For the Good of the Public | The Morning Five

Wear is the Love, Episode 19

In Episode 19, we discuss Michael’s writing from last week. It’s a good episode if you need to catch-up on the Dobbs Supreme Court opinion leak. Plus, we talk Italy. Our favorite!

Apocalypse Now: How the Left and Right Get Danger Wrong (CT)

Quick Thoughts on Alito’s Draft Opinion and the Fallout

Dobbs, Accountability and the Shifting Ground Under Roe

Food and the Life of the Nations (Mere Orthodoxy)

Episode notes:

Good Enough Podcast episode

Italian polling on EU membership

The Top 5 Articles for your week

“Since Derrida” (Aeon Magazine)

Because this essay looks at the effects post-structuralist thinkers like Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault have on identity politics.

“We Pay to Keep the Old Out of Poverty. Why Won’t We Do the Same for the Young?” (NYT)

Because this framing is helpful to think about the array of poverty policies we have the ability to enact for children.

“The One Parenting Decision That Really Matters” (The Atlantic)

Because statistically speaking, where (geographically) a child grows up has the most impact on the later success of that child. Are we all moving to Madison, Wisconsin now, or what?

“Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: Inside Shein’s Sudden Rise” (Wired)

Because if Forever21 was the fast fashion giant of the 2000s, Shein is the new model. But labor reports and environmental reports show the ultra-fast retailer is inaugurating a new global reign for unsustainable business practices.

“How a Massacre of Nearly 300 in Syria Was Revealed” (New/Lines Magazine)

Because we must not forget the violence and turmoil of the last 11 years in Syria, and how it’s far from over. (n.b. there’s coarse language and fairly descriptive details of violence and death in this essay)

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Wear is the Love Episode 18

Should student loans be forgiven? By how much? At what income level? Just undergraduate loans, or should graduate loans be included? How might the politics of this issue affect the midterms?

We discuss each of these questions in this latest episode. Student loan debt forgiveness is all over the news, and it’s a potential midterm football. Our stances on the matter differ, but we hope you come out with a greater sense of the nuances of this complicated policy issue.

Episode notes:

Brookings: “Student loan debt is regressive…”

Roosevelt Institute: “Student loan debt is progressive…”

The Top 5 articles for your week

“The Technocrats Dilemma” (The New Atlantis)

Because “This is the fundamental mystification of technocracy: that public policy can and should be a technical matter for specialists. We are, as Habermas puts it, subjected to “the illusory attempts of the technocrats to have political decisions be directed only by the logic of objective exigency” — or, as it’s put so often lately, we must “follow the science.” But policy, quite obviously, cannot in itself be scientific. Science or expertise should be employed in making decisions about policy, but politicians and the experts advising them must ultimately make recommendations and decisions based on values, practical and moral commitments, and political realities and possibilities. These are not scientific and, in a genuine democracy, are meant to be subject to vigorous debate.”

“Escape to Zoom Island” (GQ)

Because “digital nomads” are potentially changing the way we think about work and where we work.

“As Pandemic Aid Ends, Struggling Families Face a Housing Nightmare” (Washington Post Magazine)

Because even as we talk about student loan debt forgiveness in the podcast, housing is another crisis for many people that we believe is worthy of similar policy scrutiny.

“The Hustler at the End of the World” (The Verge)

Because some people saw the pandemic in March 2020 and saw it as an opportunity, exposing the vulnerabilities of pandemic-ridden societies. “Many people feel as though the past two years were stolen, wiped from the calendar and replaced with a long and empty slog. Nearly a million Americans have died of COVID, but mask mandates and vaccine requirements are ending, and the country is ready to move on, variants be damned. Kaplan still views the pandemic as an opportunity, a gift of perspective that will shape the rest of his days. Money is great and all, but as he saw with Rob, you can’t take it with you. “Time is the most precious and finite commodity you have,” Kaplan said.”

“In the Dark” (Rest of World)

Because, “Over the last six months, Rest of World spoke to more than 70 technologists, telecomms experts, activists, and journalists from around the world to track how governments’ control over the internet has grown and evolved during the past decade. Their testimony shows that the free, open, global internet is under severe threat. Telecomms blackouts an

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Wear is the Love, Episode 17

The pod is back! This week, we received a request from a listener, Hannah, asking that we cover Jonathan Haidt’s recent article in The Atlantic, “Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid.” Haidt focuses on the changing nature of social media and how it’s led to a Tower of Babel-esque problem for society. Complementary to this essay is President Barack Obama’s recent speech at Stanford University on disinformation and the future of our democracy.

Episode notes:

Derek Thompson’s recent article, “Why American Teens Are So Sad” (The Atlantic)

The Top 5 article for your week:

“‘It’s Life or Death’: The Mental Health Crisis Among U.S. Teens” (NYT)

Because this is another great entry to the current spate of articles on young people and how they’re understanding our world, and this particular article is a follow-up to the NYT focus group we covered weeks ago on the podcast and in the Top 5. It specifically follows the life and health records of one thirteen year old teen participant in the NYT focus group and how they’ve spiraled into mental illness.

“A Democratic Mythic?” (Hedgehog Review)

Because “A political ethos grounded in the democratic mythic should continually encourage us to engage opponents as if they share the core intuitions of that mythic. It is up to one’s opponents, in pursuit of their political goals, either to refuse or to reaffirm these intuitions. Their speech and action determine the possibility of further democratic engagement that might carry forward that evolving “we” of the democratic imagination. Whether they do so or not, it should be clear that positive political engagement does not have to rely from the start on banning the role of myth from democratic life, but, rather, on understanding what distinguishes a true democratic mythic from its reductively propagandistic uses and abuses.”

“Resisting a Culture of Incoherence” (Comment Magazine)

Because “The real challenge for people of faith in maintaining a coherent identity in the modern world is not that the proliferation of secular realms weakens the plausibility of religious belief. Rather, it’s that we’re socialized in ways that produce distinct internal conversations, models of desire, and habits in these realms that are disconnected from—if not at odds with—our religious identities. These are powerful cultural blind spots. And they cannot be overcome by sheer willpower. Being a coherent self is a practice. It requires contexts in which the practice can be regularly exercised.”

“The New Nuclear Reality” (New Yorker)

Because in the post Cold War world, Russia continued to cultivate its nuclear delivery systems while the US did not. Now, as Russia continues to wage war in Ukraine, what we know about nuclear deterrence and how it works is being challenged.

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Wear is the Love, Episode #16

In episode 16, we cover a lot of interesting current events. First — we cover the new and popular article from Elisabeth Dias and Ruth Graham on the Right’s use of worship in politics. Michael has a caution for us as consumers of this type of article.

Next, we head over to Top 5 #1, President Clinton’s new essay for The Atlantic, which seeks to explain why he expanded NATO in the 90s. We discuss decision-making and the various considerations a president must make in big moments.

Finally, we cover the French presidential election. Voting begins tomorrow in France, and President Emmanuel Macron is in trouble. Far-right leader, Marin Le Pen, is very close in the polls. I explain the origins of Le Pen’s party, the National Rally, and why this election in France is significant for us.

Often, I felt like this guy while trying to describe politics in France, but I hope you stick it out with me.

Episode notes:

Michael’s Breaking Ground article, “A Politics Worse than Death”

More on the Budapest Memorandum (The Conversation)

2022 and 2017 polls in France (Politico)

YouGov polling by age in France

The Top 5 articles for your week:

“I Tried to Put Russia on Another Path” (The Atlantic)

Because President Clinton stands by his decision to expand NATO after the end of the Cold War.

“Parents Who Stay Home Should Get Public Child Care Support Too” (NYT)

Because Matt Bruenig argues, “Forcing parents to stock shelves when they’d rather watch their toddler is a victory for no one.”

“Is virtue signalling a vice?” (Aeon Magazine)

Because this article lays out the scientific inquiry into an oft-batted around concept - virtue signalling - in online spaces. “…virtue signalling is more nuanced and more interesting than the picture painted by conventional wisdom and political rhetoric. As it turns out, there are bad and good things about virtue signalling – but probably not for the reasons you think.”

“After 77 years in timeout, Germany is crucial to the fascist resistance” (Washington Post)

Because “Germany is no longer down; in fact, it is the linchpin of the resistance to Putin, thrust into prominence by a convergence of factors: its wealth, its geography and its ingrained fear of its worst self.”

“Something Happened By Us: A Demonology” (The New Atlantis)

Because

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Wear is the Love, Episode 15

In this week’s episode, we felt our listeners might want to know a bit more about us, Melissa and Michael, as a couple. How did we meet? How did we start dating? I (Melissa) love telling this story because it’s all a bit cute, sweet, and hilarious.

In the second part of the episode, we discuss the op-ed from Yuval Levin titled, “Why Do Our Politicians Keep Pursuing a Losing Strategy?” Levin proposes that political parties need to start focusing on new questions and issue areas, and we have some thoughts.

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The Top 5 articles for your week

“Ukraine: Apparent War Crimes in Russia-Controlled Areas” (Human Rights Watch)

Because this astounding report from HRW came out today and it’s making waves in the media — there’s evidence that Russia is allegedly committing terrible war crimes.

“The Battle for the Mural — and the Future of Belarus” (NYT Magazine)

Because this is an excellent story of courage in the face of authoritarianism in Belarus.

“Forced to Care” (Culture Studies - Substack)

Because “What we have, then, is a caregiving paradigm — not just for kids, but for elders and other adults — that relies heavily on proximity to family and presumed willingness. For those without those things, there are two options: 1) pay a lot of money for help, or 2) figure it out your damn self.”

“How an Ivy League school turned against a student” (The New Yorker)

Because this story about Mackenzie Fierceton’s horrific childhood and the subsequent issues she faced with her Rhodes Scholarship and tenure at University of Penn show how we assume stories of trauma conform to stereotypes and statistics. “If trauma creates a kind of narrative void, Mackenzie seemed to respond by leaning into a narrative that made her life feel more coherent, fitting into boxes that people want to reward. Perhaps her access to privilege helped her understand, in a way that other disadvantaged students might not, the ways that élite institutions valorize certain kinds of identities. There is currency to a story about a person who comes from nothing and thrives in a prestigious setting. These stories attract attention, in part because they offer comfort that, at least on occasion, such things happen.”

“My Friend Goo” (Paris Review)

Because this is an absolutely heartwarming and heartbreaking story, somehow, about the relationship between a woman and a goose and how their relationship connects to the death of her younger brother.

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Wear is the Love, Episode #14

In this episode, we provide an update on Ukraine: what’s been happening these last few weeks, President Biden’s Europe visit, and what we’re looking at in the near future. After our recap, we discuss a fascinating 12-teen focus group the NYT conducted recently to understand how 16-17 year olds are seeing their world. If anything, the focus group and our conversation expands our thinking when it comes to this young age cohort and their experiences.

At the very end of the episode, peep one of our many, many recording bloopers. We might start sharing more.

Episode notes

BioLogos Faith & Science 2022 virtual pass

Renew America

Ambassador Dan Fried’s tweet on President’s Biden remark

President Biden’s press conference clarifying his “moral outrage” (CBS)

Anti-nuclear weapons and chemical weapons orgs: Global Zero, Ploughshares Fund, ICAN, OPCW

The Top 5 articles for your week:

“Stephen Colbert makes the case that faith matters a great deal” (Pundicity)

Because “Colbert speaks about the connection among humor, sacrifice, and hope that are bound up in his faith. Kahn, a Yale University legal scholar, sees in his parents' lives a secular parable of a post-religious world in which forgiveness is impossible and hope in the face of death is no longer sustainable.

In different ways, Kahn and Colbert make the case that faith matters a great deal. This is noteworthy at a time when Americans seem increasingly inclined to indifference toward religion and when churches seem largely incapable of communicating a core message that persuades ordinary Americans that religion provides something indispensable.”

“How Propaganda Became Entertaining” (The Atlantic)

Because we’ve been chatting about the use of propaganda by the Ukrainian government on Wear is the Love, and this article traces the tactics used in WWII.

“20 days in Mariupol: The team that documented city’s agony” (AP)

Because Mariupol has nearly fallen to Russian forces, and this is a heartbreaking photo essay.

“‘Don’t Leave the Space Open’ — How the West Can Defeat Putin in Cyberspace and Beyond’” (Politico Magazine)

Because a foremost expert on cyber warfare, Molly McKew, thinks that the new cyber warfare tactics of the US and allies could lead to innovation in how these countries fight traditional war.

“The Harsh Realm of ‘Gentle Parenting’” (The New Yorker)

Because what a fresh-breath of an article! “Still, across the parenting boards and the group texts, one

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Wear is the Love, Episode #13

We have a special guest join us this week on Wear is the Love — Washington Post Columnist Christine Emba. Christine’s excellent new book, “Rethinking Sex: A Provocation” releases on Tuesday, March 22, and Michael and I wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to hear about this vital work from its author. Rethinking Sex looks at cultural assumptions about sex and how our current approach to sex as a culture is actually working out for people. Christine offers a different path forward that we hope will open up the conversation about sex.

We loved talking to Christine, and commend her book to you—not because we agree with every line of it, but because of the work it does and the potential it has to reset and open up a toxic, destructive culture when it comes to sex. Additionally, an excerpt from the book ran in WaPo this week, and it’s in the Top 5 below.

Please note that if you typically listen to our podcast with your kids, we want you to know that because of the subject matter, we talk about sex and consent, plus sexual assault is mentioned a few times. However, if your child is of an age or maturity level in which they may discuss these kinds of topics, we think the podcast is a good conversation starter.

The Top 5 articles for your week:

“Opinion: Consent is not enough. We need a new sexual ethic.” (Washington Post)

Because “In our post-sexual-revolution culture, there seems to be wide agreement among young adults that sex is good and the more of it we have, the better. That assumption includes the idea that we don’t need to be tied to a relationship or marriage; that our proclivities are personal and that they are not to be judged by others — not even by participants. In this landscape, there is only one rule: Get consent from your partner beforehand. But the outcome is a world in which young people are both liberated and miserable. While college scandals and the #MeToo moment may have cemented a baseline rule for how to get into bed with someone without crossing legal lines, that hasn’t made the experience of dating and finding a partner simple or satisfying. Instead, the experience is often sad, unsettling, even traumatic.”

“Taking Stock” (Real Life Magazine)

Because this essay details the rise of “creator” in business jargon and “just as social media platforms early on helped rationalize co-creation as self-expression, a new suite of apps and tools want to do the same for ‘the creator economy,’ only now monetization opportunities (and not, it should be noted, guaranteed money) are a central part of the package.”

“Night Shifts” (Harper’s Magazine)

Because “When I spoke about the state of the field with the dream researcher Erin Wamsley, she described a kind of disappointment, a sense that the breakthrough insights into the nature of dreaming that seemed imminent a decade or two ago haven’t materialized. Over the past few years, this perceived impasse has led to the emergence of what a recent special issue of the journal Consciousness and Cognition dubbed “dream engineering.” To adapt Marx’s maxim, if hitherto the scientists have attempted to understand dreams, the engineers now seek to change them. In fact, the engineers argue that we can’t deepen our understanding of dreams unless we can change them.”

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Wear is the Love, Episode #12

This week, we’re back to chatting about some of our Top 5 articles, specifically George Packer’s piece in The Atlantic on the school culture wars and Vinson Cunningham’s interview of Dr. Cornel West in the New Yorker. We’re still praying for Ukraine and hope you’ll tune into episodes 10 and 11 if you’re interested.

Also, don’t miss Michael’s posts from this last week, including his thoughts on cooking with love on a tight schedule, and his essay on the appropriate use of political power.

Episode notes:

Our Shared Past in the Mediterranean Curriculum (the project Melissa worked on a few years ago)

The Top 5 articles for your week:

“The Grown Ups Are Losing It” (The Atlantic)

Because as we discuss on the podcast, George Packer asks “what is school for?” amidst the debates about what we’re teaching children in public schools.

“Cornel West Sees Spiritual Decay in the Culture” (New Yorker)

Because Dr. West is incisive here and throughout this great interview: “The secular has taken tremendous wounds and bruises in the last thirty years, because commodification is almost taking it over—and so, when you think of the secular, you don’t think right away of scientific authority, scientific breakthroughs. When you think of the secular these days, you think of careerism, opportunism, hedonism, egoism, individualism—and the ways in which science seems to be driven by corporate greed, seems to be moving toward the explosion of the planet or the collapse of the environment. So that the secular has a very different resonance now than it did in ’77. It’s almost as if everybody recognizes the spiritual decay and the moral decrepitude of the culture.”

“Awaiting a New Prophetic Dispensation” (Hedgehog Review)

Because “Perhaps we can tuck our disagreements about fundamental things away into our private lives, and let the public sphere be a place for adjudicating public things.”

“The man who paid for America’s fear” (San Francisco Chronicle)

Because in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, hundreds of Muslims were detained and jailed on charges of terrorism, and this essay shows the lingering impact that experience had on one such man.

“Here is How It Feels to Watch Russia Wage War in Ukraine” (NYT)

Because young people, i.e. those under 30 who know nothing but a democratic Ukraine, talked to the NYT about their experiences and attitudes towards the war.

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11 episodes in, we have our first guest on Wear We Are. Rev. Dr. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, a dear friend and priest and nuclear abolitionist who is kind enough to talk to us about one of the most distressing things in the news right now: nuclear war. As an activist, Tyler has a lot of experience working towards the US’s reduction of nuclear arms, but he also knows how to talk about this subject in an accessible way. We hope you learn something new!

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Wear is the Love Episode #10

It’s a heavy week. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is all we can think about. We chat about my Substack piece on foreign policy and the Russian invasion and the issues of valor, public diplomacy, and masculinity that we’re seeing playing out in the news and on social media. We are actively praying for Ukraine.

Episode notes:

The photo of the children and the Ukrainian tank

The video of President Zelensky showing he is alive and well

The quote from Zelensky on offers of evacuation from the US

The Top 5 articles for your week:

“The war in Ukraine could portend the end of the “long peace”” (Vox)

Because this is a good article to pair with my Substack post this week on the myth of European peace — Russia’s war is shattering perceptions and realities about the European continent.

“What Does Putin Really Want?” (Politico Magazine)

Because Putin’s endgame is the question of the day, and Politico asked 19 experts about his possible motivations. One expert was blunt: “Putin’s endgame is nothing short of a revanchist imperialist remaking of the globe to take control of the entire former Soviet space.”

“Putin’s War at Home” (Foreign Affairs)

Because while Ukraine burns, Russian citizens are not giving Putin the tacit support he thought he would receive, and this costly invasion could make him more vulnerable to instability.

“Negotiating with Madmen” (Wisdom of Crowds)

Because it’s very easy to call Vladimir Putin “irrational” as we often do with authoritarian leaders, but this essay argues that Putin is following his worldview to its conclusion with the war.

“Economic sanctions were designed as a severe threat. Now they’re a default policy option.” (Washington Post)

Because if you’re wondering what a sanction is, when they’ve worked, and why they’re talked about so much, this essay is for you.

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