A blow-by-blow analysis of "The 400 Blows"

For episode #11 of the Cineversary podcast, I take a trip to Paris (let's call it an audio journey) with Columbia University film studies professor Annette Insdorf, author of the book "Francois Truffaut" and former personal translator for the late director. She's the ideal guest to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of "The 400 Blows." In this installment, Annette and I explore why the movie is worth celebrating all these years later, its cultural impact and legacy, what we can learn from the picture today, how it has stood the test of time, and more.
To listen to this episode, click the "play button" on the embedded streaming player below. Or, you can stream, download or subscribe to the Cineversary podcast using Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Anchor, Breaker, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Google Play Music, Overcast, Pocket Casts, PodBean, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.

Learn more about the Cineversary podcast at tinyurl.com/cineversarypodcast, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/cineversarypodcast, and email show comments or suggestions to cineversegroup@gmail.com.

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Got artificial intelligence smarts? You're in high hiring demand

Anyone who works in human resources for a company looking to hire will likely tell you that they face an overall talent shortage challenge today—regardless of the industry or sector they compete in. It’s simply a fact of life lately in a booming economy with an unemployment rate that remains near record lows. In fact, over four in 10 businesses are worried they won’t be able to find the talent they need, according to Indeed polling; and almost three in four employers are finding it hard to recruit relevant prospects, per TalentNow. Contributing to this quandary is the fact that the rate of labor force participation is dwindling; U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor data show that the percentage of eligible U.S. workers is expected to fall to approximately 61 percent by 2026 (down from about 67% in the late 1990s), partially due to lots of baby boomer retirements.

But candidates who possess artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML)-related aptitudes appear to particularly be in short supply. I delve deeper into this topic in my latest article for Speech Technology Magazine, which you can read in full here.

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Come hell or high water

Hospitals, nursing homes and other health care organizations affected by record flooding in the Midwest in March are still bouncing back from the disruptive weather event that killed at least four people and displaced hundreds.

Most of the flooding occurred following a bomb cyclone that hit over 12 states with severe rain and/or snow as well as high winds; saturated or frozen grounds prevented the excess water from being absorbed, and fast-melting snow and ice contributed to the weather disaster.

In my latest article for Health Facilities Magazine online, I talked with several hospitals and health care facilities impacted by this flooding. Read the full story here.

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Want to sell your home and buy another? Sellers may be more willing to work with you

A home sale contingency is a common inclusion in a real estate contract. With this provision accepted, the buyer can sell their existing home by a specified date. Then, the contract can proceed and the buyer can purchase the new home from the seller. This arrangement to sell your home and buy another makes things easier for a repeat buyer looking to move on to a second or subsequent home.

Problem is, no seller is crazy about a contingency that makes it easier to sell your home and buy another. In recent years, it was harder to get sellers to agree to this. That’s because it was more of a seller’s market and there was more competition for homes for sale. But new data show that sellers may be more willing to work with buyers who have a home to sell. That’s good news for buyers.

Learn more about this latest trend by reading my newest article published by The Mortgage Reports, available here.

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My podcast gets pulpy

In episode #10 of the Cineversary podcast, host Erik Martin invites Filmspotting podcast co-host Adam Kempenaar to join him for a bowl of Fruit Brute cereal, a Big Kahuna burger, and a $5 milkshake from Jackrabbit Slims as they honor the 25th birthday of Quentin Tarantino's masterwork "Pulp Fiction." Erik and Adam explore why the movie is worth celebrating all these years later, its cultural impact and legacy, what we can learn from the picture today, how it has stood the test of time, and more.

To listen to this episode, click the "play button" on the embedded streaming player below. Or, you can stream, download or subscribe to the Cineversary podcast using Apple Podcasts, iTunes, Anchor, Breaker, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Google Play Music, Overcast, Pocket Casts, PodBean, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn.

Learn more about the Cineversary podcast at tinyurl.com/cineversarypodcast, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/cineversarypodcast, and email show comments or suggestions to cineversegroup@gmail.com.

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Time's up for high tolerance

If the #TimesUp and #MeToo movement has taught us anything, it’s that undesired sexual advances and inappropriate sexual contact and comments are top of mind in the workplace today, and for good reason: Women and men alike are fed up with this behavior, and they’re less likely to tolerate it any longer.

But despite the outing of accused high profile business moguls like Harvey Weinstein and Les Moonves, sexual harassment remains a big problem in the work environment—for both big and small businesses.

For proof, ponder the latest data. A 2018 Stop Street Harassment report reveals that 38 percent of women and 13 percent of men suffer sexual harassment on the job. According to a 2018 Hiscox Workplace Harassment Study, 41 percent of female employees and over one-third of all workers say they’ve been harassed at work; 78 percent of those accused are men, and 73 percent hold a senior position to the accuser; and 45 percent of employees have observed a co-worker’s harassment in the workplace. Additionally, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that sexual harassment claims for the year ending Sept. 30, 2018, increased 12 percent over the prior year.

Being able to respond appropriately to an employee’s sexual harassment complaint, should one arise, requires a better grasp of what constitutes sexual harassment and effective implementation of policies, processes and training. I write about this topic in my latest article for The US Chamber of Commerce's new website, CO–, geared toward small business owners. Read the full story here.

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