[Originally posted to LinkedIn on August 13, 2025 and reposted here for archival purposes.] This is a law/legal profession/law schools and legal education post, prompted by my conversation yesterday with a group of incoming law students who are going through my law school’s orientation week. Every single one of them asked some version of “what’s Read More Brief Thoughts on AI, Law, and Education…
[Originally posted to LinkedIn on September 10, 2025 and reposted here for archival purposes.] This new LinkedIn article by Ajmail Matin Pittsburgh suffers from too much extractive landlordism and not enough feedback-driven Pittsburgh-specific investment hits a lot of good points. In the spirit of my old Pittsblog home (2004-2013; critical takes on Pittsburgh Read More Three Things About AI and…
[Originally posted to LinkedIn on December 16, 2025 and reposted here for archival purposes.] Certain corners of Pittsburgh jumped for joy, proverbially speaking, reacting to news that Phat Bagel has opened a storefront in Pittsburgh s Bloomfield neighborhood. Huzzah! “Baked Phresh. Served Phat.” Clever. I made a note myself: add Phat Bagel to my itinerary the Read More Pittsburgh s Cupcake Class,…
[Originally posted to LinkedIn on January 14, 2026 and reposted here for archival purposes.] What’s new? What’s news? Let me say at the outset that I do not have the answer. I only have a question. This essay is my Jeopardy!-ish contribution to the second-most important conversation happening in Pittsburgh right now. Maybe that’s appropriate; Read More One More Long Thing: After the Post-Gazette…
I launched this blog just about 20 years ago (almost to the day!). It s past time to move on. I m declaring victory in a manner of speaking and starting again. I m moving to Substack, with a newsletter called Everything In Between. Some of the same themes will appear there: law; governance; knowledge commons; tech; cities; Read More Moving Day, After Nearly 20 Years The post Moving Day, After…
The following appears online at Postindustrial, a Pittsburgh-based magazine. Postindustrial subscriptions are available here. By Michael Madison If your household plumbing is connected to a public sewer system, then once you flush, the water and its contents pass quickly from your dominion to someone else’s control. So what? The answer, surprisingly, is that a close Read More #Pittsburgh’s Futures…
The following appears online at Postindustrial, a Pittsburgh-based magazine. Postindustrial subscriptions are available here. By Michael Madison Food culture offers an emblem and embodiment of postindustrial transformation. Pittsburgh’s tastes have never been fixed, but the pace of change has picked up in its modern rendering. This isn’t “your father’s Pittsburgh” any longer, let alone your Read…
The following appears in the Fall 2022 issue of Postindustrial, a Pittsburgh-based magazine. Postindustrial subscriptions are available here. By Michael Madison So much postindustrial attention gets lavished on economic rebounds, neighborhood revitalization, and yes, sports, that we risk missing out on what captures and sparks our collective community imagination: Art, and the arts. Cities should…
The following was published on August 15, 2022 at Postindustrial, a Pittsburgh-based magazine. By Michael Madison In mid-July 2022, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that their stadium, christened “Heinz Field” in a naming rights deal with hometown condiment kings H.J. Heinz Co. in 2001, would henceforth be named “Acrisure Stadium.” Nostalgia-soaked Pittsburghers erupted in displeasure. Read More…
The following was published on May 5, 2022 at Postindustrial, a Pittsburgh-based magazine. By Michael Madison Pittsburgh, like a lot of Postindustrial places, is banking on growth. It needs growth to fuel opportunity; it needs growth to pay for equity; and it needs growth to support the rising cost of public services, education, and health Read More #Pittsburgh s Futures 9/x Pittsburgh s Future…