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Writer Michael J Sandel's book "What Money Shouldn't Buy" speaks to the growing "marketization" of our society. He asks strong moral questions about paying for access to fundamental parts of our society like equal representation. In this interview he does not address the marketization of arts or culture but I can see some of the warning signs he brings up. Is access to museums up for sale?

Look at #8. Business stepping up: From profit to purpose .....museums have always had a purpose beyond profit. We are uniquely poised to show the "purpose driven public" our motivations and how we benefit society.

A Belgian-based organization seeking to apply strategic foresight planning in nine key domains and a trans-domain group. This one, Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health (ISCH) has elements dealing with material culture, history, music and art and other museum-related topics.

The vaunted "third space" isn't home, and isn't work-it's more like the living room of society at large.  It's a place where you are neither family nor co-worker, and yet where the values, interests, gossip, complaints and inspirations of these two other spheres intersect.  It's a place at least one step removed from the structures of work and home, more random, and yet familiar enough to breed a sense of identity and connection.  It's a place of both possibility and comfort, where the unexpected and the mundane transcend and mingle. And nine times out of ten, it's a bar.

The in-your-face nature of the technology has touched a nerve in a society growing increasingly concerned about the invasive nature of new technologies such as wearable gadgets and drones.

Could empathy in society be enhanced by technology? Could machines sense our emotions better than our friends and family can and broadcast that data to them?

Some important points in this Wall Street Journal article about the advantages of aging. It looks like the Boomer generation will continue to positively impact society for many years to come! How can museums take better advantage of this generation as more and more Boomers retire?

Five societal questions we can't avoid when we think about emerging technologies..this will make your head hurt.

...over the last few months, conflicting claims have emerged about how malls fit within Twin Cities society. ("#Itsmymall!" "No, #itsmymall!") The seemingly audacious protest by the #blacklivesmatter movement and subsequent reaction by the Mall of America and the Bloomington prosecutor illuminate the complex relationship that shopping malls have as public and private spaces. Like it or not, they are simultaneously massive private companies and rough, if degraded, facsimiles of Gruen's public sphere.

In the wake of a public petition to allow people to unlock their cellphones for use on the wireless network of their choice, both the White House and the Federal Communications Commission came out in favor of a change in the law. 

THE FUTURIST Magazine releases its top ten forecasts for 2013 and beyond.

Top 10 forecasts for 2013 and beyond

A little something about science, science fiction and the future.

options for improving personal futures: do-it-yourself homesteading (home as driver of economic value not respository for consumer goods) shared consumption employment: choice between making a living and creating a life

Are we on the brink of societal collapse?

Scientists have discovered that your feelings about something and the value you put on it are calculated similarly in a specific brain region. If this is true for individuals, could also be true for organizations (i.e., collections of individuals)?

Many of the issues we have been talking about - and some new ones!