In Five Years, David Bowie sings of social connection and sensory overload in the face of impending apocalypse. The crisis seems to recalibrate the narrator’s appreciation of social life while sharpening his powers to observe it. Five years somehow seems just long enough for wistful reflection but just short enough to force the issue with some urgency.

Whether one views this Inauguration Day as the beginning of the end or an altogether new beginning is, of course, a matter of perspective. At TSP, today marks our five-year anniversary, which we view as an opportunity to eat cake for breakfast. And, one might say, the end of our beginning. So we did a little recalibrating in our first graduate board meeting of 2017, talking through our appreciation of social research and ways to sharpen our vision and perspective in sharing it on TSP.

In some ways, we’re lucky to be alive. About 50 percent of small businesses survive five years and we certainly wouldn’t have made it this far without the tremendous support of our staff, students, contributors, and partners. But we want to do more and do it better — for the next five years and the five years after that. Thanks for reading and for supporting us. If we knew you were comin’ we’d have baked a bigger cake.