on police reform, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

Original post:
Trump thinks he'll win because voting for Biden is boring. But voting against Trump is exciting. - NBCNews.com

By K. J. Moran

On Monday evening, June 22, 2020, the Board of Flying V Theatre Company terminated Cofounder and Artistic Director Jason Schlafstein following a weekend of sexual misconduct and harassment allegations published against him across social media. At the same time Associate Artistic Director Jon Rubin tendered his resignation.

Just three days earlier, the morning of Juneteenth 2020a day that should have been reserved to honor and celebrate the history and resilience of Black folks fighting against racism in the United Statesa thread appeared on Twitter accusing Jason Schlafstein of sexual misconduct. The anonymous first-person allegation claimed that Schlafstein had abducted her while incapacitated at a party and taken her to a second location without her consent. The thread also alleged he later invited this same woman to audition for the company and asked her out during the audition. Within two hours a screenshot excerpt of this thread was shared in public posts and private groups on Facebook, where the allegationswhich Schlafstein denieswere quickly echoed by others.

For years, working artists have relied on the whisper networks of DC theater to hear which theaters to avoid, which artists were abusive. But as the Facebook posts gained traction, dozens of actors and designers came forward, no longer whispering but screaming, demanding a statement from Schlafstein and Flying V. Multiple stories of Schlafsteins alleged verbal abuse and sexual harassment were shared, some dating as far back as his days the University of Maryland in the mid-aughts. Saturday afternoon Schlafstein responded on his Facebook page in a public statement, in which he apologized for the hurt he caused:

I take complete ownership of these mistakes, for which I have been and remain extremely sorry and ashamed. To be specific and clear, during that time I asked out women who were working for or were connected to Flying V or otherwise expressed my interest in them, and that was and is not acceptable. Im embarrassed that I had to make that mistake and to be appropriately called out to have seen the problematic nature of those interactions and that pattern of behavior. I am absolutely aware now how those actions, however unintentioned, fall into a predatory paradigm While I have never intentionally tried to make anyone feel uncomfortable at Flying V or acted with malice, this does not absolve me in any way of my errors. I do want to state emphatically that while I have been critically unaware of how my position has affected the view of my actions in a moment, I have genuinely never tried to actively use my power or position for sexual or romantic gain. I fully respect and understand my actions have been interpreted and received in that way, which is legitimate, but it is important for me to clarify that has never been my strategy or goal.

The post received extensive backlash and calls for his resignation, and within five hours Schlafstein deleted his account.

The Board of Directors released a statement Saturday night detailing the Boards decision to put Schlafstein on administrative leave:

The result of [the Boards 2017] investigation was a determination that Jason had inappropriately crossed professional and personal boundaries by expressing romantic interest in female members of the community in a way that could reasonably be understood as an abuse of power. After a series of meetings with Jason and other Flying V stakeholders, the Board decided that the issues identified did not warrant termination, but that any future recurrences of similar behavior could alter that decision. This determination was made in significant part due to a serious commitment by Jason to do the work necessary to understand his position of power within Flying V and to avoid actions that could cause any member of the Flying V community to feel that he was using his power for personal gain.

Community members continued to rally in the comments for Schlafsteins resignation or firing, particularly in light of the Boards admitted prior knowledge of Schlafsteins behavior. At a special meeting Monday night, the Board fired him.

Jason did not lose his job or his company because of one mistake or even a pattern of mistakes. The upheaval at Flying V is not solely because of Jasons personal failings or those of the Boardit is a direct result of white and male supremacys hold on nerd culture and American theater. Flying V failed its community this weekend and over the years because it was designed to fail since its inception.

Flying V has held a unique place in the DC theater scene for almost a decade. Since its founding in 2011, it has been the nerdy home of 90s nostalgia, video game tributes to Chekhov, comic book wrestling matches, and all types of theatre for people who dont think they like theatre. Its mission is to disrupt the structures in traditional American theater that have shown us the same tired interpretations of Shakespeare and Ibsen for centuries in favor of creating space for new and devised work. Its vague call for audiences to expect awesome, be awesome represented the quirky, geek theater Flying V became known forwhere high culture met pop culture and, inevitably, rape culture.

Sexism and white supremacy were woven into the DNA of Flying V by the very nature of whose stories were told, and who was chosen to tell those stories over the companys nine seasons. Whether intentional or not, Flying V created a space to share art by and for white men. It was not until the companys fourth season that they included women in director or playwright roles. While there have been a few Black directors and devisers, there has yet to be a full production at the company by a Black playwright. As the company grew, more people of color and women were employed as designers, actors, and even staff, but the people in power remained overwhelmingly male and white. As of January 2020, men comprised 71 percent of the staff, 58 percent of the company members, and 70 percent of the Board of Directors. No women of color are on staff, and no women were in the top three positions of the company until the recent hiring of their first female managing director.

At first glance, these may seem simply like hiring choices, but a choice in hiring or producing does not stand alone: it is indicative of the cultural mores and institutions that uphold those in power, even if they do not deserve to be. Jason is not Flying V, and Flying V is not Jason, but his legacy is deeply entwined with the gender and racial discrimination that was key to Flying Vs commercial and critical success. The thing about whiteness, and the thing about patriarchy, is that they are detrimental to everyone, including the oppressors. Flying V suffered in its first years when their first seasons were primarily written and directed by white men. Commercial success came only when they expanded the voices includedit is no accident that the first writing team to include a woman at Flying V created their highest commercial success to date (You, or Whatever I Can Get).

When I first started working at Flying V, I was struck by how male the community was. I always feel uncomfortable in predominantly male spaces, particularly theatrical ones, because I have survived sexual abuse at the hands of an actor. I asked a friend who had worked with the company before if it was a safe place for me to work. She assured me it wasshe, like me, had never heard anything bad about the men who worked there. The way she put it was, YES, Flying V has dude energy, but its nerd dude energy. Theyre safer than most men. And, like many of us, I assumed she was right.

Yes, I was surrounded by men. But these men were not as harmful as other men. These were men who, like me, enjoyed nerdy pursuits and believed in fighting for a common good. These were not the hypermasculine men to be afraid of. I had come to trust them. I had come to trust Jason, even asking him to be a reference for future theater jobs. I had come to trust Jon as an intimacy director and mentor, already hoping to hire him for future projects. Slowly, I began to feel that yes, this was a male space, but might there be a place for me?

I joined the flock at Flying V during their 2019 seasonfirst as front-of-house manager for Were Gonna Die, then as a writer on the devising team for Crystal Creek Motel in the fall. These experiences were made great largely by the women and people of color on the teams for these shows: Farrell Parker made me laugh and cry nightly in her performance of Young Jean Lees heartbreaking concert-play; Wendy Wrobleski and Zia Hassan slayed as the opening acts for Parker; Kelly Colburns pieces in Crystal Creek Motel were some of the most well-directed and achingly beautiful vignettes I have seen on a Flying V stage; Navid Azeez has taught me more about vulnerability, revision, and leadership than most of my college professors. They were the ones who created home for me and many others at Flying V. Why did it matter which white men were in power if my daily experiences with the organization were overwhelmingly dominated by creating art with women and people of color?

It turns outit matters a lot.

Before my time with Flying V, I was sexually assaulted by another student actor in the department of Theater and Performance Studies at Georgetown University. This man was classically handsome, popular, a former athlete and current frat brofor all intents and purposes, he was an alpha male, and I should have known better, because I had been told by other women to know better. This was not the sensitive creative or intellectual director who had been determined sexually safer by my peers. This was the rich, popular, white boy who went into acting for power and prestige. He was not a Jason.

But I met plenty of Jasons throughout college: soft white boys determined to become playwrights better than LaBute or Mamet, sad white boys who wrote poetry and lamented why women wouldnt date them, wannabe white director boys who analyzed theater and video games and wrestling with the same fervor as Jason, as many of the men in Flying V. These boys were largely perceived to be safer than the men like my abuser, since nerdy interests have historically put these men on the outskirts of society and perhaps made space for them to more readily empathize with other marginalized groups. This was also perceived to be true at Flying VI witnessed firsthand the passion of Jon Rubin, who has dedicated so much of his professional life to intimacy direction and education; Lee Liebeskind, former associate artistic director, who intentionally sought the voices of women and people of color in his curation of Crystal Creek Motel; even Jason, who from the first time I met him emphasized how much he wanted Flying V to be a space for artists of all experiences.

These men were aware of Flying Vs white man problem. They knew their theater was largely made by and for white men, and in the last few years, they had tried to address that head on. Even in this self-awareness, they failed us and so many who uplifted and supported their work. To me, this makes Jasons actions and the complicity of Lee and Jon so much more of a betrayal. They had played the role of the self-aware white man, and they had played it well: I had trusted these men and their word. I had come to the conclusion that Flying V might be growing into a place where all nerds could convene and create theater together, even if it was headed at the time by three white men. I falsely reasoned that men of the nerdy experience might benefit a little less from the power structures that have historically held up other white men, and take substantive action to include nerds and theatermakers of all experiences in their art. But power is a tricky thinga white man still benefits from patriarchy more than I ever can, and the isolation and ostracization of nerds is nothing compared with the structural misogyny and systemic racism entrenched in our society and our theaters. Even though Jason knew of his abuse of power, there is something inherent in the patriarchal structures that allows men to believe they deserve to continue holding power, if only they apologize, if only they are aware of their problems.

I remember being in a playwriting class once where I was the only woman, surrounded by men like Jason and Jon and Lee. Self-aware boys who were educated on their privilege, who knew they were blessed just by nature of their birth. They wrote about aliens taking over the earth, and fantastical versions of Jesus Christ, and dolphins in the Potomac River. I wrote about being raped.

It is a privilege to write from your imagination instead of your nightmare. And Flying V, for a long time, has preserved a space for white men to explore their imaginations while setting into motion nightmares for women, nonbinary folks, and people of color in their own community.

But it is not their community anymore. There have been calls for the dissolution of Flying V in the wake of these allegations, but I believe now is the time for the company to be entrusted into the hands of those in the company who made Flying V a successful and beautiful theater. It is a place where folks like Navid, Wendy, Zia, Kelly, and Farrell should be in chargewhere Black voices are prioritized, where women and other marginalized gender experiences are put front and center, where those in power put in the work to amplify everyone.

Flying V is not the first company where white men abused their power in our community, and it will not be the last. But, it has also been a place in my experience that has started to do the work of uncovering the structures that allowed to keep Jason in place. If we listen to women, if we listen to Black folks, if we listen to people of color, it can be the place where we make an example of how to rebuild a company out of fire. It can be the place where the phoenix rises from the ashes of change and begins to fly in formation again.

K. J. Moran is a DC-based playwright, performer, and writer. A graduate of Georgetown University, she now works as a teaching artist and writer across the District. Her work has been performed at Georgetown University, the Kennedy Center, Flying V, and Theater Alliance.

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Why a whisper network turned into a tornado at Flying V - DC Metro Theater Arts

Corporate America is complicit with this culture of racism.

Benish Shah, the New York-based chief growth officer for business gifting company Loop & Tie, minced no words in sharing her insights on race, protests and the workplace with Palette Group founder and Creative Director Nate Nichols during Thursdays Allyship and Action Summit, a virtual conference of panels, fireside chats and breakout rooms designed to find solutions for diversity and inclusion in advertising.

A former Philadelphian, Nichols and his colleagues came up with the idea for the summit and its accompanying pledge for action on June 2, a day known to many social media users as Blackout Tuesday. With discussions on race and equity, the summit was designed to educate professionals of all backgrounds on antiracism practices.

In addition to raising awareness for allyship and action in the advertising industry, companies are being invited to sign a pledge for a more racially equitable industry, and their progress will be tracked via the Allyship and Action website.

Were developing a technology platform that companies will use to post their latest evergreen or tentpole campaign projects, Nichols told Technical.ly via email. Theyll upload their staffing plans, well connect with the individuals that were on the project for them to self-identify and report that data back up to the companies page. Well have a minimum number of projects that must be equitably staffed for organizations to remain certified. The goal is to have brands and agencies be transparent and hold each other accountable.

Shah participated in one of the summits fireside chats with Nichols Thursday afternoon on how companies can support employees from diverse backgrounds in this moment. Technical.ly tuned in for their conversation and caught these three key takeaways:

Shah believes that white people should not be resistant to correcting themselves when saying improper things about race.

Its more about saying, I clearly said something wrong, Im sorry, how can I do better?' said Shah, who recently published some guidelines for discussing trauma at work. If you become defensive, you lose them. Dont make the trauma about yourself. Its about genuinely showing care and concern towards the person thats affected.

That self-awareness should apply to people of other races, too.

I am a person of color but not Black, she said. This moment of history is about Black people. As a brown person, its something we tell our brown friends all of the time: We have to step up our own empathy and own decentralizing.

Shah emphasized the need for offices to be spaces free of microaggressions and inappropriate comments.

If you are a person talking about microaggressions, you dont have a safe space. If the microaggressions are, Can I touch your hair? or Im almost as dark as you! or You got this job? all it does is make it easy for people to be racist without calling them racist, she said.

Intentions to create safe spaces without action arent enough: If you arent stopping these conversations its not the right answer.

For Shah, white leaderships buy-in to changing problematic office culture is a key component of shifting negative paradigm.

Dont rely on Black team members to all your questions, she said, emphasizing the accessibility of Google as an information resource. Create immediate change. The urgency of the moment is at the place where people are fearing for their lives on a constant basis.

Shah noted that actions like acknowledgement of racial strife are more important than words.

You also have to practice acknowledgement, she said. A statement from the company is cool, but are you actually talking about it with your team?

For further reading about how to talk about race at work, check out the latest episode of The TWIJ Show.

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3 things company leaders should understand about race, protests and the workplace - Technical.ly

Jun. 24, 2020 / PRZen / ATLANTA -- The Power of Girls, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization with a mission to serve and inspire young girls has partnered with Eleven Twenty-Two Candle Company for a fundraiser to help reach their June fundraising goal of one-thousand dollars. This initiative will support The Power of Girls mission to continue to empower young girls to develop into confident, well-rounded global leaders through mentorship, team building, and cultural experiences. Eleven Twenty-Two Candle Company has pledged fifty percent of proceeds from every candle purchased right back to The Power of Girls. Eleven Twenty-Two Candle Company believes it is important to connect with organizations that are making a direct impact in their cities.

"We are so grateful to Eleven Twenty-Two Candle Company for wanting to partner with us with our June fundraiser for our organization! As we are in unique times, this will be a great way for the organization to raise money for our new cohort and invest in other activities for the girls during their time with The Power of Girls," says Tameka Kee, Founder of The Power of Girls.

Each year, the young women who are selected as The Power of Girls program participants engage in a year-long "Power House" curriculum focused on developing confidence, leadership skills, and self-awareness. The programming concludes with an international trip where the cohort participants can stretch their horizons, continue to build their confidence, and gain exposure to global cultures on their journey to become young leaders. Following the trip, The Power of Girls participants become part of the active alumnae group where they serve as program ambassadors, sharing the pivotal moments from their experience with future cohorts. Why international travel? Travel is a way to view the world through a broader lens, understanding different cultures, and widening perspectives. For young girls especially, travel is both eye-opening and empowering. It allows for the opportunity to stretch comfort zones, build confidence in new skills, spark curiosity, and explore ideas about the world around them. For The Power of Girls, travel is truly a transformative experience.

For more information about The Power of Girls, to donate, and for this month's fundraising initiative, visit http://www.thepowerofgirls.org and on social media @thepowerofgirls. For more information on Eleven Twenty-Two Candle Company or to purchase a candle, visit http://www.shop1122candles.com/power-of-girls-fundraiser. Media inquiries, please email Candice Nicole at candice@candicenicolepr.com.

About The Power of Girls

The Power of Girls is a nonprofit organization based in Atlanta. With the mission of serving, inspiring, and empowering young girls to develop into confident, well-rounded global leaders through mentorship, team building, and cultural experiences. Each year, The Power is Girls selects a class of The Power of Girls to participate in a year-long "Power House" curriculum focused on developing confidence, leadership skills, and self-awareness. The programming culminates with an international trip. Upon completion of the program, Power of Girls participants become part of our active alumni group. For donations visit, http://www.thepowerofgirls.org.

About Eleven Twenty-Two Candle Co.

Eleven Twenty-Two Candle Co. better known as the best handmade soy candles ever poured. Candle lovers Kyara and Melissa met at the illustrious Johnson C. Smith University in 2009 and during their college tenor, they both discovered the commonality of the angel numbers "1122". 11:22 is a reminder that you are on the right path to turning your dreams to reality.

Follow the full story here: https://przen.com/pr/33348994

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The Power of Girls Partners with Eleven Twenty-Two Candle Company for Fundraising Initiative During The Month of June - Press Release - Digital...

Jon Stewart left The Daily Show in 2015 after hosting it for 16 years

Releasing a new movie at a time the world is facing enormous challenges is "like showing up to a plane crash with a chocolate bar", as Jon Stewart put it recently.

"It feels ridiculous," the former host of The Daily Show told The New York Times. "There's tragedy everywhere, and you're like, 'Uh, does anybody want chocolate?'"

The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with worldwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody, have left few people in the mood for frivolity.

But despite his characteristic self-awareness, the release of Stewart's new feature film will be warmly welcomed by those who miss his presence in the US TV landscape.

Stewart, now 57, hosted satirical news programme The Daily Show for 16 years. He was a highly influential figure, attracting a dedicated audience who tuned in every night to hear his shrewd take on the day's stories.

By the time he left in 2015 (to be succeeded by Trevor Noah), he said he was tired and ready for a new challenge. Which is precisely why he embarked on writing and directing Irresistible - a comedy about political campaign financing, as told through a small-town mayoral race in rural Wisconsin.

The film, which stars Steve Carell and Rose Byrne, was due to hit cinemas this summer, but is now being released online instead. It may not have been the planned platform, but that's something Stewart isn't too concerned about.

"Obviously having a movie that you made come out online instead of in theatres is maybe the greatest tragedy that is occurring in our world right now," he tells BBC News, tongue firmly in cheek.

"I mean, I know people are struggling with the pandemic, and hundreds of years of racial injustice, but when are people going to really think about how I feel?"

Irresistible sees retired marine colonel Jack Hastings (played by Chris Cooper) go viral after making a passionate speech at a town hall meeting in the fictional city of Deerlaken, Wisconsin.

The online video is brought to the attention of political strategist Gary Zimmer (Carell), who travels out there to convince Hastings to run as the Democrats' candidate for Mayor.

Story continues

Zimmer sets about moulding Hastings into the perfect candidate, but as his campaign gathers steam, they face competition from Faith Brewster (Byrne), who has been deployed to run the Republican campaign.

One issue the film highlights is how much money can be spent (or arguably wasted) on political campaigns. Without revealing any spoilers, the movie's unexpected ending is something Stewart hopes will challenge the traditional political structures we all take for granted.

"I've spent a lot of years detailing the daily foibles, and that's kind of a narrow view and it's myopic," Stewart says. "So this was a way of stepping back and really trying to look at [politics] as a system. Sort of like the difference between being a weather man and a climatologist.

"So I spent a lot of years as a weather man, and I decided to step back and go 'why is it always raining here? What's going on?!' and to look at it from that perspective.

"And the key to it is to hopefully have the audience kind of believing that they're watching this other movie that's buying into all the tropes that we're given. So that when you finally reveal [the ending], you can have that moment of 'oh right, why do we accept this system as it is currently designed?'"

Reviews of the film came out earlier this week, and some critics think Stewart succeeds in his mission.

"Taken on its own terms, this buoyantly funny comedy offers lip-smacking entertainment that will surprise many with its skewering of both sides," said David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter.

But not everyone was won over. "The supposed satirical attitude of Irresistible can't conceal the fact that it's contrived, unfunny and redundant," wrote Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian.

The Telegraph's Tim Robey said: "American politics do such a sterling job of currently satirising themselves, it's hard to know where an electoral comedy like Jon Stewart's Irresistible gets off in the hunt for added purchase. Watching it proves the point: the film tries to scale a gargantuan mountain of a subject, and just keeps slipping repeatedly down the sides."

The point about real-life politics going beyond satire has been made so often in recent years it's become a clich. Countless writers and comedians have complained it's difficult to make fun of a situation which they already consider to be a parody.

But Stewart thinks there will always be a place for it in society.

"[Charlie] Chaplin made The Great Dictator during World War Two," he points out. "I think there will always be room and a need for that type of commentary.

"But I also believe that it's the least efficacious agent of change. So while I think it will always be there, I also think it's what you're seeing now - direct action in the streets brings about change," he says - a reference to the recent Black Lives Matter protests.

"Comedy bits are fun to pass around the internet, and this movie belongs to that oeuvre."

Shooting a film is a lot of hard work, to put it mildly. Cast and crew work long hours intensively for weeks or months on end, before the laborious post-production process begins.

But asked which is more gruelling, writing and directing a film or hosting a daily talk show, Stewart says: "Hosting a show, no question. No question. You're talking about 16 years.

"Now, if I had to work on this movie every day for 16 years then I'd probably say that's gruelling too, but the one thing you get when you're doing a daily talk show is it's not just all foreplay. The film has a different feel, you're working and working, but you don't get that thing you get on a television show, which is the performance and the audience right there for you.

"And the reward of working every day, was the dessert of getting to perform it in front of an audience. In a film you don't get that, but you get the quieter pleasure of being able to spend more time crafting something with a little more nuance than you might when you're just trying to get that 6pm deadline."

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced cinemas would be able to re-open from 4 July, as part of the ongoing easing of lockdown restrictions.

But Irresistible is continuing with its planned online release this weekend.

"I'm excited for people to get a chance to see it, hopefully it'll be a nice distraction," Stewart says. "You always design a movie for that social response, you love to see it with a group of people, but I'm also hoping that it's pleasant to watch in the comfort of your own home."

Irresistible is available to rent on VOD platforms on Friday.

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Jon Stewart: 'There will always be room for political satire' - Yahoo! Voices

Every Seven Minutes by Ken Preuss

Once again, Encompass Productions brings us a selection of short one-act plays. The evening started with Every Seven Minutes by Ken Preuss Performed by Ryan Brannon and Cate Olivia Directed by Jonathan Woodhouse

Two godlike type people in the every seven minutes room whose job is to ensure that things that happen every seven minutes occur. For example, apparently, every seven minutes a double rainbow appears, and these two make it happen. The chap (Ryan Brannon) takes it all in his stride and doesnt care what the consequences are of his actions. So, every seven minutes he makes a person drown, but doesnt have any interest in who that person is or what their circumstances are. To him, its just a job, whereas the girl, who is new in the role, seems to have trouble disassociating her actions from emotions. She rebels against the system that affects the lives of random people every seven minutes, leading to an unexpected end of the play.

A very nicely written show that really addresses the idea of only obeying orders. The male character is, I guess completely amoral. He is doing a job, he gets paid and if there are consequences which there are then so be it, he doesnt want to know. The introduction of the co-worker with a conscience really affects him, and both actors bounce off each other nicely as she tries to make him think about the consequences of his job.

Spread by Robbie Knox Performed by Gabrielle Macpherson and Robert Gallagher Directed by Rachael Owens & Liam Fleming

A brother and sister are trying to write an obituary for Moira, As they work, they reminisce about their mothers funeral and this leads to a discussion about the definition of being an orphan. As they go, they try to think of what Moria meant to them and how she should be remembered. This raises the point of how people leave their mark on the planet and those around them not just during their lives but for generations to come.

Again, a well-written show with some interesting ideas. How do you define an orphan, and do we all become one eventually as our parents die before us. Then there was the wonderful definition of the church being like Instagram for old people. Robert and Gabrielle really come across well and have that wonderful relationship that is often the hallmark of siblings. As I get older, I think about what happens to me when I depart and I have to say that if my life can be summed up in something as simple and effective as Moiras is, then I will have had a life well-lived.

Spud by Robert Wallis Performed by Liz McMullen and Richard Coffey Directed by Rachael Owens

A surreal story of two potatoes that come alive in an oven. Considering the two have only just gained consciousness and self-awareness but seem to have a lot of inbuilt knowledge of the world, not to mention Shakespearean quotes.

This is a short play and the well written script reminds me, in some ways, of the whale and the bowl of petunias, in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The sudden impact of self consciousness on the two potatoes is painful, as we, the audience, know that no matter how much they may complain and shout, they cannot escape their fate. The writing and performances were both good and actually made me feel a bit guilty that I had eaten a baked potato for lunch.

Like A House On Fire by Keith Gow Performed by Rachel Nott Directed by Liam Fleming

A play that starts with the words I set fire to a brothel once really sets its stall out early. As Penny talks to us, she stops every so often to light and admire a match. We learn that she has set fire to many things, and used to take pride that she only ever set fire to one of anything. One tree, one car, one TV, etc. As she explains things, she challenges the audience to judge her and it is easy to do so. However, this production shows, you should never rush to make snap judgements, and people are way more complex than we give them credit for. She has real pride in her work and really comes alive as she describes what a fire meant to her both emotionally and physically.

What a powerful play to end on. Rachel was totally mesmerising as Penny and its interesting, the night after the new Alan Bennett Talking Heads season starts, this play could, to me, easily have fitted into that series. Amazing performance and writing combined.

Full credit to Liam Fleming for not only successfully hosting the event but also turning his very talented hands to directing, and signing off the evening in one of the best ways possible.

Even in lockdown, it is brilliant to see that Encompass have managed to bring together a talented group of writers, directors and actors to put on such a good show. Like everyone else, I yearn for the day, in the hopefully not too distant future, when we can all get back to theatres and sit in an audience watching actors move about a stage in full view. But, until then, Encompass have proved that you can sit at home watching a screen and be as excited about the future of theatre once more.

Review by Terry Eastham

Encompass Productions presents BARE E-SSENTIALS, the acclaimed online edition of Londons best-reviewed new writing night, returning due to popular demand! Featuring short plays from established and emerging playwrights across a variety of genres, get ready for an incredible hour of bare-bones theatre as each piece is performed live and beamed straight into your homes and devices. The plays submitted from around the world include:

Every Seven Minutes by Ken Preuss Spread by Robbie Knox Spud by Robert Wallis Like A House On Fire by Keith Gow

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Bare E-ssentials Livestream - Review - London Theatre 1

For anyone trying to make sense of the new order in American politics, heres a dramatic concept to process: powerful white business leaders and politicians genuflecting, in essence, before Colin Kaepernick. Taking the knee has surpassed knee on neck in a manner that is imperious, glacial, Gandhian. The roar of peaceful uprising has been cathartic. Its impact is global.

COVID-19 is teaching us to empathize better with one another; but the speed of hegemonic reversal has caught the chatterati unawares. Nike, having landed on the right side of history as far as Kaepernick is concerned, is looking like a reality show participant who has been declared safe for a week.

Other brands and their partner agencies, implicated to different extents in historically regressive practices, are scanning the horizon anxiously and hoping the situation doesnt escalate, go full-on French Revolution. They are making all the right noises by talking up anti-racism, rushing to declare Juneteenth a holiday and advertising their wokeness through Blackout Tuesday. Their social media accounts are protesting many thingsbut especially their innocence. Nice try, but they had better watch out: cancel culture is the equivalent of the old royals getting their heads lopped off.

Time for cultural strategy to take charge

Its one thing for brands and agencies to have left bare minimum interventions until the last possible second and quite another to be subsequently grandstanding. To offer a football analogy: imagine Brazil falling 7-0 behind against Germany and then anticipating applause and crowd support for pulling one back. Now more than ever before, brands must understand cultural flows; or they will meet their end quicker than Tony Soprano.

Any consumer who connects consumption with virtue wants brands to address three kinds of values: 1) universal measures of decency that empower humanity 2) causes that fit the ecosystem in which the brand operates 3) principles that matter to consumers and their families.

From Ben & Jerry's message on its website

Brands must also grasp that there are three windows of engagement: a) before the world catches on, by doing what Ben & Jerrys or Patagonia does, supporting tectonic cultural shifts quietly of their own initiative; b) spotting a trend early, like Nike did, and getting behind it; and c) succumbing, like the NFL, to panic and the need to catch up with a moment that is threatening to get away entirely.

These two factorsthe values matrix and the phase of applicationmust work together as a gear system to create moments of opportunity, with some responses eliminated and others elevated.

Cultural strategists must reimagine the disruptive capacity of residual, dominant and emergent codes but beyond that, also consider the issue of ethics and sustainability. Semiotics is often applied as a predictive tool to anticipate the next iteration or the next step for a trend. But its most advantageous use lies in understanding what sets of values are culturally sustainable and not a flash in the pan.

How do we extend the gains we have made? What fresh cultural or subcultural phenomenon might a brand bring to long-term prominence after Black Lives Matter in a way that doesnt feel like a marketing stunt?

Purpose is not the fix we need

Cultural strategy is steadily growing indispensable, but as an art it is still finding its range. Meanwhile the advertising, public relations and market research industries function like a Gramscian enforcer of the status quo, in the guise of an old boys' club (with a dinosaur serving as mascot). The back-slapping has long reverberated in echo chambers, which is why at times there is such a bizarre disconnect between output and reception. Times have changed; problem is, not everyones got the memo. Perhaps inertia rather than malice is to blame. The effect at any rate remains the same: too few see that obsolete solutions must urgently make way for new ones.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions; one of those being the fashionable ideology of purpose, which is designed to maximize efficiency by encouraging adherents to draw inspiration from core truths. Knowing what drives a brand brings clarity to all stakeholders. On the other hand, this serves a crafty agenda: to create a cult of believers willing to evangelize on behalf of a company's dogma. Purpose transforms brand comms into a siren call. Some companies are fueled by idealism, but many deploy purpose cynically. Rank and file workers are left to bear the brunt of capitalisms excesses.

Unconscionably, purpose keeps minorities in check. Minority talent already feels like it must outperform everyone to prove that it belongs. Now it must take things up a notch and perform a hysterical enthusiasm. Little surprise minorities feel reluctant to bring their whole selves to work: who wants to feel like an outsider? They lean in at the cost of their moorings.

Purpose is a wonderful starting point, and merits a place in business discourse. But it is a dangerous means to an end, and a poor substitute for self-awareness. Its moment is passing.

Lessons in authenticity from Marvin Gaye

For brands to find their moral authority, their most trenchant principles, their deepest voice, they must learn what it means to act grown-up. A company that embodies maturity takes on a whole form that is irreducible even in the face of gimmicks like purpose.

Its worth recalling how the Marvin Gaye album, Whats Going On, strikes the perfect balance between commerce and truth-telling. It was considered so unusual at the time for a Motown singeror any singerto be tackling themes like the Vietnam War, urban poverty and environmental pollution that impresario Berry Gordy insisted the eponymous track be scrapped. Gaye was adamant, and a masterpiece that resonates to this day was born.

Nobody dreams of connecting that kind of authenticity to marketing. When brands prioritize an equilibrium between ambition and goodwill, the profit margin practically takes care of itself. We stand at a fork in the road. The time for epiphanies is now. If brands are to really matter, they must stop trying so hard to sound human, and instead signal an understanding of what it means to be humane.

Vijay Parthasarathy is a New York-based semiotician and columnist who is managing partner at Stardust Insights, a global cultural consultancy.

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Talkin' bout a revolution | Advertising - Campaign Asia

If theres one thing women who have sex with older men love more than having sex with older men, its tweeting about it.

I know this because I am one of them.

When I first began having sex with men old enough to be my father like, old enough to have intentionally fathered me, not just old enough to have been a teen baby daddy I was a senior in college. The man I was seeing at the time had a daughter a few years younger than me, and I remember looking at all the 18-year-olds in my advisors freshman seminar and thinking, I could literally be fucking any of your dads right now. No sooner had this thought crossed my mind than I felt compelled to tweet it. It made me feel powerful, smart and a little smug, not just because I had a dirty secret, but because it felt like I was somehow cheating a system.

Im not alone in this. While women dating significantly older men is obviously nothing new, in recent years, dating older men seems to have become a distinct online brand thats part self-satire, part earnest feminist revision of a long-running patriarchal dynamic in which much older men have historically held the power over the younger women they date.

This ironic I date older men internet persona can be read as a product of a broader societal moment Ive taken to calling Daddy culture. Last year, I described this culture as a pouty-lipped Lolita fantasy rebranded for the 21st century driven by a pervasive Lana del Rey-esque energy. Daddy culture took many forms: It was the appropriation of the word Daddy or at least this usage of it from the kink community by vanilla bedrooms near you. It was the early-2010s boom in sugar dating after Seeking Arrangement and other dating-with-benefits apps went mainstream. It was Lana, yes, and it was, as Ive suggested, at the heart of Dating Older Men Twitter.

But in the aftermath of the Chris DElia sexual misconduct scandal last week, which saw the comedian accused of harassing and grooming multiple women when they were underage, the tone surrounding relationships between young women and older men has shifted dramatically. DElia is just the latest in a string of high-profile sexual misconduct cases involving older men and underage girls (see also: R. Kelly, Jeffrey Epstein), and as more survivors come forward, its becoming harder to ignore that this kind of predatory fetishization of young girls isnt just a series of individual tragedies, but an epidemic. While Dating Older Men Twitter has always involved women who, while considerably younger than the men they date, are of legal age, conversations have increasingly begun to consider whether this culture, however ironic or tongue-in-cheek, might be a symptom of something more insidious.

The hallmark of Dating Older Men Twitter, which tends to find its most notable figures in twenty-something female comedians like Dana Donnelly and Anya Volz, is a dry, sometimes self-deprecating humor. Guys really like it when u constantly bring up that you were 12 when they were in grad school, tweeted Cosmopolitan editor Carina Hsieh in 2018, while earlier this year Donnelly tweeted that her exes should be more concerned about her well-being amid the pandemic because at age 24 i am the oldest girlfriend many of them have ever had.

These are women who know they are performing a schtick. They are aware, as the internet is often fond of reminding anyone whos taken to aligning themselves with a particular interest, that dating older men is not, in fact, a personality. The humor in this particular brand of internet identity comes from its self-awareness. It is a willful self-caricature.

And if these women arent above satirizing themselves, they certainly arent afraid of poking fun at the older men involved in these dynamics. As a recent tweet from Philadelphia-based stripper who goes by the name Marla on Twitter reads, Girls in their 20s love dating stupid older men please dont try to take that away from us.

Indeed, these women are often criticized or at least the relationships theyre in are. Look no further than the backlash surrounding every relationship Leonardo DiCaprio has been in for the past decade or so. In general, this criticism holds that the men involved, even when the women they pursue are technically of legal age, are exploiting a sexist, ageist and ultimately predatory culture that values very young women solely because they are very young. The women involved, if not victims, are then also complicit in fueling this toxic dynamic.

But the women of Dating Older Men Twitter are not doe-eyed Lana del Rey types helplessly romanticizing a regressive culture of patriarchal romance. These women openly mock the men they date for the very preferences which attracted those men in the first place. This ironic approach ridicules men for their role in perpetuating a sexist culture in which very young women are disproportionately valued over their arguably more age-appropriate counterparts, and in doing so redistributes the presumptive power dynamics. Its a modern revision of one of many age-old patriarchal dynamics in which men leverage power over women. Except this time, women are the ones doing the leveraging.

Not only does this ironic subversion of the traditional hetero May-December dynamic find men mocked for dating young women by the very young women they date it also finds them mocked for apparently not even being aware of it. Dating older professional men who arent interested in social media so you can continue your 9-5 of shit talking men in peace while being wined & dined after hours>, reads a viral tweet from 2018, by a user who goes by Michelle Amoree.

Older men dating younger women isnt anything new, of course. But with social media, the young women in these relationships finally have a platform generations of young women before them didnt, and one from which, to a certain extent, older generations are excluded.

But however subversive or tongue-in-cheek this schtick may be, many of its most prominent voices have recently spoken out about the larger culture of predatory fetishization that such dynamics foster, even when both parties are technically of legal age.

While I still contend that there is a spirit of feminist revision underlying much of the great 2010sDaddy renaissance, 2020 is not 2019. Lana del Rey and her regressive romanticizing have been quasi-canceled, and as mass unrest continues amid Americas great racial reckoning, society is increasingly reconsidering other patriarchal power structures and institutions as well, including the one that routinely puts older men in bed with much younger women.

We can laugh all day about the hack jokes made on here by women about older men being shitty, but IT IS HACK FOR A FUCKING REASON, tweeted comedian and writer Anya Volz, who just a few months ago questioned the pervasive criticism often hurled at men dating younger women, arguing that such criticism, while well-intentioned, has a tendency to strip the women involved of their agency.

In a recent Twitter thread, however, Volz points to the predatory fetishization of young girls as the result of a cancer in our society that does not begin or end with underage victims. Its insidious as fuck and seeps into our culture from all angles. Its in movies with all leading men being 50 and their girlfriends being 22. Its in porn with the #1 search result being teen or young, she wrote. Its in every single beauty standard that women are held to: bouncy, clear skin; perky tits; no gray hair; thin in a way that is normally only found naturally in..prepubescent children!!!

While I have previously argued that relationships between young women and much older men are not inherently predatory (and that common criticism painting them as such tends to unnecessarily victimize adult women who are more than capable of pursuing older men as willfully and actively as older men pursue them), it seems that I, and other women like me, have recently begun to reconsider the role we play in perpetuating a culture that preys upon underage girls.

Donnelly, a prominent voice of Dating Older Men Twitter who had initially agreed to speak with me for an article about the internet schtick, ultimately pulled her commentary after the DElia allegations broke, explaining that she, like many women, felt extremely triggered.

Stop sexualizing barely legal start sexualizing definitely legal beyond a shadow of a doubt, reads one of her recent tweets.

Perhaps what I have long read, in myself and in women like me, as the willful, empowered, self-aware pursuit of older men has always been little more than a defense mechanism. If, as many, many women have recently attested, all women encounter this kind of predatory fetishization of their youth in some form or other, then this kind of self-fetishization veiled in satire functions as an attempt to reclaim that narrative. You cant hunt us if we willfully hand ourselves over. You cant hunt us if we convince you and ourselves that were the ones hunting you.

In taking a pronounced interest in much older men, however sardonically, I recognize that I am complicit not only in fostering a culture that puts young women and underage girls in danger, but also in perpetuating a system that will one day be my own undoing.In a dynamic where youth is the currency of power, you are only on one side until you are on the other. As 20-something women having sex with 40-something men, we know that in 20 years, those 60-somethings will probably still be having sex with women half their age or younger, and we wont be.

What will we be doing? We have no way of knowing, because society doesnt seem particularly interested in letting us or anyone know what women over 40 are up to, unless it happens to involve being a celebrity who looks good for her age, in a bathing suit, in which case they might throw her a People magazine spread or a Page Six headline that refers specifically to her age.

This too, as Volz noted in her thread, is a symptom of the sexist and ageist culture that makes underage women the prey of older men. This insidious culture, she writes, is embedded in the way that women are not valued in a mainstream way after showing any sign of aging whatsoever. Not even just sexually, which is fucked up in itself, but in ANY WAY, she wrote. I remember my mom telling me she felt herself becoming invisible when she started getting gray hair.

As a 21-year-old college student looking at my fellow students and realizing I could be fucking any of their dads, I felt like I was cheating a system because I was for a little while, anyway. I felt like I had figured out something most other women my age hadnt: that youth was our most valuable asset and if we didnt exploit it or let others exploit it while we had the chance, wed be sorry.

The problem is well be sorry either way. As women born into a sexist, ageist society, we are playing a losing game from day one. Even if we play it perfectly, even if we think were winning at 21, age will catch up with us. We will watch our returns diminish year by year.

A dude replied to my thread about our cultures obsession with young girls & womens bodies that I was just complaining about being old, Volz tweeted shortly after completing her thread. Im 24. I rest my fucking case.

I realize that in trying to leverage this bullshit dynamic to my advantage for the very brief window of time I can, I am complicit in perpetuating it. In being a willful participant in Daddy culture, in dating older men and tweeting about it, however self-deprecatingly, I am complicit in fueling the very system that will one day, not so very long from now at all, render me invisible.

More:
Is This the End of "Daddy" Culture? - InsideHook

How often have you heard people mutter, Oh, Im not a creative type? Perhaps youve thought this yourself. This is a falsehood because to be human is be hardwired to be creative. To be a phenomenal lawyer, manager, doctor, engineer, or plumber requires immense amounts of creativity. Creativity is the nonnegotiable ingredient in developing the most amazing tech app, healing the sick, and leading dynamic enterprises. Yet our educational system teaches out creativity, and our boardrooms reference it as an afterthought. No wonder so many people who are pursuing innovation fail to actually innovate.

People throw around the word innovation all the time; sometimes we end up talking around each other without getting to the real definition. What do we mean by innovation? Innovation is invention converted into financial, social, and cultural value. And the engine for innovation is creativity. That means that if we truly want to innovate, then we must design systems, processes, and experiences in our work environments that allow us to be creative. Taking the leap to build an organization-wide creative capacity is the single best way continually innovate.

Creativity is not a mystical, magical process only accessible to a fewnamely, artists, musicians, actors, and novelists. But, like innovation, people struggle with understanding what exactly creativity is. I define creativity as the ability to toggle between wonder and rigor in order to solve problems and deliver novel value. Wonder is our capacity to exercise awe, pause, dream, and ask audacious blue-sky-thinking questions. Rigor is our capacity to exercise discipline and deep skills, to pay attention to detail, and to spend time on task for mastery. Both are necessary for creativity to thrive. In our age of augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and rapidly evolving technologies, a hybrid approach to creativity that incorporates wonder and analytical rigor is absolutely vital to business success.

The best way to navigate complexity is through creativity. Applying creativity simplifies complex problem-solving by juxtaposing and recombining previously unexplored ideas. Creativity leaps are the only way to solve the complex problems of our time and to innovate for the future. Since creativity itself is a complex system, the most effective tactical means to achieve creativity are the open-ended creative techniques of inquiry, improvisation, and intuition.

Inquiry is rooted in curiosity, which results from an information gap. You want to know more about something that you currently dont understand. Inquiry is the practice of honing your ability to frame and reframe questions, to use questions as a way of thinking through and processing. Inquiry is the root of wisdom and the precursor to empathy.

Improvisation is about building on ideas with minimal constraints. There is freedom to experiment, but there are also rules and fluid structures that help you to correct course and embrace mistakes. It is a deeply observant and adaptive process. Examples of great improvisation show up in jazz, rap, comedy, sales pitches, and scientific experimentation.

Intuition is the universal visceral, internal wisdom that allows for unconscious pattern recognition and insights for decision-making. Harriet Tubman, Albert Einstein, and Steve Jobs are examples of famous innovators and leaders who relied on and valued their intuition, coupling it with their rational intellect to make decisions.

So, how can you stress the importance of creativity as a core competency throughout your organization and encourage everyoneyourself includedto invest in becoming more creative? Here are a few practices and tactics to get you started:

Seek out opportunities for lateral thinking. Lateral thinking is the ability to learn from sectors and practices both adjacent to you and far away from the way you typically do business. For example, if you are a tech firm, you might explore theatrical productions to learn about project management. Lateral thinking opens possibilities for new landmarks and new benchmarks, while expanding your awareness of trends outside your industry that you should be paying attention to.

Welcome inquiry and build trust by leading with questions. To admit that you do not know something requires humility, self-awareness, andin these timescourage. When you put yourself out there to reveal that you have a question or an uncertainty, the environment must be primed for trust. When a leader asks questions, employees feel the courage to share not only what is on their mind, but also whats in their imagination.

Get comfortable with working together through chaos. Collaboration doesnt come from a bunch of meetings. True collaboration and creative synergy come through our ability to improvise with one anotherespecially when work is messy or messed up. By openly stating and owning whatever is going wrong, team members will build their capacity to adapt, learn, grow, and respect each others ideas.

Dare to listen to your gutand heart. In business, it often takes courage to stand up for your intuition in the face of data and rationale. But in a world of ambiguity and uncertainty, where wicked problems are everywhere, trusting your intuition is necessary. In fact, intuition is often how you make the leap from observation to plausible explanation. As internal a process as it is, intuition consistently requires us to pay deep attention to the world around us. Be brave and welcome your employees to join you in bridging gaps by having conversations across disciplines and boundaries.

Commentary by Natalie Nixon. Heres what youve missed? Highest Paying Creative And Media Jobs. Highest Paying Business Jobs. Highest Paying Engineering Jobs.

Excerpt from:
Creative Competency: Why to Make It Everyone's Priority for Your Business - CEOWORLD magazine