Why does America’s 250th birthday cake already smell like death?

A challenge on rethinking the brand of patriotism on the global stage.

It took four attempts to get here: my first piece of 2026. Each attempt felt right, but not right, ya know? Hope you don’t mind me walking you through the finished drafts that led here.

Attempt #1: lofty. Before the year ended, The Academy announced that 2029’s Oscars would be streamed live on YouTube, unshackling itself from its broadcast partner Disney-ABC for the first time since 1976. 2029 was already shaping up to be (American) pop culture’s most influential — and I still think it will be. (Stay tuned for that! Excited to talk about what this moment will mean.)

However, by the time I was ready to add links and publish, US armed forces infiltrated a foreign country and snatched up its president and first lady. Didn’t feel right, but it’ll be there.

Attempt #2: resolute? Cause duh: New year, new chapter! I was in between a TED Talk Hour podcast clip where the guest was talking about leaning into questions over resolutions. For reference, mine was “Where will story take you this year?” Eh.

And then — Minneapolis popped up on the news for the first time since 2020, and I was thrown back to the very online moment of national rage that drove Americans to the streets and brands to the proverbial red table.

My last attempt: the depths of introspection. I’ve been getting used to a life returned to independent consulting, and the doubts over my worth (to self and to industry 13 years in) crept up.

Not that my feelings aren’t important enough to share in this way But by the time this past weekend came, it just felt like my insecurity could wait. Another American died at the hands of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Another act of brutality sent thousands of neighbors out into the streets.

No matter the draft, this was always meant to be a vibe check. How is your year so far? Have you gotten through this January okay? Are you enraged? Are you engaged?

(Also, hit me up! — it’s easier to chat now that this is published and I have a handle on how I have a handle of what I’m up to.)

More importantly, friends and faves: are you prepared to mourn what’s left of the American brand these next few months?

In a way, it doesn’t matter what I was writing, there’s just been this feeling in the pits of my chest about what it means to be from here. Aside from the literal bloodshed, the notion of being “Proud to be an American” is on a weak pacemaker. Moments like the recent shootings or our foreign exploits color this year — soon to be America’s 250th — in a way that gives me dreaded pause reminiscent of 2020.

Judging by the corporate reaction (so far), CEOs lack the fire they had five years ago. Maybe they’re used to the embers from having their feet to flames after George Floyd protests. Or it’s just “not relevant enough.”

The people of Minneapolis, or Americans for that matter, shouldn’t get used to seeing their neighbors killed.

In moments like this, I wish my brain didn’t have a cultural calendar embedded— the minutiae of pop culture really shouldn’t matter. Unfortunately, this is a year of consequence, one where anti-immigrant legislation and executive action scrape up against a half-year’s worth of international sports moments. Throw the world leader events aside — fans need to buckle up: there will be dribbling, but there won’t be shutting up.

• Super Bowl LX — enough is said about Bad Bunny’s historic moment in less than two weeks. Will any brand lean into the moment he’s bound to create? This is the biggest moment for my agency faves and my brand-side friends, and every ad nerd in between. Some seek out the bravery from our ads on nights like this. I’ll be on the lookout for the ones that bring out the most humanity.

• NBA All-Star Weekend — As a hoops fan, this is probably the most contentious weekend in sports, if only for fans arguing about the sheer lack of meaning for an exhibition game with history. But the US v. World matchup is a signifier of how much foreign players have developed in the last decade, while domestic stars struggle to rise up. There’s an anxious undercurrent at play: at least one game had to be postponed with the Minnesota protests, and the young protostar Victor Wembanyama underscores just how scary this moment in this country is.

• Winter Olympics — I won’t yuck anyone’s yum, would rather talk someone’s ear off about Jamaican bobsledding, and the newly-minted Blade Angels of US figure skating. Milan Cortina (spiritually) begins the countdown to LA’s Summer Olympics in 2028, and as much as I’m truly excited for the moment (and whatever wizardry Mike Tirico and NBC have planned post-SBLX), unrest like this doesn’t just dissipate. In fact, sometimes it spreads abroad.

• North American World Cup — this is where I implore you to listen to the episode of Pablo Torre Finds Out, where my new favorite investigative snark speaks to former FCC Commissioner Lina Khan and then-candidate Zohran Mamdani about how bad the ticketing situation is in the US. As one of the host countries, it’s telling when a former FIFA head bluntly says that the United States should be boycotted.

(It crosses my mind to add the World Baseball Classic to the mix here. But this spells it out enough.)

By the time July 4 hits, and fireworks erupt over the UFC Octagon planted on the White House lawn, how will the world see us? Hell, how will we see ourselves?

Yes — we’ll get through this moment as we get through every other. But I’ve been thinking about inching towards middle age in a country so pockmarked from picking at scabs that have existed from long before our founding. All my friends, especially my first-gen homies, are deep in our healing journeys, but staring down the perpetual ills caused by our government and grapple with this hallowed (and at times hollowed) land our parents sought a better life in.

This country has been in her flop era for a while now, friends and faves. For those who just voted in November, there’s obvious hope. Step outside the politics for a moment, though, and back into the work for a beat.

I want to challenge you for a second. Imagine that on July 4th, we get to tell a new story about the brand of America. She is beautiful. There is so much to love about this country. But ask yourself, who is this brand really for? What is America at its best? How do we, as brand stewards want to show up in the best interest of this brand?

And how would we want America to treat us, and everyone who chooses to be among us, back?

Will Brand America be like the corpse flower at the Brooklyn Botanical: blessed with a novelty that draws in thousands every year, but cursed with the lifelong stench that draws scavengers and capitalists to their demise?

Or will this be a story of ego death: a country wants to be little more secure with its place, one that isn’t as exceptional as we pretend it is? willing to build a new, healthier relationship with the world, and with the people that call it home?

Maybe when you think on this, there’s a thought or two that may be applicable to your clients, to the workplace you’re in. Because whether we want to dodge it or not on the professional end, the culture we try to influence is steeped in politics. Reckoning with it is an unavoidable part of the job.

My true challenge to you is to take that reflection and inspire some change that you can be proud of this year. Maybe it’s through the work, in pushing clients to imagine this America with you. Maybe it’s through the people, in inspiring a better standard that can last long after our time. Maybe it requires stepping out into the world the way our friends in Minneapolis have, time and time again — through activism or other groundwork.

I feel like I owe a bit of my heart and career to that city and their toughness in two of this country’s biggest blemishes. We often forget that our consumers are our neighbors — I’m thankful that it’s the lens that shapes my career — we owe our neighbors that extra effort, no matter where they come from.

On July 4, I hope there is cake. And in lieu of my favorite flavor (I don’t know if I really have one, help?!?), I wish it tastes better than this early preview is suggesting.

I’ll catch you next week, friends and faves. Thanks for reading. Until then, here’s some of the things keeping me sane.

Legos on (and in) the brain: Sometimes I listen to From First Principles, a science podcast that scratches my itch between writing for work and for play. One recent episodes featured a discussion on this neuroscience concept from Princeton about the sections of the brain share neural subspaces similar to stacking Lego bricks. Hosts Lester Nare and Krishna Choudhary can speak on it better than I can, but it sounds like a very good reason why our minds use up 20% of our energy.

Speaking on Legos, the Danish toy brick company has been a top brand I researched last year. If you took up a Lego set during the peak pandemic era, or assembled thousands with your roommate to spruce up your home decor, you undoubtedly helped them reach their best sales numbers in company history. So, in the midst of a wave of major partnerships with Nike, Pokemon, and others, they took to CES to lay down a smart path forward for their unique style of play.

Wishing no forgiveness for the pun — their AI-augmented bricks are a brilliant use of AI, and may be a serious contender for Toy of the Decade.

From MafiaThon to Book Clubs? If you worked close to me at all in the last two years, you know I’ve spoken enough about Kai Cenat. He, his AMP crew, and other creators like Druski and iShowSpeed nearly dominated streaming records for their skits and stunts. I grew a lot of respect for Speed in 2025, whose tour de force of collaborations and iconic videos earned him Streamer of the Year honors. Kai upended his own internet-breaking livestream concept as truly must-see TV, with celebrity cameos and ceremonial dread-cutting.

Seems like both young men flipped their own scripts in 2026. Speed, who’s 48 million followers have seen him get knocked out in wrestling rings, has been on a tour through Africa, highlighting the gorgeous spirit of a part of the world so massive in size, yet massively underestimated and overmined. Kai, it seems, has effectively stepped back from the legendary run of his three MafiaThon events, and forward — into fashion! Into live-reading! It’s wonderful to see, but can we fantasy book a collab between Cenat and Dua Lipa’s Service95?

R&B is awake again, haven’t you heard? True love (for me) feels like really good soul music. If you’re like me and grew up in the 106 & Park era, the eye candy was the music videos. But the true delight is in the ears: when the beat and melody hits right, you felt it in your eardrums and your heartstrings.

So I tear up deeply when I say this: the mainstream love of R&B in 2025 has been phenomenal. To everyone claiming Olivia Dean as Britain’s next pop import after The Art of Loving and all those who gave Leon Thomas enough spins to earn him multiple Grammy nominations: thank you. To all my guys dancing to Kehlani‘s instant classic “Folded” (or its brilliant suite of remixes)? I’ve been dancing with you.

Noise was made late last year about rap music having a “down year,” to which critical heavyweights like Rob Markman were right to dismiss. But let’s not equate it with all of Black music — we had a year. The multiple pieces that blessed the timeline by year’s end told a story many purists have been longing to hear from the music press: for the first time since the early 2010s, R&B music has outright influence again. And there’s about 50 artists on both sides of the Atlantic shaping that. (If you ever want to talk music, you know where to find me.)

My must-watch: Liz Plank’s effervescent masculinity coverage. Bear with me, it’s cuffing season and the state of American men is top of mind for my next piece. Among my Family Feud top-5 reasons to discuss men navigating dating and “brand responsibility”: watching Liz Plank sit on a bed with a random man that I may know from another corner of the internet, and watch them discuss why we can’t seem to do this whole “manhood” thing right. Been a fan of her coverage before she published For the Love of Men, and now that she holds down Boy Problems and Girl Dinner, sibling series on her YouTube channel, it’s been a little meditative.