They Say / I Blog

This is your brain on plastic: Megha Satyanarayana on microplastic pollution and its hard-to-find solutions

We are “slowly becoming Homo plasticus,” scientist Megha Satyanarayana warns, citing increasing evidence of the pervasive presence of plastics in our bodies, water, air, and soil. In her argument, Satyanarayana describes how a consumer and convenience culture, a desire to make profits, and a slow regulatory process make it hard to address microplastic pollution.

Megha Satyanarayana, "Why Aren’t We Losing Our Minds over the Plastic in Our Brains?" Scientific American, 14 February 2025.

 

It’s never enough: Roxane Gay on desire, addiction, and TikTok

It seems like everyone is talking about TikTok: its security risks, its seeming ubiquity among teenagers and adults alike. Writer Roxane Gay––whose father introduced her to the app––describes the problem of “pleasurably wasting hours and hours of time” on TikTok and warns about its purposeful addictive and exploitive nature. Is TikTok worth it?

Roxane Gay, "The New Pornographers," The New Pornographers, 9 July 2024

 

Space junk: Iris Gottlieb on the growing problem of garbage in outer space

Trash is piling up around the globe, from overflowing landfills to plastic waste washing up on shorelines. However, this problem extends beyond Earth itself. In this essay, Iris Gottlieb highlights a newer and often overlooked dumping ground: outer space. Gottlieb describes the human-made debris orbiting the planet and littering the Moon, arguing that outer space is a “public resource” that should be protected.

Iris Gottlieb, "Elon Musk is Sending His Garbage Into Space (with All the Other Trash)" LitHub.com, 19 August 2024

 

Looking for human connections: Allison Pugh on why care work shouldn’t be outsourced to generative AI

Could a generative AI chatbot have a real relationship with a person? Allison Pugh, a sociologist, argues no: “there is no human relationship when one half of the encounter is a machine,” she writes. In her argument, Pugh describes how care-focused generative AI platforms–such as the ones being used in education, medical, and therapy settings–damage human relationships by making people feel both invisible and disconnected from each other.

Allison Pugh, "When AI Automates Relationships, TIME, 14 August 2024.

 

The missing middle: Christine Schueckler on making college affordable to middle-class students

College tuition costs continue to rise in the U.S., and even with student loan debt and college affordability reforms, middle-class students often struggle to pay for a college degree. The college affordability crisis matters beyond higher education: researchers have connected it to the shrinking middle class in the U.S. In this op-ed, Christine Schueckler, a student at the University of Virginia, explains the economic and personal consequences of the “middle-class squeeze” on U.S. college campuses.

Christine Schueckler, "Can I Afford College? High Tuition Costs Squeeze Middle Class Students Like Me," USA Today, 1 August 2024.

 

The costs of free parking: Henry Grabar on the benefits of eliminating abundant parking spaces

Consider the expansive parking lots that surround buildings and the curbside parking spots that line many city and suburban streets. One study estimated that there are 3.4 parking spots per vehicle in the U.S. What could that space be used for instead? In this essay, researcher Henry Grabar examines the environmental, economic, and social costs of free or cheap parking in U.S. cities and communities.

Henry Graber, "How Parking Reform Is Helping Transform American Cities" Yale360.com, 31 January 2024.

 

Courting controversy: Peter Singer on why we need to test our ideas in open debate

How do people discover if their beliefs are true or false? Philosopher Peter Singer, an emeritus professor of bioethics at Princeton University and co-editor of Journal of Controversial Ideas, argues that this can only happen through free debate of controversial issues. In this short six-minute video, Singer examines the consequences of censorship and explains why we need to get more comfortable debating uncomfortable questions.

Peter Singer, "Have a Controversial Idea? Good. Here's Why You Should Share It." BigThink, 20 October 2023.

 

The other side is not evil: Kurt Gray on how fear drives political divides

In political debates, it can be easy to dismiss the other side by turning them into stereotypes or rejecting their viewpoints as “dumb.” Sometimes, though, the rhetoric goes further, and people can accuse the other side of being immoral or even evil. Why is that? In this short video, Kurt Gray, a psychology and neuroscience professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, digs deep into human history to explain the evolutionary root causes of political polarization.

Kurt Gray, "The Psychology of Political Polarization: Conservatives v. Liberals," StandTogether.org, 19 January 2024.

 

Turning off the tap: Daniel Jaffee on the long-term effects of relying on bottled water after a drinking water crisis

Plastic bottled water is both a boon and a problem: it is convenient, yet it’s also more expensive than public tap water, and the empty plastic bottles often litter streets and pollute waterways. Some households, though, are stuck relying on pallets of bottled water for their everyday basic needs. In this argument, Daniel Jaffee, an associate professor of sociology at Portland State University, explains what’s at stake when a community’s only guarantee of safe drinking water comes from plastic bottles.

Daniel Jaffee, "When Communities Face Drinking Water Crises, Bottled Water Is a ‘Temporary’ Solution That Often Lasts Years – and Worsens Inequality." The Conversation, 25 October 2023.

 

To keep sight of our shared humanity: António Guterres on the collective future of Israel and Palestine

The current war in Gaza emerges from a long history of conflict between Israel and Palestine. António Guterres, the secretary general of the United Nations, makes a plea for peace in this op-ed, which was also published in the New York Times on October 13, 2023. In this piece, he urges the international community as well as Israelis and Palestinians to consider “the pull of collective memory” that shapes how people understand and discuss the conflict.

António Guterres, "Why Israel Must Reconsider Its Gaza Evacuation Order," The United Nations: The Question of Palestine, www.un.org, 13 October 2023.