Heroes
The Case of Alton Brown: How Scaffolding, Friction Removal, and Learned Executive Functions
There is something fascinating about Alton Brown’s kitchen. It is not simply organized. Plenty of kitchens are organized. Pots go in one cabinet, knives in another, spices in a rack, utensils in drawers. Everything can have a designated location while the cook still spends half the evening opening doors, digging through cabinets, moving one thing […]
The Case of Rob Thomas: The Restless Mind, the Open Wound, and the Anchor Who Gave Him Somewhere to Stand
Pop-rock history is filled with artists who survived chaotic beginnings—musicians who struggled with anxiety, depression, substance use, restlessness, impulsivity, and the inability to fit comfortably inside ordinary institutions. It is also filled with artists who could barely organize the mundane parts of their lives while displaying almost frightening levels of organization inside the craft they […]
The Executive Disruptor: Why Teddy Roosevelt Was America’s First “Steve Jobs” President
The President Who Refused to Sit Still History books love to paint Theodore Roosevelt as a rugged cowboy, a monocled Rough Rider, or a booming voice shouting “Bully!” across the lawn. But look beyond the familiar caricature and something much more interesting emerges. Roosevelt was a voracious reader, an obsessive naturalist, a boxer, a rancher, […]
The Case of Chuck Jones: Chuck Amuck
Chuck Jones does not need a retrospective ADHD diagnosis to belong among the heroes of this book. He grew up and worked before ADHD was understood in anything resembling its modern form, but he described himself, his childhood, and his creative development in ways that today fit comfortably beneath the much broader umbrella of neurodivergence. […]
Toni Tyson Is the Mom Where Most ADHD Kids Wish They Had
There are children who grow up knowing that home is where they are understood, and there are children who grow up trying to escape it. Not necessarily because their parents do not love them or because anyone intends to hurt them. Sometimes the problem is much quieter than that. The child keeps receiving the same […]
The Case of Nick Foles
Finding a Well-Scaffolded Home Nick Foles should not make sense. If you look at his NFL career as a conventional quarterback-evaluation problem, the pieces refuse to fit together. He produced one of the most efficient regular seasons in NFL history, continued winning the following year until an injury ended his season, deteriorated badly enough in […]
The Case of Corey Clement
What an Undrafted Rookie, a Super Bowl, and One Defender Following Him Can Teach Us About State-Dependent Performance Nick Foles won the MVP of Super Bowl LII. Doug Pederson called one of the great offensive games in Super Bowl history. Zach Ertz caught the go-ahead touchdown, Nelson Agholor caught nine passes, Alshon Jeffery made one […]
The Case of Rhys Darby, AuDHD and the Q Continuum
What Happens to an Interest-Based Nervous System When It Can Do Anything? There may be no more dangerous creature in the universe than a bored god. Star Trek has spent nearly forty years exploring some version of that problem through the Q Continuum. Q can travel essentially anywhere, manipulate matter, move through time, manufacture entire realities […]
The Case of James Cameron: The Architecture of Obsession and the ADHD Engine of Innovation
In the traditional corporate or academic landscape, a mind that rejects abstract theory, challenges authority on first principles, shifts obsessively through fields of interest, and brooks zero compromise can look like a liability. Put that same neurodivergent wiring into high-stakes creative and exploratory environments, however, and the apparent liabilities can begin behaving very differently. Restlessness […]