Bobby Forand

Both Sides of the Great Resignation: Motif talks to both employees and business owners about the tight labor market

“The Great Resignation” is a phrase coined by Texas A+M professor Anthony Klotz in the spring of 2021 to describe the higher-than-normal quit rate in the American workforce. This has sent a ripple effect through the economy, dividing Americans over whether citizens have become empowered or lazy. Motif talked to some RIers on both sides […]

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Purveying the Sweet and the Sarcastic: Two bakeries on the rise

This business profile ran as part of Motif’s Black History Month issue, centering the experiences of Black business owners. Alaska-native Nina Reed received her culinary degree from J&W over a decade ago, focusing on baking and pastries. After graduating, she returned to Alaska to complete her internship, but her love of RI and the solid […]

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Sleighing Christmas Stereotypes: Dear Santa Book Review

Dear Santa compiles five stories that are told through poetic letter writing between Santa and various characters that took the time to initiate a written correspondence with him. All of the characters have different reasons for writing to him, all based around what he can’t/should/shouldn’t do for them leading up to and including Christmas Eve. […]

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Where the Benny’s Used To Be: A Rhode Island Pictorial History Series

Rhode Island Memories is a three volume coffee table book published by The Providence Journal that serves as a pictorial history of this state. With photos beginning in the late 1800s and proceeding through the end of the 20th century, this book archives the many transformations Rhode Island has gone through. Featuring photographs from award-winning […]

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Friars’ Blast in The Past: A review of “Homegrown” by Paul Lonardo

Paul Lonardo’s book “Homegrown” sheds light on the Providence Friars’ 1972-73 men’s basketball season, possibly the most magical season in Rhode Island sports history. “Homegrown” serves as an introduction to not only the 1972-73 PC Friars, but also a history of Providence College basketball, and the state of Rhode Island in the 1970s. “Homegrown” begins […]

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