How do we begin to restore Americans’s trust in the news media? In an interview with MediaWise Program Manager Alex Mahadevan in June of 2021, Alex affirmed his belief that the decline in trust can be reversed through improving media literacy. “Journalism has, in a way, become detached from regular folks. Helping people understand how to consume news better and understand how to trust the credibility of a news organization will only build trust in journalism as a whole.”

In his book, Trust: American’s Best Chance, Pete Buttigieg effectively identifies and articulates a root cause of the dysfunction of our divided American society-the erosion of our trust networks. He details the events, individuals, and technological developments that led to the erosion of trust over the past 50-60 years and then offers his hypothesis about how we Americans can restore trust in institutions, each other, and the American project of democracy

The driverless car serves as the central metaphor in Vivek Wadhwa’s book, “The Driver in the Driverless Car”, the subject of this book review. Technologies, including the driverless car, are taking over every part of our lives and our society and redefining our journey into the future. We feel like we are simply passengers along for the ride. These technologies have the potential for profoundly positive impacts in our lives – yet, we are scared to death of “getting in the car” because, according to Wadhwa, “we worry about the loss of control, of pieces of our identity, and most importantly of loss of freedom”. What should we make of all of this? Is our society ultimately doomed to a future ruled by Arnold Schwarzenegger-like terminator robots? Is there anything citizens can do to adapt to and steer technological development? Could there be a message for us in the tech startup community, specifically, the Startup Iceland ecosystem?

How do you find your personal direction or find focus for your company? Where can you project your personal brand, not limited to 140 character tweets (or tweets spread over multiple tweets – see Donald Trump) or 2 pages like a resume? Need a low cost public forum to test out ideas and generate discussion about your business? I have the answer for you – Blogging.