Article Club

Dear Loyal Readers,

Welcome to October. Thank you for being here.

In just a moment, I’ll reveal this month’s featured article. But before that, two things:

* If you’re a newish subscriber: Since January 2020, I’ve chosen one article every month for a deep dive. Folks who are interested read it, annotate it, and discuss it. The author generously records a podcast interview. It’s been fun.

* A small celebration: This will be our 51st article of the month. 🎉 I’m very appreciative of the 150 of you and the 51 authors who have participated.

If you’ve never participated (that is to say, most of you), you’re invited. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community. I think you’ll enjoy it.

All right, let’s get down to business. I’m excited to announce this month’s article: “The Sextortion of Teenage Boys” Written by Olivia Carville and published in Bloomberg, the article is equal parts devastating and crucial to read, especially if you’re an educator or a parent of teenagers.

In short: I have no problem reading depressing articles. If you’ve subscribed to Article Club for a while, you understand this about me. But this piece was at a different level. In parts, not only was it sad, it was frightening.

Here’s what you can expect in today’s issue:

* My blurb about this month’s article

* A short biography about the author

* A podcast interview with the author

* What you need to do if you’d like to participate

Are you already confident that you’d like to join? All you need to do is click on the button below and sign up. 📖

1️⃣ The Sextortion Of Teenage Boys

First, a warning: This article is sad and disturbing. It discusses the suicide of Jordan DeMay, a 17-year-old senior at Marquette Senior High School in Michigan. Jordan played football and basketball and was the school’s homecoming king.

One Instagram message: That was all it took for scammers in Nigeria to convince Jordan DeMay that they were a sexy, innocent girl named Dani who liked to flirt and play “sexy games.” After sending a naked photo, Dani asked for one in return. Jordan’s decision to reciprocate cost him his life.

Even though this is a harrowing story, I found myself riveted and could not put my phone down before finishing the article. Professor Olivia Carville does an outstanding job reporting on the latest horrible technology trend: the sextortion of boys. She also follows Jordan’s family’s response to the tragedy, as well as puts the blame on Meta, other social media companies, and Congress for allowing these horrors to continue.

By Olivia Carville • Bloomberg • 26 min • Gift Link

 ✚ This article is free, but Bloomberg requires you to register your email. You can use the gift link above (made possible by paid subscribers). But for the full experience, which involves multimedia, I recommend the original link.

⭐️ About the author

Olivia Carville is an investigative reporter at Bloomberg News. She writes about the intersection of child safety and the digital world for Businessweek magazine. Ms. Carville is president of the New York Financial Writers' Association and an adjunct professor at Columbia Journalism School, where she teaches investigative reporting techniques. Ms. Carville studied business and economics reporting at Columbia Journalism School in 2017. Prior to moving to the United States, she was working as a multi-media investigative reporter at the largest daily newspapers in both Canada and New Zealand. Ms. Carville’s stories influenced legislation in both countries.

⭐️ About the interview

I’m always grateful that authors agree to do an interview for Article Club. I was deeply appreciative of Ms. Carville’s persistence and determination. It took us several tries and several months to schedule the interview, but Ms. Carville never gave up. I’m happy she didn’t, because the perspective she shared is very important.

In our conversation, we discussed a number of topics about her article, including:

* why Ms. Carville decided to write this article

* how she protects her subjects’ dignity and sense of control in her reporting

* how this piece affected her personally

* what we can do to educate our youth about sextortion

I encourage you to listen to the interview if you have the time. Thank you!

🙋🏽‍♀️ Interested? Here’s what’s next.

You are certainly welcome to read the article, listen to the interview, and call it a day. But if you’re intrigued, if you’re interested, you might want to discuss this article in more depth with other kind, thoughtful people.

If you sign up, I’ll be sure to get you all the info you need, including the Zoom link and what you can expect from the discussion.

If this will be your first time participating in Article Club, I’m 100% sure you’ll find that you’ll feel welcome. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community.

What do you think? Interested? All you need to do is sign up below. Or reach out with all of your questions.

Thank you for reading and listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To all of our 10 new subscribers — including Lav, Leo, Og'abek, Ingrid, Gurur, Mike, Deborah, and Viv — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Janice! Janet! Jeanette!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Wanda, thank you for getting the word out.

If you appreciate these interviews, value our discussions, and in general have come to trust that Article Club will have better things for you to read than your current habit of incessantly scrolling the Internet for hours on end, please consider a paid subscription. (Big thanks to Quincy, Article Club’s latest paid subscriber.)

If subscribing is not your thing, don’t despair: There are other ways you can support this newsletter. Recommend the newsletter to a friend (thanks Melissa!), leave a comment, send me an email, or send me a voicemail. I’d like to hear from you.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe below. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Loyal Readers,

Welcome to September. Thank you for being here.

In just a moment, I’ll reveal this month’s featured article. But before that, two things:

* If you’re a newish subscriber: Since January 2020, I’ve chosen one article every month for a deep dive. Folks who are interested read it, annotate it, and discuss it. The author generously records a podcast interview. It’s been fun.

* A small celebration: This will be our 50th article of the month. 🎉 I’m very appreciative of the 145 of you and the 50 authors who have participated.

If you’ve never participated (that is to say, most of you), you’re invited. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community. I think you’ll enjoy it.

All right, let’s get down to business. I’m excited to announce this month’s article: “What My Adult Autism Diagnosis Finally Explained” Written by Mary H.K. Choi and published in The Cut, the article is thought-provoking, nuanced, and heartfelt. In other words, it’s perfect for us at Article Club.

Here’s what you can expect in today’s issue:

* My blurb about this month’s article

* A short biography about the author

* A podcast interview with the author

* What you need to do if you’d like to participate

Are you already confident that you’d like to join? All you need to do is click on the button below and sign up. 📖

What My Adult Autism Diagnosis Finally Explained

A year ago, at the age of 43, author Mary H.K. Choi was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The diagnosis didn’t explain everything. But it gave her answers. Ever since she was a child, Ms. Choi had never understood why she was the way she was. She always longed to be different. She writes:

I wanted to know how to be breezy. To meet someone for a drink but order food because I’d missed lunch. To free myself of this habit of rehearsing conversations in advance only to be disappointed when none of my prepared talking points naturally arose. To pee when I wanted to, not when the other person did. No matter where I was, it seemed I was doomed to always feel as though I were in the window seat on a flight, prodding apologetically, mincing and smiling for the person in the aisle to get up.

I loved my friends but didn’t particularly want to spend time with them. I couldn’t stand the gnawing suspicion that everyone was humoring me. Or mad at me. Or shooting one another knowing looks because I was overstaying my welcome or not staying long enough. I reasoned that this was why I had friends but was never invited to their weddings. By my late 30s, I’d concluded I was simply bad at people. I was also indescribably lonely.

Until the diagnosis, in all aspects of her life — her interactions with her father, her relationship with her husband, the way she avoided people — Ms. Choi had constructed narratives to account for her behavior. It was because she was an immigrant, for instance. She was a people pleaser. She was a workaholic. For decades, those explanations held.

But then one day, she was fighting with her husband, Sam. Before leaving their apartment, to get some air, he said, “Jesus, I swear you’re autistic or have a personality disorder.”

In this essay, Ms. Choi shares her journey of finding out about her diagnosis, what it revealed, and how we still know very little about adults with autism.

By Mary H.K. Choi • The Cut • 23 min • Gift Link

⭐️ About the author

Mary H.K. Choi is the New York Times bestselling author of Emergency Contact, Permanent Record and Yolk. She is currently working on her fourth book. Her first adult novel.

Permanent Record is currently being adapted for a feature film; and Yolk, for a TV series, with Choi serving as executive producer and writer for both. She can be found on Twitter or Instagram for more musings. Very rarely on TikTok.

➕ A few words from me: Somehow I first learned about Ms. Choi not through her novels or her nonfiction pieces. Rather, it was through “Hey, Cool Life!” her micropod about mental health and creativity. In the podcast, organized as an audio diary, Ms. Choi authentically shares her celebrations and struggles navigating life as a writer. You might like it. It’s raw, generous, and even a bit hypnotic.

⭐️ About the interview

I’m always grateful that authors agree to do an interview for Article Club. They always bring it. But I must say: Ms. Choi really brought it. I was deeply appreciative of Ms. Choi’s candor, vulnerability, and wisdom. It was an honor to listen and learn from her.

In our conversation, we discussed a number of topics about her article, including:

* how finding out she has autism clarified many aspects of her life, but also called into question how our identities are constructed, and if we’re truly the authority on ourselves

* how she felt conflicted receiving the diagnosis, especially as a high-functioning adult requiring minimal support. “Was I autistic enough?” she wondered.

* how she approaches writing, and the writing choices she made in this piece

* how this article was the first time she has been able to write about her father, who recently passed away

I encourage you to listen to the interview if you have the time. Thank you!

🙋🏽‍♀️ Interested? Here’s what’s next.

You are certainly welcome to read the article, listen to the interview, and call it a day. But if you’re intrigued, if you’re interested, you might want to discuss this article in more depth with other kind, thoughtful people.

If so, here’s more information about how the rest of the month will go:

* Week 1: We sign up below and begin reading the article on our own.

* Week 2: We annotate this shared version of the article (optional but encouraged).

* Week 3: We share our first reactions on a discussion thread (optional but encouraged).

* Week 4: We discuss the article together on Zoom on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT.

If you sign up, I’ll be sure to get you all the info you need, including the Zoom link and what you can expect from the discussion.

If this will be your first time participating in Article Club, I’m 100% sure you’ll find that you’ll feel welcome. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community.

What do you think? Interested? All you need to do is sign up below. Or reach out with all of your questions.

Thank you for reading and listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To all of our 12 new subscribers — including Tatina, Marina, Neal, Sam, Devy, Zoe, Jen, Arthur, Sophie, and Susan — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Horace! Harry! Harriet!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Violet, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you appreciate these interviews, value our discussions, and in general have come to trust that Article Club will have better things for you to read than your current habit of incessantly scrolling the Internet for hours on end, please consider a paid subscription. (Big thanks to Gregory, Article Club’s latest paid subscriber.)

If subscribing is not your thing, don’t despair: There are other ways you can support this newsletter. Recommend the newsletter to a friend (thanks Nancy!), leave a comment, send me an email, or send me a voicemail. I’d like to hear from you.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe below. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Loyal Readers,

August has arrived. This means (at least) three things are true:

* It’s my birthday tomorrow. (Because I’m a Leo, I’ll be celebrating all month.)

* School is starting soon (very soon).

* You deserve a blockbuster issue. Because why not?

We’ve had a ton of new subscribers lately, so before launching into today’s issue, I want to say thank you for signing up. Welcome to Article Club. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community that believes that reading and discussing the best articles on race, education, and culture will grow our empathy.

One thing we do here (if you’re interested) is a deep dive on one article a month. We read it, annotate it, listen to the author’s viewpoints on it, and discuss it on the last Sunday afternoon of the month, on Zoom.

That’s what today’s issue is all about. No matter if you’re a new or longtime reader, I encourage you to participate. If you’re feeling extra bold, why not sign up now, even before I reveal the article?

All right, in case you need more information before you take the leap, I’m excited to announce this month’s article: “Is the hardest job in education convincing parents to send their kids to a San Francisco public school?” Written by Gail Cornwall and published in The Hechinger Report, the article is perfect for us to discuss as we head into the new school year.

If public schools matter to you, if you’re a parent or a teacher, if you care about issues of race and class, if you are feeling hopeless, if you want to feel hopeful, if you worry about whether public schools will survive — this article might be for you.

Here’s what you can expect in today’s issue:

* My blurb about this month’s article

* Some information about the author

* A double feature podcast episode: interviews with both the author of the article, Gail Cornwall, and the subject of the article, Lauren Koehler

* Information on what comes next if you want to join us this month

All right, let’s get to it. 📖

Is the hardest job in education convincing parents to send their kids to a San Francisco public school?

Traditional public schools are in a bit of trouble. Between the pandemic, private schools, charter schools, virtual schools, homeschooling, unschooling, and school refusal, does your neighborhood school stand a chance?

Of course, says Lauren Koehler, the executive director of San Francisco Unified School District’s Enrollment Center. Public schools face a bad rap, and it’s her job to convince leery families that their child will get an excellent education in SFUSD.

This is a task easier said than done. There’s plenty standing in the way, like:

* Decades of racism, white flight, and failed attempts to desegregate

* A bewildering lottery system that determines where students go to school

* We love reading stories about failed schools, so the press keeps publishing them

* White parents want diversity but don’t want their kid learning next to a Black kid

I found this article illuminating because it combines an historical look at enrollment issues in San Francisco, while also featuring Ms. Koehler and what her office is doing right now, on a daily basis, to keep the school system solvent.

By Gail Cornwall • The Hechinger Report • 22 min

⭐️ About the author

Gail Cornwall’s award-winning writing covers education, parenting, psychology, and a smattering of other issues impacting current and former children.

Her qualifications are cobbled together from a series of roles, including stay-at-home mother, higher education lawyer (Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge, LLP), ninth-grade English teacher (Crossland High School), federal law clerk (U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit), special education intern (Stanford’s Youth & Education Law Project), research assistant, teacher’s assistant, elementary and secondary education intern (U.S. Department of Education), and history major (University of California, Berkeley).

​Gail’s work has been published online by the Atlantic, Guardian, Washington Post, New York Times, USA Today, Salon, and U.S. News & World Report, among others – as well as in print by national glossies (the Nation, Good Housekeeping, and Real Simple) and newspapers (the LA Times, SF Chronicle, Boston Globe, and more).

⭐️ About the interviews

What usually happens for our article of the month is that the author generously agrees to participate in a podcast interview. That’s what happened again this time, and I’m very thankful that Ms. Cornwall said yes to answering our questions. We discussed a number of topics, including:

* How Ms. Cornwall met and built trust with Ms. Koehler

* How it felt to report a day-in-the-life of the SFUSD Enrollment Center

* How racism is a prime reason for the district’s enrollment challenges, and how Ms. Koehler is tirelessly working to counteract systemic inequities

It was a delight to speak with Ms. Cornwall. Our conversation made clear not only how much of an expert she is on this topic but also how compassionately she approaches her reporting and writing.

Now comes the part that has never happened before an Article Club: a bonus podcast interview with the subject of the article. This came about thanks to the kindness of longtime subscriber Tim, who reached out to me after reading the piece earlier this year. “Mark,” he said, “did you know that I work with Lauren? Want me to reach out to see if she’d be interested in being interviewed?” Well, of course!

Given that Ms. Koehler is at the center of this piece, it was an extra gift getting to interview her. We discussed a number of topics, including:

* How Ms. Koehler felt when she first got the job

* How she makes decisions about allocating the enrollment center’s resources

* How she approaches engaging white families on their decision making process

I encourage you to listen to both interviews if you have the time. You’ll likely notice how the conversations complement one another, and how Ms. Cornwall and Ms. Koehler’s thinking intersects on a number of issues that urban school districts face.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Interested? Here’s what’s next.

You are certainly welcome to read the article, listen to the interviews, and call it a day. But if you’re intrigued, if you’re interested, you might want to discuss this article in more depth with other kind, thoughtful people.

If so, here’s more information about how the rest of the month will go:

* Week 1: We sign up below and begin reading the article on our own.

* Week 2: We annotate this shared version of the article (optional but encouraged).

* Week 3: We share our first reactions on a discussion thread (optional but encouraged).

* Week 4: We discuss the article together on Zoom on Sunday, August 25, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT.

If you sign up, I’ll be sure to get you all the info you need, including the Zoom link and what you can expect from the discussion.

If this will be your first time participating in Article Club, I’m 100% sure you’ll find that you’ll feel welcome. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community.

What do you think? Interested? All you need to do is sign up below. Or reach out with all of your questions.

Thank you for reading and listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To all of our 12 new subscribers — Nancy, Scott, Nicole, Maria, Mariana, Bexy, Abdullahi, MJ, Heather, Tom, Moses, and Siddhi — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Christopher! Christian! Chris!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Ulysses, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you appreciate these interviews, value our discussions, and in general have come to trust that Article Club will have better things for you to read than your current habit of incessantly scrolling the Internet for hours on end, please consider a paid subscription. (Big thanks to Erik, Article Club’s latest paid subscriber.)

If subscribing is not your thing, don’t despair: There are other ways you can support this newsletter. Recommend the newsletter to a friend (thanks Mary!), leave a comment, send me an email, or send me a voicemail. I’d like to hear from you.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe below. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome, new subscribers, and welcome back, loyal readers! I’m happy you’re here.

Today’s issue is dedicated to an interview with Mike Hixenbaugh, co-author of Southlake and author of They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms.

Published by NBC News, Southlake is a six-part podcast about how a mostly-white community in a Texas suburb failed to respond to the harm that white students caused when they chanted the N-word in a video after a homecoming dance in 2018. (It’s about a whole lot more, too.)

I highly encourage you to listen to the podcast (if you haven’t already), then take in the interview with Mike, then sign up for our discussion on Saturday, July 20, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. I’d be very happy if you were there.

⭐️ About the author

Mike Hixenbaugh is a senior investigative reporter for NBC News, co-creator of the Southlake and Grapevine podcasts, and author of They Came for the Schools: One Town’s Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America’s Classrooms.

Mr. Hixenbaugh’s reporting in recent years on the battles over race, gender, and sexuality in public schools won a Peabody Award and was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

While working as a newspaper reporter in Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas, Hixenbaugh uncovered deadly failures in the U.S. military, abuses in the child welfare system, and safety lapses at major hospitals, winning numerous national awards and triggering reforms aimed at saving lives and keeping families together.

Mr. Hixenbaugh lives in Maryland with his wife and four children.

⭐️ About the interview

I got a chance to interview Mike last week, and it was an honor. Our conversation was one of my favorites ever at Article Club. In addition to talking about Southlake, we really went deep into his book (which I highly recommend).

We discussed a number of topics, including:

* how he got interested in the story in the first place

* how his identity as a white man influenced his reporting

* how he tried to take in the viewpoints of conservative Southlake residents

* how listening to young people was paramount

Most of all, I appreciated Mike’s generosity and thoughtfulness. It was abundantly clear from the interview how deeply Mike has gotten to know this community and how thoroughly he has reported this story. He is not afraid of nuance — and he is not afraid to tell the truth. As an educator and a journalism fan, I could have talked to Mike for much longer. Our conversation made me very excited to discuss Southlake with you.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Come Join Our Discussion on July 20

I urge you to join us on Saturday, July 20 as we discuss Southlake. We’ll be focusing on Episodes 2 and 3, “Just a Word” and “The Not-So-Silent Majority.” It’ll take a little over an hour to listen to the two episodes.

If you’re interested, I’ll be sure to get you all the info you need, including the Zoom link and what you can expect from the discussion.

If this will be your first time participating in Article Club, I’m 100% sure you’ll find that you’ll feel welcome. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community.

What do you think? Interested? All you need to do is sign up below. Or reach out with all of your questions.

Thank you for reading and listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To all of our 12 new subscribers — including Dave, Emily, Roni, Hadiya, Laura, Juho, Aida, Yvonne, Adonis, and Morgan — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Ben! Benji! Benjamin!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Tyren, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you appreciate these interviews, value our discussions, and in general have come to trust that Article Club will have better things for you to read than your current habit of incessantly scrolling the Internet for hours on end, please consider a paid subscription. (Big thanks to Cruise, Article Club’s latest paid subscriber.)

If subscribing is not your thing, don’t despair: There are other ways you can support this newsletter. Recommend the newsletter to a friend (thanks Kate!), leave a comment, send me an email, or send me a voicemail. I’d like to hear from you.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe below. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome, new subscribers, and welcome back, loyal readers! I’m happy you’re here.

Today’s issue is dedicated to an interview with Amanda E. Machado, the author of “The Abstract Rage To Protect,” June’s article of the month.

First published in The Adroit Journal, “The Abstract Rage To Protect” is about masculinity, the need for men to protect women, the violence that follows, and what we can do about it.

I highly encourage you to read the piece (if you haven’t already), then listen to the interview, then sign up for our discussion on Sunday, June 30, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. I’d be very happy to connect with you in conversation.

⭐️ About the article

“There is a difference between a man’s sense of protection and a man’s sense of violence,” a male friend once reassured me. But I never could tell the difference.

When Amanda E. Machado tells men that she was once sexually assaulted at a festival, with her ex-boyfriend nearby but lost in the crowd, they instantly become ashamed of him. “How could he let this happen?” they ask. “He was supposed to protect you.”

In this enlightening essay, Amanda explores notions of masculinity, weaving personal experiences with the work of Phil Christman, a lecturer at the University of Michigan. Christman writes, “When I try to nail down what masculinity is — what imperative gives rise to all this pain seeking and stoicism, this showboating asceticism and loud silence — I come back to this: Masculinity is an abstract rage to protect.”

The biggest problem with this “abstract rage to protect,” Amanda argues, is that there is a fine line between a desire to protect and a desire to inflict violence. “The aggression men learn to protect the women they love, becomes exactly how they hurt the women they love.”

⭐️ About the author

Amanda E. Machado (she/they) is a writer, public speaker and facilitator with ancestry from Mexico and Ecuador. Their work has been published in The Atlantic, Guernica, The Washington Post, Adroit Journal, Slate, The Guardian, Sierra Magazine, among many other outlets. In addition to their essay writing, Amanda is also a public speaker and workshop facilitator on issues of justice and anti-oppression for organizations around the world. They are also the founder of Reclaiming Nature Writing, a multi-week online workshop that centers the experiences of people of color in how we tell stories about the outdoors.

Amanda currently lives on unceded Ohlone land in Oakland, California.

⭐️ About the interview

Alongside fellow Article Clubber Sarai Bordeaux, I got a chance to interview Amanda a few weeks ago. It was an honor. We discussed a number of topics, including:

* that we all have a desire to be protected

* that we’re socialized that protection must be physical and therefore may involve violence

* that we have a collective responsibility to find ways to redefine protection

Most of all, I appreciated Amanda’s generosity. It was clear that their thinking is expansive and non-judgmental. Listening to Amanda got me to want to be more imaginative in how I support others and how I show up for other people when they seek emotional protection. And it made me excited to discuss their piece with you.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Come Join Our Discussion on June 30

I urge you to join us on June 30 as we discuss our article of the month.

If you’re interested, I’ll be sure to get you all the info you need, including the Zoom link and this version of the article, where you can annotate and share your thoughts with other Article Clubbers.

If this will be your first time participating in Article Club, I’m 100% sure you’ll find that you’ll feel welcome. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community.

What do you think? Interested? All you need to do is sign up below. Or reach out with all of your questions.

Thank you for reading and listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 13 new subscribers — including Lex, Charlotte, Aoife, Martin, Susan, Ana, Alla, Rosie, Simone, Sham, Riccardo and Maarten — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Alison! Allison! Allyson!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Salvador, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you appreciate the articles, like the gift links, value our discussions, and in general have come to trust that Article Club will have better things for you to read than your current habit of incessantly scrolling the Internet for hours on end, please consider a paid subscription. (Big thanks to Boris, Article Club’s latest paid subscriber.)

If subscribing is not your thing, don’t despair: There are other ways you can support this newsletter. Recommend the newsletter to a friend (thanks Juan!), leave a comment, send me an email, or send me a voicemail. I’d like hearing from you.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe below. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome, new subscribers, and welcome back, loyal readers! I’m happy you’re here.

Today’s issue is dedicated to an interview with Jonathan Escoffery, the author of “In Flux,” March’s article of the month.

First published in Passages North, “In Flux” is a short story about race, identity, and the dreaded question, “What are you?” It’s about Blackness, belonging, and the main character Trelawny’s struggle to figure out where he fits in.

Mr. Escoffery writes:

I was interested in what complications an American-born boy of Jamaican parentage, and of African and European descent, presenting, to some degree, as racially ambiguous, might find in claiming a neat, pre-packaged identity, and how the competing attitudes—the contradictory denials and affirmations—held by those within his various communities might further complicate this, and how shifting geographic and class locations would complicate this even further.

🎙️ I warmly invite you to join our discussion of “In Flux” on Sunday, March 24, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. We’ll meet on Zoom. It’d be wonderful to have you there.

Alongside fellow Article Clubber Sarai Bordeaux, I got a chance to interview Mr. Escoffery last week. It was an honor. We discussed a number of topics, including:

* the shame the main character feels as a result of having his identity questioned

* the use of the second person point of view and its impact on the reader

* the messiness of identity and our society’s disdain for nuance and complexity

Most of all, I appreciated Mr. Escoffery’s thoughtfulness and introspection. It was clear that he does not settle for simple answers, especially when it comes to issues of race. Listening to Mr. Escoffery got me to want to re-read his piece. It encouraged me to share his piece with my colleagues at school. (Our students would appreciate it, I’m certain.) And it made me excited to discuss his piece with you.

🙋🏽 Before you go: It’s time for a poll!

I’m thinking about making some changes to this newsletter, based on what you’re appreciating and finding valuable. I’d love to hear from you.

Thank you for reading and listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 6 new subscribers — including Jiaway, Amit, Ryan, Teghan, and Maria — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Zaretta! Zachary! Zaden!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Gregg, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Vanessa (thank you). If you’ve subscribed for free for a long time, and you appreciate the articles and author interviews, or if you’ve joined one or more discussions, I encourage you to take the leap. You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. It’s $5 a month or $36 a year.

📬 Invite your friends to subscribe. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? I’d love it if you encouraged them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you for spreading the word.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe below. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome, new subscribers, and welcome back, loyal readers! I’m happy you’re here.

Today’s issue is dedicated to an interview with Paul Tough, the author of “Saying No to College,” January’s article of the month.

Published in The New York Times Magazine last September, the piece explains the significant shift in Americans’ views on the value of college over the past decade. Whereas in 2010, when nearly all families wanted their children to attend college, now only half do. And 45 percent of Gen Z says a high school diploma is sufficient to “ensure financial security.”

What explains this trend — this darkening mood about college? Two things, Mr. Tough explains:

* There’s a difference between the college wage premium and the college wealth premium. In other words, you’ll make more money if you graduate from college. But that doesn’t mean you’ll become more well-off.

* Going to college is a little like going to a casino. If you graduate, you’re largely good (unless you pay full price at NYU and get a Humanities degree). But if you drop out, and you’ve got debt — that’s another story.

There’s much more in the article, but I don’t want to give away too many spoilers. If you haven’t read it yet, I urge you to do so — and to join our discussion if you’re intrigued. We’re meeting on January 28 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm PT.

I got a chance to interview Mr. Tough (again!) last week, and it was an honor. If you’re a long-time subscriber, you know that Mr. Tough helped get Article Club off the ground. Back in February 2020, he shared his thoughts on “Getting an A,” a chapter from his book, The Inequality Machine. He was generous and thoughtful then. Nothing has changed.

About our conversation: I won’t give everything away, because it’s better to listen, but we discussed a number of topics, including:

* how there’s a major disconnect between “college experts” and regular American families on the value of higher education

* how this piece required a different kind of reporting and approach to writing

* how giving college advice to young people is way more complicated than it used to be

* how even though there’s “something really wrong in higher education,” our country is doomed if this current trend continues

Most of all, it became abundantly clear in our conversation that Mr. Tough knows what he’s talking about and knows how to write. Most of all, I appreciate his clarity and compassion. Especially if you’re a student, parent, or educator, this is an article that is worth your time and attention.

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 6 new subscribers — including Scott, Hoa, Sammy, Amimul, and Kevin — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Quincy! Quinn! Quince!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Wayne, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Molly (thank you). If you’ve subscribed for free for a long time, and you appreciate the articles and author interviews, or if you’ve joined one or more discussions, I encourage you to take the leap. You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. It’s $5 a month or $36 a year.

📬 Invite your friends to subscribe. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? I’d love it if you encouraged them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you for spreading the word.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Dear Loyal Readers,

Hope you’re having a relaxing (and reading-heavy) end of the year.

I’ll be back next Thursday to reveal our January article of the month. It’s going to be a good one, and I urge you to join our discussion.

Until then, I welcome you to listen to Article Club’s first-ever end-of-year podcast reflection episode, in which Melinda and I discuss some highlights from 2023 and what’s coming up in the new year.

Among other things, we chat about:

* our favorite articles of the year (can you guess?)

* our favorite moments from our monthly discussions

* what we’re looking forward to in 2024 (will Roxane Gay be joining us?)

* how Melinda is going to read Middlemarch

To listen: Hit the play button up top or add Article Club to your favorite podcast player.

In the episode, Melinda and I also share our deep appreciation of our reading community here at Article Club. In other words: This means you.

Thank you for subscribing, reading the articles, listening to author interviews, joining the discussions, and sharing your perspectives.

Thank you for being thoughtful and kind.

As we head into 2024 — which will no doubt be a roller coaster — I’m reminded that authentic connection does not come easily. True empathy does not come easily. What we continue to build here is special. In fact, in this clip, Melinda calls it magical.

Thank you again, and see you in the New Year!

Mark

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome, new subscribers, and welcome back, loyal readers! I’m happy you’re here.

⭐️ Before we get started: If you live near Oakland, join me and fellow Article Clubbers at an in-person gathering on Thursday, Nov. 30, at Room 389, beginning at 5:30 pm. It’s a great way to connect with other thoughtful readers and chat about the articles. It’d be wonderful to see you. Here’s more info and where you can get your free ticket.

Today’s issue is dedicated to an interview with Larissa MacFarquhar, the author of “The Fog: Living in Adoption’s Emotional Aftermath,” November’s article of the month.

Originally published in The New Yorker in April, the piece profiles three adoptees who have come out of “the fog,” or the denial of the trauma of being adopted. Not all adoptees have mixed or negative emotions, but many do.

They seek their birth parents but are lied to; they can’t obtain their original birth certificates; they’re told they should be happy they’re adopted when their feelings are complicated; they find the adoption system corrupt; they feel like they’re living a double life, estranged from the person they really are.

By focusing on the lives of Deanna, Joy, and Angela, the article also discusses the history and problems of three categories of adoption: invisible (or closed) adoptions, transracial adoptions, and international adoptions.

If you haven’t read it yet, I urge you to do so — and to join our discussion on December 3, if you’re moved.

I got a chance to interview Ms. MacFarquhar last Friday, and it was an honor. I won’t give everything away, because it’s better to listen, but we discussed a number of topics, including:

* how Ms. MacFarquhar became interested in adoption after exploring the problems of the foster care system

* how being adopted is a profoundly different way of being human than growing up with one’s biological family

* how many adoptees feel they’re not real, that their stories are scrambled, that their identities are disorientating, and that they learn about themselves bit by bit

* how although adoption is sometimes the best outcome for a child, our society should be more supportive of birth parents who love and want to keep their kids

Most of all, it became abundantly clear in our conversation that Ms. MacFarquhar is a thoughtful reporter and writer. Her approach to profiling is exquisite; she tells her subjects’ stories directly and with compassion. And no matter your background knowledge on adoption, and no matter your lived experience, this is an article that is worth your time and attention.

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 3 new subscribers — including Jennifer and Bernice — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Hunter! Hudson! Hakeem!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Naya, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Christopher (thank you). If you’ve subscribed for free for a long time, and you appreciate the articles and author interviews, or if you’ve joined one or more discussions, I encourage you to take the leap. You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. It’s $5 a month or $36 a year.

📬 Invite your friends to subscribe. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? I’d love it if you encouraged them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you for spreading the word.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome, new subscribers, and welcome back, loyal readers! I’m happy you’re here.

Today’s issue is dedicated to an interview with Dashka Slater, the author of “The Instagram Account that Shattered a California High School,” October’s article of the month.

Originally published in The New York Times Magazine in August, the piece explores a racist social media account created at a Bay Area high school in 2017 and its repercussions on young people and their community. The piece also raises the question: What does accountability really mean?

If you haven’t read it yet, I urge you to do so — and to join our discussion on October 29, if you’re moved.

I got a chance to interview Ms. Slater a few weeks back with fellow Article Clubber Melinda. It was an honor. I won’t give everything away, because it’s better to listen, but we discussed a number of topics, including:

* how edgy humor is a premium in boy culture, how it causes harm, and how masculinity is contested terrority right now

* how even in progressive places like the Bay Area, we think of accountability as punishment — that justice is balancing out the pain someone else has caused

* how kids have a strong sense of justice, and how they want to do the right thing, but that they need guidance from their teachers and parents

* how we as adults often don’t know what we’re doing, and how our own emotions get in the way of supporting our children

Most of all, it became abundantly clear in our conversation that Ms. Slater is a thoughtful and compassionate reporter and writer. She sees nuance and complexity. She doesn’t throw anyone under the bus. She gets to know people and writes with a ton of empathy. But this is not to say that Ms. Slater is wishy-washy or doesn’t have strong feelings about what happened at Albany High School. She does. She just understands that healing does not come via punishment.

One of the hardest things for anybody, any human, is to take a breath and say, I don’t know. And I think that was really lacking in Albany and in most places in a time of crisis, because everybody’s having emotions and they want immediate action. And as a result, there was a lot of action that wasn‘t very well informed with all the dynamics that it took me five years to reconstruct.

So I always say, the first thing is don‘t rush. Because there‘s a lot that you don‘t know. And the more you talk, the less you‘re listening in general. I think the other piece for adults is to not become the story. We often forget in our relationships with young people that we are not the story, and our job is to be teachers, coaches, mentors. We are supposed to assist.

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 7 new subscribers — including Dave, Janina, Anna, Shoshana, and Kerry — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Lauri! Lori! Larry!), you’re pretty great, too. Loyal reader Quan, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

❤️ If you like Article Club, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber. If you’ve subscribed for free for a long time, and you appreciate the articles and author interviews, and if you’ve joined one or more discussions, I encourage you to take the plunge. You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of Article Club. Plus you’ll receive personal audio letters, invites to events, and other perks and prizes. It costs $5 a month or $36 a year.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit articleclub.substack.com/subscribe