Public Policy

Made famous by the band R.E.M. with their early-1980’s hit Don’t Go Back to Rockville, my hometown has been going through a sort of identity crisis lately.

Cascatelli? Quattrotini? Vesuvio? Have you walked into your favorite Italian restaurant lately and not recognized the pasta(s) on the menu? I grew up in an Italian household, and until recently, thought I had a handle on the various long strand, short-cut, filled, and soup pastas out there. I was wrong.

I’ve received more calls, texts, emails, and direct questions than usual this week asking me who will win the election in November.

Have you ever wondered where expressions like “Bite the Bullet,” “Mad as a Hatter,” or “Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop” originate?

“Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five year mission. To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life. And new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before…”

For a kid growing up in suburban Washington, D.C., there were few better years than 1983. That year, the Redskins won the Super Bowl and the Orioles the World Series; Return of the Jedi, Risky Business, Flashdance, and An Officer and a Gentleman ruled at the box office; and The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” finished atop the Billboard 100…

Although the NFL’s Wildcard Round of playoffs concluded with several surprises last week, and the Divisional Round will take place this weekend [Go Ravens!], the conclusion of the regular season may have generated the biggest football story of the year—an end to Head Coach Bill Belichick’s run with the New England Patriots…

From Tik Tok to LinkedIn to X, social media has become ingrained in Americans’ daily routines. What’s more, social media platforms are at the heart of several companies that market analysts call the “Magnificent Seven”—Alphabet has YouTube; Meta owns Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp; Microsoft has LinkedIn; and Elon Musk owns both Tesla and X.

Happy New Year, and welcome to The Washington Connection’s first edition of 2024. What did you do for New Year’s Eve? Times Square in New York? Georgetown in D.C.? Broadway in Nashville?

Although I opted to travel down a more sentimental route this year, I’ve been known to tuck a few gag gifts under the tree. Over the years these have included funny t-shirts, prank gift boxes, and odd tasting candy…I mean, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried a hot dog flavored candy cane…am I right?