This is why communications matter. 1.) We create a story that explains our own choices: I did not merely move abroad; I escaped a crude country for a more enlightened life. 2.) We repeat that story publicly until it becomes part of our identity.

The lesson for policy organizations is distribution is not just publishing more of your own content. You must be an active participant in an intellectual ecosystem.

Jews in America have lived with more freedom, security, and opportunity than almost any Jewish community in history. That does not mean antisemitism is imaginary. It means our communications should be accurate enough to distinguish genuine threats from ordinary disagreement.

As I sweat through this heatwave, I’ve been thinking about one of my favorite policy communications questions: Is there any issue in America where the government actively fought simple, practical solutions because of vibes? For decades, the French public has been told that air conditioning is unhealthy, immoral, and way too American. Much of this comes from the Green/Socialist policy imagination, where A/C is like both a character flaw and the leading cause of global warming.

The World Cup is some of the best PR America could imagine. From a strategic communications perspective, it works because it does something no tourism board, embassy campaign, or glossy “Visit America” ad can do: it lets people experience the country directly. Person by person, game by game, one packed stadium, national anthem, and air-conditioned Hampton Inn at a time. My husband was watching France v. Senegal and was struck by how the game opened: the ceremony, the anthem,

People know when their daily experience does not match the official narrative. I work in strategic communications for nonpartisan policy organizations, legal groups, and advocacy campaigns. One of the biggest mistakes I see elected officials, activists, and commentators make is pretending something isn’t happening when people can see it with their own eyes. Europe is in the middle of a major heat wave, and France is suffering through some of the highest temperatures seen in y

For years, France’s anti-growth, anti-human Green politics treated air conditioning as the enemy: bad for the planet, bad for cities, and dangerous for your health. And now? France faces one of its most serious heat waves in years — with officials invoking the memory of 2003, when nearly 15,000 people died in France during the summer heat wave. Lo and behold, the message has shifted. Now the line is: air conditioning is not “the only solution.” Air conditioning is something t

When I moved to Paris, I was unsure where my career would go. I was open to almost anything while I got my bearings: teaching English, volunteer work, consulting projects, even a modest retail job if that was what the transition required. But, I soon discovered something useful: working from Europe can be an advantage for U.S.-based policy and legal organizations. Paris is six hours ahead of Washington, D.C. So, 5:00 a.m. in D.C. is 11:00 a.m. for me. By the time an American