The James Brown Commentary

Office-occupancy rates are stuck around 50% , even as more companies demand that workers come back to offices. That’s according to the Wall Street Journal.  Workers and employers are at loggerheads over the idea, with workers complaining about everything from ubiquitous, loathsome, tech style, open concept layout of newish offices to quality of life concerns. While employers moan about the loss of...

Joe Mazzulla didn't win it all. He came close.  The first year Boston Celtics head coach forced a decisive game seven in the Eastern Conference Finals and came up short. The Miami Heat beat them in a blowout on the way to the NBA Finals. My lasting memory of Mazzulla this season won't be on the hardcourt. It will be behind microphones during his press conferences. When asked whether he noticed Pri...

In another profoundly weird turn of events, wildfires raging across Canada turned my part of New York State into a BBQ. Or at least it smells like one.  Think a BBQ in the front yard and the back yard of every house, on every street, in every neighborhood without the meat or veggies or corn on the cobb. A boring BBQ for sure. The smell comes from Canada. There are fires in about 10 provinces with...

The last few years will no doubt be remembered as one of the oddest stretches in the history of western civilization.  So I forgive you in advance if you've missed one of the weirder happenings: apparently UFOs, maybe aliens, maybe not, exist so says the New York Times, 60 Minutes, NBC News and the US Government over the last few years. Congress is openly investigating flying saucers or something...

Chuck Todd, the moderator of NBC’s Meet The Press, is stepping down. Political Correspondent Kristen Welker is taking over in September.  At first blush, it seemed like an odd decision. We’re one year away from a presidential election, when the Chuck Todds of the world take center stage. Going with a rookie in that big a spot seems suspect. Todd says he's leaving for family reasons and to work on...

The prime time tv season has ended and as usual the top shows tell us much about the few things left that Americans share.  Just three series averaged more than 10 million viewers; two of them are NFL broadcasts. 18 million people watched Sunday Night Football on NBC and 10 million people watched Monday Night Football on ESPN.  What's the other show in the top three: Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone. A...

I got up early on a Wednesday morning to race to Walmart. It was an attempt to dodge crowds. It didn't work.  My mother gave me a shopping list. In her mercurial manner she asked for basics: Secret Deodorant, Kleenex, lens cleaners, and wipes for her hands and such. I think it was hard for her. She's a proud person who doesn't ask for much, even when should. When I walked in the lobby of the hospi...

The Food and Drug Administration has apparently given clearance for Elon Musk’s Neuralink to test its brain chips in humans.  In a jubilant tweet from Neuralink said the FDA’s decision "represents an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people.” Musk previously claimed that his chips could help people with  neurological problems like Parkinson’s disease. The twe...

The worst kept secret in politics is out, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that he's running for president. In the days that followed, it was how DeSantis chose to do it that got headlines. The governor used  a twitter space which is basically a live podcast with an audience. It was botch filled to start: twitter’s servers crashed and there were some moments of weird feedback . Our...

The long struggling Cineworld, the company that owns Regal Theaters, is expected to exit bankruptcy in July. According to deadline.com , shareholders will be wiped out. This is the latest death rattle of the current version of one of the great American pastimes: watching movies together in public.  In the early 20th century, picture houses punctuated urban cores and main streets, giving young coup...

Bruce Arians was never the guy.   For most of his career, he was what Martin Sheen once described on The West Wing as “the guy, that the guy depends on.” In his 40-year career, he became the ultimate journeyman offensive mind in football. His specialty was molding quarterbacks.  He coached the likes of Carson Palmer, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and Ben Roethlisberger. He was passed over for NFL he...

Lessons learned from a strange few weeks. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesbrowntv.substack.com/subscribe