Last year a scandal unfolded exposing the fraudulent paintings displayed by the Orlando Museum of Art, purporting to be originals of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. The FBI is still unraveling the details, but basically a guy created artwork on wood and cardboard in the same style as 1980’s Basquiat paintings, said they were authentic, and sold them for lots of money with some help from a network of shady characters. It’s curious to me that these scammers felt their own work

In episode #500 of the Freakonomics Radio podcast, Dr. Ruth Simmons, President of Prairie View A&M University, recounts a time when she questioned an academic requirement at her undergraduate institution. She was not successful at making an immediate change, but the experience taught her “it’s very useful to get to know what’s important to you and what matters.” As I listen, her words stand still for a moment, even as her interview continues. I think about the brainstorming s