They Say / I Blog

Privacy and public health: Sidney Fussell on smartphone surveillance

How do we balance protecting individual rights and safeguarding public health? This question is at the heart of the current response to the COVID-19 global health crisis. In his March 21, 2020 WIRED article, Sidney Fussell asks whether using people’s smartphone data to track the virus is an infringement on privacy or a necessity to secure collective health and safety.

Sidney Fussell, "How Surveillance Could Save Lives Amid a Public Health Crisis," WIRED, 21 March 2020

 

Calling in sick: Amanda Mull on protecting everyone with paid sick leave

Wash your hands. Stop touching your face. Avoid large crowds. This past week, we’ve been inundated with advice for stopping the spread of COVID-19. In her February 28, 2020 essay, Amanda Mull argues that pandemics like this one could be contained more easily if we addressed an underlying structural issue inherent in the American workplace: the lack of paid sick leave.

Amanda Mull, "The Problem with Telling Sick Workers to Stay Home," The Atlantic, 28 February 2020

 

Keeping kids safe: Jaclyn Schildkraut on school lockdown drills

Active shooter lockdown drills are now common in U.S. schools, in response to recent deadly school shootings. In 2019, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers worked with the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund to issue a report calling for the end of these drills. Jaclyn Schildkraut, a researcher who investigates school shootings, argues back and makes her case for why lockdown drills are necessary in this February 12, 2020 essay.

Jaclyn Schildkraut, "Schools Should Heed Calls to Do Lockdown Drills without Traumatizing Kids Instead of Abolishing Them,"The Conversation, 12 February 2020

 

On the ballot: Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Meredith Conroy on representation in elected office

Quick! Which state leads the country in electing women of color to executive office? The answer? New Mexico. It’s not a “fluke,” Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Meredith Conroy contend in their FiveThirtyEight essay published on January 31, 2020. Rather, they argue, the work that has been done in New Mexico to put women in office can be used as a blueprint in other states to make our government reflect the diversity of the people it represents.

Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Meredith Conroy, "Why New Mexico Elects More Women of Color Than the Rest of the Country," FiveThirtyEight, 31 January 2020

 

A man’s place: A conversation about masculinity in the #MeToo era

Too often, the most pressing debates about gender (i.e. sexual assault, equal pay) are simplified to women’s-only issues. That’s a problem. In this November 12, 2019 YES! piece, nine people discuss our collective responsibility in these conversations and debate how men should participate in the #MeToo movement.

Alex Meyers, Earth-Feather Sovereign, Imara Jones, Kalimah Johnson, Kendrick Sampson, Maru Mora Villalpando, Sady Doyle, Tarana Burke, and Tony Porter, "Can We Build a Better Man?" YES!, 12 November 2019

 

Back on campus: James Hatch on learning from (and with) today’s college students

The generational divide is real, captured in “ok, boomer” eyerolls, “Karen” memes, and complaints about those tech-obsessed, lazy millennials. James Hatch is a 52-year-old Navy veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, and a freshman at Yale University. He’s working to bridge the divide in his defense of college students, published in GEN on December 21, 2019.

James Hatch, "My Semester with the Snowflakes," GEN, 21 December 2019

 

Protecting our past: Elizabeth Silkes on the places that connect us all

There are some places around the world that carry significant meaning, not just for the local community, but for all humankind. These places are the stuff of bucket lists, the wonders of the world, marked for preservation and protection because they stand for our common humanity. Elizabeth Silkes, the Executive Director of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, argues for the importance of protecting cultural and historical sites in this January 10, 2020 TIME essay.

Elizabeth Silkes, "Cultural Heritage Reminds Us of Our Shared Humanity. That’s Why Threats Against Them Are So Dangerous." TIME, 10 January 2020

 

Beyond Black Panther: Scott Woods on the promise of Afrofuturism

“What’s this Afrofuturism I keep hearing about?” Scott Woods responds to this question in his December 27, 2019 essay, “The Decade Afrofuturism Reshaped Science Fiction and the World,” published in LEVEL. Scott Woods argues that Afrofuturism—an artistic, cultural, and political movement—has moved from fringe to mainstream culture in the 2010s, and he imagines what Afrofuturism might offer in the next decade.

Scott Woods, "The Decade Afrofuturism Reshaped Science Fiction and the World," LEVEL, 27 December 2019.

 

Time for "they": Benjamin Dreyer on the word of the year

Merriam-Webster chose “they” as its 2019 word of the year, a testament to the political and personal importance of pronouns. Benjamin Dreyer, vice president of Random House and self-described “word person by trade,” explains why this choice matters for everyone in his Washington Post op-ed, published on December 16, 2019.

Benjamin Dreyer, "Language Is Here to Serve All of Us. Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year Shows That." The Washington Post, 16 December 2019

 

Out in theaters: Martin Scorsese on the movie industry

When you go to the movies, what are you looking for? To see something surprising, challenging, or unexpected? Or to be happily entertained, consuming a bag of popcorn along with the latest superhero sequel? Perhaps your expectations are shaped by the Hollywood film industry and their willingness to take risks. Martin Scorsese, award-winning filmmaker and director, critiques modern film franchises in his November 4, 2019 op-ed in The New York Times. Think, as you read his piece, about how Scorsese’s perspective on the purpose of films might be different from yours, and why that might be.

Martin Scorsese, “I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain.” The New York Times, 4 November 2019