Wit & Wisdom with Tom Greene

Nobody wants to suffer at the end of their life, especially me. But is Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) the solution?  Last year 60K people voluntarily ended their life in Canada. That seems like an awful lot to me. A number of US states are following the lead. Several now have laws that allow for your doctor to end your life. This is a tough subject but one that deserves a lot of debat...

Twenty five years ago Robert Putnam noticed something odd. More people were bowling, but fewer people were bowling in group leagues. But, why?  The answer has to do with a gigantic sociological shift towards aloneness. And that was before the pandemic, work from home, videoconferencing, the iPhone and the Peloton. It's crazy how far ahead of his time he was. And now 25 years later he's looking lik...

My Dad used to say that nothing in life is free.  He was right. So many things we used to hold dear to us are now free. And you and I both know that nothing of any real value is given for free. So what am I talking about? You'll have to tune in to find out. 

It's been a confusing time to be a young adult. The pandemic and all the various social movements of the past few years has made it hard to be a kid. Record number of college freshman couldn't or wouldn't identify their gender. By 2022 and 2023 the numbers exploded. But then something strange happened in 2025. You'll have to listen to find out what it is. 

Are you in the second half of life? Are you struggling to find your purpose in life now that things have settled down?  Given the abundance of opportunities available, we can often feel overwhelmed or uninspired. Like having 500 channels on TV and nothing to watch. There's an answer to this dilemma but you'll have to listen to find out what it is. 

Today we're having a conversation about something we'll all need at some point in our lives: resilience. Why?  Because regardless of your income, your position in life or your age, resilience is usually in short supply. We all have those moments where life takes your breath away. It's at that point that you'll need to lean on your own resilience. Here are three ways resilient people rely on three...

I wrote another letter to myself. Yeah, I know, but I promise this is the last one.  My 80 year old self wanted to give my "younger self" some advice. Just a few adjustments today will make all the difference tomorrow. Some good wisdom here. Hope you enjoy. 

Remember when summer days as a kid used to crawl by?  And the summer felt like it'd last forever?  Yet today it seems as if the days, weeks and even years just fly by. I often wonder if adulthood and technology changed our perspective on time.  Listen to find out. 

There's a lot of noise on the inter webs about the state of our finances in the US. Specifically, younger Americans are complaining about the deck being stacked against them. Home prices are sky high, interest rates are crazy high and the boomers and squatting on all the good homes--just waiting to fleece money out of the Gen Z'ers. But, is it true?  Maybe we need to take a stroll down memory lane...

Things are crazy today. So I decided to write a letter to Younger Me back in 2000 so I'd be ready for some of the changes coming my way.

There was a time, not so long ago, when shame was a guardrail. It protected us from doing dumb things. But, mostly it protected us from ourselves. But, today, shame is dead. It's the age of moral relativism. That is, the definition of right and wrong is subject to interpretation. That's the kind of thinking that allows young people to have sex in a room full of people while television cameras reco...

When life takes you on a detour through a series of potholes, focus on these five key pillars of happiness and you'll be just fine.

If you spend any time watching the news, it seems as if everyone is doing it today. I'm not talking about sex. I'm talking about lying. It's become a national pastime. Do we have an epidemic of "Liabetes"?

Of the myriad of happy emotions, from gratitude to contentment, the most underrated emo is hope. Hope is the ember at the bottom of the fire that refuses to go out. It's the green shoot that appears from a scorched earth. Because when everything else is stripped away, hope is the last light that remains.

I bet at some point you went through an existential crisis. A period where you questioned "why am I here?" A period that causes you to pursue that one true thing that defines your passion. But, what if there is no single passion? What if the great learning of life is to be patient and that meaning isn't often found in clarity, but in mystery.

Today's kids are raised differently. They live their lives with structured play, guardrails and constant adult supervision. The days of adventure and courage are long gone. And, it's making an entire generation lack courage.

Take a look around. See if you can find the color red. Bet you can't? Why? Because since the 1970's we've been slowly removing color from our world. 80% of all cars sold today are monochrome: gray, black or white. And, that's just the beginning. It's leaking into movies, comedy, food, music and branding. Yes, the world is quickly going "griege".

Like everything else today, we've outsourced dying. What was once a family and neighborhood affair has been converted to an institutional and sterile process. One handled by the utmost professionalism and care. But, one that is best managed by third parties, so as to avoid the messiness of it all. This is episode number 139 and you'll likely think differently about life (and death) after you liste...

There's something odd happening in the world. Men are finally opening up. Disclosing their most carefully guarded thoughts, feelings and secrets. It's to be applauded. But, here's the catch. They aren't opening up to therapists or friends. Their opening up to ChatGPT. It's fraught with ethical and legal issues. And, there are multiple cases where these Artificial Intelligence applications encourag...

A female born today has a 5% chance of living to age 100. Which raises the question: if you could live to age 100, would you want to?

The Male Sedation Hypothesis isn’t just a clever phrase—it’s a glimpse into the quiet crisis playing out in plain sight.

If you were evil, I mean truly evil, how would you end the world without a gun or a nuclear bomb?  Yeah, I know, kinda morbid.  But, it's a perfect question to pose to ChatGPT to see how the computers and robots are going to take over. It gave me six, clear steps to destroy our society. The scary part is that most of it is already in process. You won't wanna miss this one. 

The floods in the Texas hill country were gut-wrenching. And, our immediate reaction is often to assign blame to a person, a government or political party for creating the environment for such pain and loss. Sure, it's reassuring to find a culprit. And, it allows for a distraction from our unthinkable grief. But, is that the healthy thing to do at a time of such loss? You'll have to listen to find...

Why is it that I struggle to remember my AMEX card number, but I can remember by 8th grade girlfriend's phone number? And, when did we decide that remembering things like phone numbers, birthdays and anniversaries was no longer worth the effort. Yes, technology is great, but I think it has cheapened thoughtfulness and intentionality. In the process we've slowly trained ourselves to stop paying att...