Look closer. Ask why. Live better.
Discover what’s worth buying, believing, and bringing into your life. A former CMO decodes the claims, prices, and psychology behind everyday choices.
Jude Monte · Founder & Editor
Worth a closer look
The obvious choice usually had help.
Marketing Speak, Decoded
I knew how influence worked. I still gave experts too much of the vote.
A salesperson can shape a conversation for an hour. A trusted adviser can shape the way you see a decision for years.
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Worth Knowing
I’ll buy something I don’t need. But I will not pay for shipping.
I had become extremely firm about postage and remarkably flexible about the usefulness of a dress.
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Worth Knowing
Healthy Has a Dress Code
Beige, matte, restrained—and somehow healthy before the ingredient list has said a word.
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Drifted North
Interesting Questions
One question usually leads to another.
Learned the Expensive Way
Is airline status worth what you do to keep it?
Shorter lines are useful. Rearranging your life to keep them is another question.
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Interesting Questions
Can the color of a pill change how well you think it works?
The capsule had no sedative in it. It did, however, have excellent branding.
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Interesting Questions
Why Am I So Much Smarter About Your Problems?
I can solve your problem before dessert. Mine may require a committee.
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For the life you actually have.
Worth Knowing
I loved it too much to use it.
The strange way saving something can make an ordinary evening feel less deserving of it.
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Interesting Questions
My mother always told me not to grocery shop hungry. Was she right?
Maybe the expensive thing you bring into a grocery store isn’t hunger. It’s time.
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Interesting Questions
The same wine got better reviews with a higher price tag.
The liquid hadn’t changed. The experience might have.
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What becomes part of a life matters.
Everyone keeps calling seven weeks in Italy a vacation.
Three generations. Three children. Remote school. Work. Italian lessons. Physical therapy. Tennis. And somewhere in there, Lucca.
Follow the unfolding story47 Days in Italy
Lucca, Tuscany
Read the story →How Drifted North decides
The North Test shows the work. The North List saves you the work.
The North Test
The investigation behind the verdict.
Claims decoded. Evidence audited. Framing and psychology accounted for. The catch included.
See the method →Wine Study design
Can a good $30 bottle beat one that costs ten times more?
Open the study brief →Red light Shortlist in progress
Which red-light device is actually worth living with?
Open the study brief →Luggage Investigation in progress
Built to last—or merely built to look well traveled?
Open the study brief →The North List
What earned a place on the short list.
Exact products, the evidence, the true cost, and the catch. The first recommendations are still being investigated—not yet ready to buy.