It’s easy to chase the trends. Especially when your background is in law, finance, and politics like me. So when tariffs were announced in April, when Charlie Kirk was assassinated, or when the infamous big short investor Michael Burry declared an AI bubble, it’s tempting to chase what everyone’s focused on. 

And I did that in 2025. I wrote about tariffs. I wrote about Charlie Kirk. And I wrote about an AI bubble. 

But while some of those pieces did well and made money, none of them were my best work. 

It’s a big reason why I shuttered The Political Prism (for now). Writing and analyzing about current events is like chasing the ghost of Christmas present who distracts you from yourself. 

The bigger problem is that none of those stories were truly mine. 

They were about other people, events, or things. And while they were analyzed or interpreted through my personal prism, they weren’t really stories that only I could write. 

I have the inverse challenge in my growing body of filmmaking. I now have over 400 videos (mostly shorts) on YouTube. And most of those movies are not movies at all, but random vlogs with no narrative arc, structure, or story. 

Unless you’re already famous or especially interesting, nobody cares. And I don’t blame them.

After years of putting art out onto the internet, I’ve found that the most successful (and my most fulfilling) work finds the happy medium between my writing and filmmaking. It tells a story about something people care about but is uniquely mine. 

I’m not trying to compete with traditional media or political influencers about world events. I’m not trying to be Mr. Beast or Casey Neistat on YouTube. I’m trying to be John Polonis. 

So while that means weighing in occasionally on what’s going on in the world, it also means being strategic when I do. Is my perspective unique? Am I adding value that only I can add to the conversation? 

These questions are now my North Star. And they are not foolproof. I’m like a child gazing at a big delicious marshmallow when a new world event hits, feeling obligated to give my take, when I’m guaranteed another marshmallow if I simply ignore it and focus on only stories I can tell. 

I need to do better in 2026 about earning that second marshmallow. 

Because when I earned them in 2025, they were particularly gratifying. Whether that was getting on the homepage of Medium with my story (also sent via my newsletter), 4 Years Ago, I Entered the Wilderness. Or filming a snow day in upstate New York while drawing lessons about work and childhood from my life. 

Both pieces were meaningful to me, but more importantly, they were created to give value to others. They were stories only I could tell. 

This work is about the search for meaning through travel, food, and the life we actually live. If that resonates, you can follow my newsletter and films on YouTube in 2026.

For now, here are my best works from 2025 that mostly aligned with that North Star. Ten essays. Ten films. Not all of which were my most popular, but as with any art, that should never be the point. 

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My best essays from 2025

1. 4 Years Ago, I Entered the Wilderness. This may be my best essay ever. It’s definitely the realest and most personal about my decision to leave a great career to become a stay-at-home-dad and an . . . artist? Political commentator? Finance influencer? I’m still trying to figure it out and that’s the point of the wilderness. 

2. More Anthony Bourdain, Less Toxic Masculinity. We need better male role models in society and in this essay I tried define who that should be in the mold of the late Anthony Bourdain. Was he perfect? Absolutely not. But did he ask great questions about the world and strive to be a better human? Absolutely. 

3. Why Lex Fridman? Speaking of the man-o-verse, here’s a profile on one of its contemporary figureheads, Lex Fridman. Lex is a strange dude with a massive audience who occasionally publishes banger interviews, but who also has a lot of baggage, questionable expertise, and the classic “I’m just asking questions, bro” problems.

4. ‘Why I Write’: Finding Purpose in One of George Orwell’s Best Essays. This is the type of piece I want to do more of in 2026. Applying lessons from one of the greats — in this case, George Orwell — to our modern era through my personal lens. If you want a great essay on purpose (beyond writing), this one is for you.

5. How To Use the Socratic Method In Your Own Life. I’m a big fan of the writer Ryan Holiday and how he applies philosophy to modern day. We need more of this, and this essay is an attempt to take one of the most powerful philosophical tools — the Socratic Method — and help people apply it to their everyday lives. 

6. Crypto’s GENIUS Idea For the Next Financial Crisis. Occasionally I have to strap on my regulatory and legal shoulder pads and hit the financial turf. As many of my regular readers know, I used to work as a lawyer on Wall Street trading floors and when I sniff a regulatory crisis waiting to happen, sometimes I can’t help myself. This piece is an analysis of the stablecoin crisis America may likely welcome because of the GENIUS Act that was passed in 2025. 

7. Why Japan’s 7-Eleven Will Never Work in America. Japanese 7-Elevens are famous and they are allegedly coming to America soon. In this analytical piece based on my recent travel to Tokyo, experience inside American 7-Elevens, and research into American and Japanese consumer habits, I argue why Japanese 7-Elevens won’t work in America. The piece provides a broader take on American consumerism, culture, and our relationship with food. 

8. America’s Bread Problem and My Six Month Sourdough Journey. I’ve been baking bread for a full year now. My sourdough journey started in January 2025, and one of my first loaves arrived on Inauguration Day, which symbolically or not, came out as a dud. This piece details my journey at 6 months, including why I started it in the first place (because most American bread is terrible both in quality and nutrition).

9. I Went to Asia for Tokyo, but Hong Kong Stole My Heart. When I had the chance to go to Hong Kong this year, I insisted that we visit Tokyo. It had been my dream city to visit for decades. Little did I know that our “layover” in Hong Kong would end up being the main event for me. The city stole my heart and this is a love letter that explains why. I also made an Instagram reel on this topic that went viral, with over 400k views.

10. Chasing Dim Sum Dreams With My Son in Hong Kong. For a more specific and detailed take on the food in Hong Kong, I wrote this piece. Food is an important vehicle for me in understanding and connecting with a person, place, and culture. And Hong Kong has some of the best food I have ever tasted in the world. I hope this piece shows how food can open doors to so much more in life.

My best films from 2025

1. A Snow Day. A short film on household labor, the stillness of a peaceful snow day, and the small window of childhood that still exists. 

2. Best Bulgarian Food: An American Perspective. My wife’s family is Bulgarian and I consider myself adopted by the culture. My entry point? The food, of course. Here’s my American perspective on the beauty of Bulgarian cuisine (which is very underrated!). 

3. Nantucket VLOG: What To See and Do, and is it Too Expensive? This is more of a vlog format, which as mentioned, I’m moving away from, but it does capture some of the social commentary I want to dig into more. Is a place like Nantucket too expensive for what it offers? Watch to see. 

4. Testing the Le Creuset Bread Oven… and America’s Bread Problem. My wife bought me a bread oven for Father’s Day in 2025, and I made this video as I tested it, while providing commentary on America’s bread problem and why I’m baking so much sourdough now. 

5. Is MVST the Best Carry-On Luggage for $395? My YouTube channel received its first sponsorship this year! The luggage company, MVST. They were great to partner with and I’m loving their suitcase to this day. Here’s a review I did as we travel from New York City to upstate New York over a long weekend. I also made a follow-up videoabout my thoughts on the suitcase a few months later as we traveled from Hong Kong to Tokyo. 

6. I Tried the 16 Best Bagels in NYC. When I think of New York City, I often think about food (do you see a trend here?). Bagels are one of our most iconic foods, so I dug into the top spots as rated by the New York Times. I went to all 16 shops and came up with my own definitive ranking, including my favorite spot which did not make the NYT’s list. 

7. Underrated NYC: Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb? One area I want to focus on more in my filmmaking is telling stories of places that I think are undervalued or underrated. Social media has caused many of us to follow the herd to specific hot spots and trendy shops, while neglecting the classics and many important institutions in our culture. Grant’s Tomb is one of those places. So I told its story, along with the story of one of the most underrated Americans, Ulysses S. Grant. 

8. 5 Books That Transformed My Worldview. In 2026, I plan to do more book-related films. It ties into my writing (see Orwell essay above) and I love reading (usually aiming for at least 2 books per month or 24 per year). This video details some of the most transformative books I’ve ever read. Perhaps some may be transformative for you too!

9. I Waited 24 Years For This – My First ALCS Game | 2025 Seattle Mariners. I’m an avid baseball fan. Have been ever since I learned what baseball was. So when my beloved Seattle Mariners made the playoffs and the championship series for the first time in 24 years, I flew out to Seattle to go to a game with my Mom. It was really special and I documented it here. 

10. Chocolate Chip Sourdough Bread That Tastes Like Pain Au Chocolat. Perhaps my favorite sourdough bread to date is this chocolate chip sourdough. It seriously tastes like the classic French pain au chocolats minus the mounds of butter. It’s a sinful loaf. It’s delicious. And it’s reason enough to attempt making your own sourdough bread. I hope you do.

And I hope you enjoyed these lists. 

Thank you to everyone who has read and watched my work in 2025. Cheers to a great 2026 of more exploration, more baking, and more searching for meaning. 

Au revoir.