The Mason Minute

Technology has often posed a challenge in school settings. Back in my day, pocket calculators started showing up in classrooms. At first, they were outlawed. However, teachers and administrators found a way to integrate them into their systems over time. Now, they're no big deal. But today, we have other technology that is posing problems. College students are starting to use artificial intelligen...

You're likely familiar with the acronym GOAT if you follow any sport. It's short for the greatest of all time. People continuously argue about the merit of which people should be considered the greatest in their sport. Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali is credited with being the first person to be called the greatest of all time. Hip-hop icon LL Cool J was the first person to use the acronym when he us...

Today is Memorial Day here in the U.S., And perhaps I'm being a bit sensitive, But I've noticed in recent years how people feel the need on social media to tell us who we honor on this day. My timeline is filled with so many people making a declaration. Do you need this constant reminder? I realize some still don't know the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. But are the numbers tha...

I love dessert. You can look at me and see that I haven't skipped the sweets through the years. I don't have a sweet tooth, but I love most sweets. You'd think someone like me who hasn't missed many meals would have one or two favorite treats. But even at my age, I'm still searching for the perfect treat. For some, ice cream is all they need. For others, it could be a preference for cake, pie, or...

My nephew, Ray, graduated from high school last night. And for him, it's a massive moment in his life. We all think that when we graduate. But, as I look back to my school days, I realize that while it was a big deal then, I barely remember it now. The further away we get from our school days, we understand that school is just a series of marathons and sprints. Those school years dragged while we...

Barbecue is a very personal food. Where you grew up or where you live now often determines your preferences. For some, it's brisket. For others, ribs. And then there's the people of love pulled pork. But it's not just the BBQ you prefer; the style is also essential. People from Texas will argue with those from Kansas City about brisket. In Memphis, they're all about ribs. In fact, Tennessee is ver...

Sustainability is a topic that's extremely important to people throughout the world. And young people, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, are very focused on the subject. That makes sense since they have the most to lose if we don't get ahead of the plastic and paper waste issues we have. One way that people are embracing sustainability is through the use of refillable products. And major retaile...

If you live in an area that often experiences severe weather, a weather radio is a good thing to own. While phone apps that track weather are good, they won't wake you from a dead sleep like a radio directly connected to the National Weather Service. Growing up in radio and TV newsrooms, I've spent endless hours listening to them through the years. Of course, I have one too, here in my house. And...

I started using an ATM to do my banking back in the late 1970s. Back then, they were extremely convenient. Lately, it seems like anything but convenient. I don't visit a kiosk very often, thanks to digital and online payments. Now I use them for an occasional deposit when someone writes me a check, or if I need cash. Like most people, I don't carry much money anymore. So I only use an ATM three or...

Even before we started working from home during the pandemic, researchers began looking into how remote work impacted our lives. Now, a little over five years later, they're releasing their findings. And it will come as no surprise that people who work from home are happier. This study didn't focus on productivity; it looked at our feelings. It finds that we sleep more, eat better, and enjoy a bet...

For the last few decades, wholesale clubs have been an excellent way for families to save money on things they can buy in bulk. For many people, if you can't find it at Costco or Sam's Club, you don't need it. I was a Sam's Club member about 20 years ago, but didn't use it much. I'm unsure how much money I saved by going there rather than going to Walmart, Target, or the grocery store. When you ha...

There's no denying that COVID-19 changed our world. Many businesses didn't survive the loss of business. And for many that did, the struggle continues. Many national chains are losing locations at a rapid clip. Many restaurants, convenience stores, and banks are closing. And it often happens overnight. You visit a store one day, and the next day, a sign taped to the door reads: this location close...

Research says that many major US cities are slowly sinking. Nashville is one of them. Other cities with the same issues include Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, and New York. Some of the reasons are natural, and others are man-made. Now, this isn't happening quickly. Nashville is sinking one millimeter per year. In other cities, the average is three millimeters per year. Researchers are trying to...

One of the first things you learn in journalism classes is to put the key information in the first paragraph of a story. If you don't include the information up front, your professor will sternly remind you not to bury the lede. And yes, that's the proper journalistic spelling for the word lead. That's one of many things I learned in those classes. You don't want people to think you're describing...

If you're a baseball fan, yesterday's biggest news didn't happen on the field; it came from the commissioner's office. Yesterday, they announced that 17 players previously banned from baseball are being reinstated. The catch: all of these former players were deceased. The real story is that with this change, both Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, from the 1919 Black Sox scandal, are now eligible...

Many people go through life searching for happiness. Some say that there's no simple solution. But what if I told you there's a way for everyone to add more joy to their life? And this is something most of us can do with just one change to ur routine. Technically, these aren't my thoughts, but recent research on how to be happier. It doesn't involve money, romance, or material possessions. Recent...

If you've followed national news over the last few weeks, you've likely heard stories of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, making arrests in hundreds of cities. They've been in Nashville for about a week. And as they've done everywhere, they've made hundreds of traffic stops and even stormed our lower Broadway tourist area. They've even taken young children as the scho...

On Mother's Day, it goes without saying that we make sure to honor our mother, the mother of our children, perhaps a mother-in-law, a stepmother, and even our grandmothers. But there's someone else we should acknowledge today: Anna Jarvis. She is the woman who created Mother's Day. Anna's mother was a community organizer who worked with women throughout her life. She encouraged them to be active i...

At their essence, numbers are simple. Now I'm not talking about complex mathematical equations. I'm talking about the digits on the front and back of your favorite athlete's jersey. To many, those numbers may seem trivial. There's only room for one or two on each jersey, so they must be under 100. Some athletes are given a uniform, and they take what they get. But those digits are essential for ma...

The Conclave has released the white smoke, which means we have a new pope, Leo the XIV. I understand that this is important if you're Catholic, but why do so many others care? I'm not Catholic, but what's the difference between any of them? My wife, who is Catholic, says there's a lot of nuance to how each rules the church. The big news, and perhaps why so many care, is that this one is American....

I'm sure you're familiar with the term, deja vu. It's the feeling of having experienced something before, despite it being a brand-new situation. I can't count the number of times I've felt deja vu. Doctors explain why we feel it by comparing our brain to a computer hard drive. All these bits of memory spinning around get jumbled in our brain and cause a hiccup in our brain's hard drive. But have...

You don't have to remember too much of what you learned in high school science class to know that nothing on Earth survives without oxygen. For decades, researchers have worked to pinpoint when they expect the planet to die. Does climate change make a difference in this prediction? The answer is probably. I know that's a bit wishy-washy, but there is one thing that the researchers and scientists k...

I see the ads multiple times every night. They're all over television, and you can't escape them online. The ads are for a game called Royal Kingdom. It's the follow-up to the game Royal Match. I first noticed the TV commercials a couple of months ago. Celebrities like LeBron James and Kevin Hart promote the fact that the game has no ads and no wi-fi is needed. Recently, celebs like Courtney Cox,...

Influencers are a hot topic when it comes to social media marketing. There are different scales and categories as to how they work. But today, many companies turn to people with a large social media following. Often, the size of the following, while important, isn't the key driver to measuring someone's online social influence. People listened to musicians, actors, models, and TV personalities thr...

I've spent most of my life surrounded by music. With decades in the radio business and 15 years in the music business, it's more than just a hobby. But lately, I spend more time listening to music like everyone else. I still spend 8 to 10 hours daily listening to radio, satellite radio, or one of my streaming services. We all have different ways to find new music. Sometimes, friends give us tips,...