They Say / I Blog

Disrupting the gender binary: Barbara J. King on gender fluidity and queer rights

In this August 2020 essay, Barbara J. King, a biological anthropologist and professor emerita at the College of William and Mary, shares the story of her child Sarah, who is nonbinary and agender. King pulls from her perspective as both a biological anthropologist and a mother to explore the cultural and linguistic resistance to nonbinary gender identity and presentation.

Barbara J. King, "My Nonbinary Child," Sapiens, 21 August 2020

 

Class critics: Lisa R. Pruitt on the film Hillbilly Elegy and popular representations of the white working class

Ever notice when a film’s audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is way off from the critics’ reviews? What’s driving that? Lisa R. Pruitt, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis, digs into the negative critical reviews of the 2020 Netflix film Hillbilly Elegy in this December 3, 2020 essay. Pruitt argues that in the case of Hillbilly Elegy, the answer may lie in the country’s “steadily growing class divide.”

Lisa R. Pruitt, "The Chattering Classes Got the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Book Wrong – and They’re Getting the Movie Wrong, Too," The Conversation, 3 December 2020

 

Representing the “full measure of humanity”: Belén Garijo on the importance of increasing diversity in clinical trials

Fueled by new biomedical technologies and unprecedented collaboration, pharmaceutical companies are rapidly developing and testing vaccines for SARS CoV-2 coronavirus. However, this swift pace of vaccine development might lead to “a potentially risky lack of diversity in clinical trials,” according to Belén Garijo, a healthcare executive and former doctor. Her October 9, 2020 essay in TIME explains how this lack of diversity is not a new problem: certain population groups have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials, which limits how well doctors and researchers can study the efficacy of the treatments and medicines being tested.

Belén Garijo, "We Must Use This Moment to Improve Diversity in Clinical Trials — And Not Just for Vaccines," TIME, 9 October 2020

 

Tracking your data: Maria Gardner and Alyson Youngblood on the risks of “Internet of Bodies” devices

From fitness trackers to internet-connected insulin pumps, more companies are marketing “smart” devices that gather, track, and store digital data on a person’s health metrics, body functions, location, and movement. Together, these devices comprise what is now called the “Internet of Bodies” (IoB). In this October 29, 2020 article from the RAND Corporation, Maria Gardner and Alyson Youngblood describe the benefits and risks of IoB devices and detail policies that could regulate how data from these devices are used by corporations, the health care system, and the government

Maria Gardner and Alyson Youngblood, "The Internet of Bodies Will Change Everything, for Better or Worse," The RAND Blog, 29 October 2020

 

Reduce, reuse, recycle: Jim Robbins on looking beyond bioplastics to reduce plastic waste

The evidence is clear: the world’s waterways and landfills are clogged and crammed with plastic waste. Scientists, governments, and producers are looking for ways to curtail plastic pollution, which is largely driven by the disposal of single-use plastic packaging and items. One possible solution is using bioplastics instead of traditional plastics. However, as writer Jim Robbins argues in his August 31, 2020 essay, this approach is far less impactful than developing ways to recycle more plastic waste and reducing our reliance on single-use plastics.

Jim Robbins, “Why Bioplastics Will Not Solve the World’s Plastics Problem,” Yale Environment 360, 31 August 2020.

 

In real life: Jordan Frith on the metaphors we use to talk about online life

Is our online life—our Twitter debates, our Facebook relationship status, our Snapchat streaks, our Zoom classes—real? And why does this question matter? Jordan Frith, the Pearce Professor of Professional Communication at Clemson University, argues in his July 2020 article that our digital life is very much real, despite common metaphors used in popular culture. The way we talk about our digital life, as if it’s separate, ends up diminishing the importance of what people do and say online, though the consequences are no less important.

Jordan Frith, "Pushing Back on the Rhetoric of ‘Real Life,’" Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society, 20 July 2020

 

Get out the vote: Jeanine Santucci about accessibility in the voting booth

Voting is a civic duty, an essential right in a democracy. However, as Santucci explains in her July 26, 2020 essay, people with disabilities face barriers to voting, even decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed. As you read, consider both Santucci’s immediate argument, about the pressing issues faced by people with disabilities, and the larger implications of inaccessible voting in a democracy.

Jeanine Santucci, "30 Years after the ADA, Access to Voting for People with Disabilities is Still an Issue," USA Today, 26 July 2020

 

Chance encounters: Steve LeVine on how Big Tech companies rely on spontaneity to fuel innovation

Sometimes the next big thing begins with a casual invitation to “talk more over smoothies.” In his July 13, 2020 essay, Steve LeVine explains how this kind of unscripted, casual, in-person networking drove the development of Silicon Valley companies like Facebook and Google. LeVine asks, though, if this reliance on spontaneity, jeopardized now by work-from-home orders, is something that could—or should—be saved.

Steve LeVine, "How Remote Work Could Destroy Silicon Valley," Marker, 13 July 2020

 

Looking out for each other: Nicholas Kristof on the resiliency of Hispanic American communities

Even under the stresses of quarantine, Hispanic American communities seem to be finding strategies for coping with the pandemic’s economic and social effects. Why is that? In this June 7, 2020 essay, Nicholas Kristof describes this “Hispanic paradox,” arguing that these communities are uniquely prepared to withstand hardship because of their robust, communal support networks.

Nicholas Kristof, "Now Is a Time to Learn from Hispanic Americans," The New York Times, 27 June 2020

 

A blue wave: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson on oceans and their role in climate solutions

What if oceans hold the answers to the complex questions surrounding the climate crisis we are facing? Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a marine biologist, maintains that they do, and explains how the ocean’s vast “healing power” should be the cornerstone of climate policies in this June 8, 2020 Scientific American op-ed.

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, "To Save the Climate, Look to the Oceans," Scientific American, 8 June 2020