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Nick Jacobs

OP-ED: Mugged for Double Bubble

Primarily because I loved my work, my retirement plan involved a black zip-up bag. In other words, I never wanted to retire. I just wanted to clock out one last time and have someone else do all the paperwork. Unfortunately, my main client recently DOGE’d me, which takes us back to a much ...

For 12 years, during the week, I worked out of an apartment in Pittsburgh. When COVID hit, I moved back home full time. The problem is I did not move back alone. Somewhere between the packing and the movers, a few stowaways hitched a ride. When I opened my closet this summer, two tiny, beige, ...

OP-ED: Democracy depends on trust

Trust in American institutions has been dissipating for over a half a century. Long before we had the COVID-19 arguments over masks, we already had Watergate, Vietnam, and Iran-Contra. Each of those made us wonder if the folks in charge knew what they were doing or were lying to our faces. For ...

OP-ED: Thursdays with Carl and Ethel

It was a different time. In fact, the crazy fun we had in the ’70s was like a spin-off from the fun sitcom “Delta House” or the movie “Animal House.” Every Thursday night, we had a standing invitation from our friend Jim to go to Carl and EthelĢƵ basement. Jim didn’t live there ...

OP-ED: The business of selling drugs

Only two countries on Earth let drug companies pitch their products directly to you and me: New Zealand and the United States. Canada dabbled in these direct-to-consumer ads but quickly tightened up their rules. The European Union, back in 2008, took one look and said, “Nope – not here.” ...

EditorĢƵ note: This column draws on Dr. Aaron E. CarrollĢƵ essay, “The Bright Spots of American Healthcare: A Beacon of Innovation and Progress,” published in The New York Times on Sept. 5. When people talk to me about health care in the U.S., itĢƵ usually a conversation filled with ...