Matt Catino

Why We Eat Sad Desk Lunches: What Instant Noodles (and Two Famous Thinkers) Tell Us About Work Culture Have you ever seen a colleague slurping instant noodles at their desk and wondered if they actually enjoy it? A simple observation like this can reveal a lot about the pressures of modern work life. When a co-worker chooses a quick, bland meal over something more satisfying, it’s not just about convenience—it’s a sign of a much bigger issue that influential thinkers have explored. Food as Fuel, Not Fun: The Commodification of Time On the surface, it's about efficiency. But as the social theorist David Harvey pointed out, this points to a larger phenomenon he termed the "commodification of time." This is the idea that in our capitalist culture, time itself is turned into a product to be managed, optimised, and sold for maximum output. Think about the paid lunch break. Harvey’s concept helps us see that when we choose an instant meal, we're effectively trading our re...

What can a 2014 children’s movie about plastic toys teach us about the current Trump administration? In the case of The Lego Movie , a surprising amount. The film’s narrative of a business mogul-turned tyrant offers a powerful, if not unintentional, allegory for the political landscape of modern America.  The film’s plot provides the framework for this analogy. The Lego Movie follows Emmet, a perfectly average, law-abiding worker who is mistaken for a prophesied hero destined to save the world. He is recruited by rebels, in particular Wyldstyle to stop the tyrannical Lord Business, planning to use a superweapon called “Kragle” to permanently glue the Lego world into a state of rigid, unchangeable order. Emmet's role is a classic protagonist tale of finding his inner hero and thwarting the evil plan. As you might imagine, Lord/President Business of the Octan Corporation, draws similarities to Trump, however, not simply in the way of Trump’s transition from real estate mogul to the...