True crime programs—whether they’re podcasts, Netflix miniseries, or regular television shows—are wildly popular these days. In addition, such programs have inspired the development of interactive fan resources on social media. New Republic editor and writer Laura Marsh explores the phenomenon in this Spring 2016 article in Dissent. Read it here: Marsh, “Murder, they wrote” Although Marsh is …
Continue reading Murder, they wrote: Laura Marsh on true crime dramas and amateur sleuthing
We tend to think of engineering as a world very distant from the arts; and indeed, designing a highway and writing a poem are very different activities. Or are they? Might the skills required for one be useful in accomplishing the other? Professors Julio M. Ottino and Gary Saul Morson propose bridging engineering and the …
Continue reading The structural properties of being human: Ottino & Morson dare to dream a bridge
Harvard University, now that’s a real college. You know what? So are Kirkwood Community College in Iowa, Harold Washington College in Chicago, and every community college throughout the United States—over a thousand in all. In this February 2015 New York Times essay, writer Kristin O’Keefe argues that community colleges and their students merit more respect …
Continue reading Real people, real college: Kristin O’Keefe on academic snobbery
Organic food. Do those words invoke images of a hand holding a spoon over a steaming bowl or a hand holding a shovel over a fertile mound of dirt? We’re guessing that your immediate association is with the food, but what about the farming? In this October 2015 Medium post, originally published in the Des …
What kinds of jobs would you describe as enviable? Is teaching assistant on your list? Probably not. In the Mississippi Delta communities around Greenville, however, the position of teaching assistant ranks quite high. Miriam Hall, education fellow at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, explains why in this January 2016 article in Slate. Read it here: Hall, …
Continue reading Not that Delta: Miriam Hall on education aspirations in rural Mississippi
Calvin Klein underwear models, definitely eye candy. But what effect do underwear ads have on our own body image? Spencer Althouse and BuzzFeed set up a project with seven everyday guys, some Calvins, and a studio photographer. The participants’ comments on the experience (along with the photos!) are in this August 2015 post. Read it …
Continue reading Me in my Calvins: BuzzFeed on body image and underwear ads
When food security pops up in the news, as it does frequently these days, it usually refers to having two things: a grocery store nearby and money to spend there. For Inuit people in Alaska, however, food security means something very different. The Seattle Times published this December 2015 report by Alaska-based Associated Press reporter …
Continue reading Not one-size-fits-all: Dan Joling on food security in Alaska
If you haul a backpack full of textbooks all day, you might appreciate an e-book version of some of the heavier ones. Technology writer Clive Thompson appreciates reading on a small screen, but for different reasons. He posted this essay on his blog, Collision Detection, in February 2014. Read it here: Thompson, "“Why 18th century books …
Continue reading Size matters: Clive Thompson on the benefits of small screen reading
Retail jobs are famously low-paying, with erratic schedules and sometimes shift changes without prior notice. Little wonder, then, that an hourly-paid retail worker would aspire to be promoted—to a salaried low-level management position with its promise of an ascent up the corporate ladder. But it doesn’t always work out so nicely, as writer Virginia Sole-Smith …
Continue reading Dreams in overtime: Newsweek on labor laws for salaried workers
Every day we “gotta eat,” right? Smartphones and apps have paved the way for a variety of new businesses designed to feed customers’ bellies and entrepreneurs’ bank accounts. Writer Robin Sloan discusses two such businesses and the deeper implications of their operating models in this November 2015 article in the Atlantic. Read it here: Sloan, “Why I …
Continue reading My neighbor’s kitchen: Robin Sloan on buying prepared meals
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