Volcanoes are erupting in The Philippines, but on-fire Australia received some welcome rain. The Iran war cries have been called off and The Donald’s military powers are about to be hamstrung by the Senate. Meanwhile, his impeachment trial is starting, and we’re all on Twitter for a front-row seat.
Tag: Culture
10/22/2020
We Need Truth Now More than Ever
A curated collection on toxic polarization and how to get out of it
10/22/2020
Pope endorses civil union laws for same-sex couples
The remarks from the leader of the Roman Catholic Church have the potential to shift the debate for some of its 1.3 billion followers.
10/20/2020
Reimagining the American Dream
In The Epic of America, his best-selling historical narrative of 1931, James Truslow Adams coined the term, the “American Dream,” conjuring up “a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
The events of 2020 are a stark reminder that Adams’ quintessentially American ideal has not been fully realized, though it continues to be the aspiration of many dreamers both within and beyond the borders of the United States. An exploration of what it would take to reimagine the American Dream will attempt to identify the essential elements all individuals must possess to thrive and attain their personal American Dreams.
10/15/2020
How to Actually Make America Great
Reversing 50 years of social decline.
10/08/2020
The Deep Stories of Our Time
After Arlie Hochschild published her book Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, just before the 2016 election, it came to feel prescient. The conversation Krista had with her in 2018 has now come to point straight to the heart of 2020—a year in which many of us might say we feel like strangers in our own land and in our own world. Hochschild created a field within sociology looking at the social impact of emotion. She explains how our stories and truths—what we try to debate as issues in our social and political lives—are felt, not merely factual. And she shares why, as a matter of pragmatism, we have to take emotion seriously and do what feels unnatural: get curious and caring about the other side.
09/26/2020
Our Big F*cking Dilemma
Tristan Harris, star of The Social Dilemma (#1 on Netflix), in a conversation that goes much deeper into social media’s evils and what each of us can do about it.
09/28/2020