They Say / I Blog

Billionaires in space: Lucianne Walkowicz on making space exploration more accessible

In the summer of 2021, three billionaires – Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, and Jared Isaacson – made history as they blasted off into space on their own privately funded spaceflights. In her essay, astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz analyzes the implications of this new chapter in space exploration. Walkowicz suggests these billionaire-funded launches reflect current inequities here on earth, including rising income inequality exacerbated by the pandemic.

Lucianne Walkowicz, "Don’t Count on Billionaires to Get Humanity into Space," Scientific American, 23 September 2021.

 

The struggling class: Celine-Marie Pascale on determining if people can meet their basic living needs

Over 44% of Americans work low-wage jobs, which can trap people in a precarious cycle marked by limited job security, stagnant wages, unreliable hours, and few opportunities for promotion. Those who are working multiple low-wage jobs struggle to cover their basic living expenses. Celine-Marie Pascale, a professor of sociology at American University, illustrates this complex problem in her November 2021 essay. She contends that the federal poverty line is “an outdated measure of poverty,” and argues that policymakers should use other measures to design safety-net programs based on the real cost of living, which varies across the country.

Celine-Marie Pascale, "The Federal Poverty Line Struggles to Capture the Economic Hardship That Half of Americans Face," The Conversation, 10 November 2021.

 

“Growing trees for the long haul”: Benji Jones on the problems with mass tree-planting campaigns around the world

In November 2021, world leaders gathered at COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and pledged to end deforestation by 2030. One strategy governments and organizations rely on to restore forests is mass tree-planting campaigns, such as the World Economic Forum’s “One Trillion Trees” initiative. Yet these campaigns, found across the globe, are not as effective as they may seem, which environmental reporter Benji Jones argues in this essay. Jones points out that addressing the underlying issues that contribute to forest loss and climate change are “never as straightforward as planting lots of trees.”

Benji Jones, "The Surprising Downsides to Planting Trillions of Trees," Vox, 22 September 2021.

 

Beyond doom and gloom: Dagomar Degroot on the taking action to curb emissions and solve the climate crisis

Sometimes, if a problem feels too complex or insurmountable, it’s easy to just give up. Dagomar Degroot, an associate professor of environmental history at Georgetown University, warns against falling victim to this “doomism” when it comes to climate change. In this essay, Degroot contends that the news media often presents a false binary in how it covers the climate crisis: either we are powerless to stop the collapse of ecosystems, or the crisis is overblown. Degroot argues there’s a third way beyond doomism or dismissal: decisive, deliberate action to reduce carbon emissions, a key factor driving the warming of the planet.

Dagomar Degroot, "Our Planet Is Not Doomed. That Means We Can, and Must, Act." The Washington Post, 7 October 2021.

 

Autism advocates: Eric Garcia on funding research and providing services that improve life for people with autism

For years, a primary focus of autism research has been finding a cure for this neurodivergent condition. Eric Garcia, a writer and autism advocate, asserts that this goal does not reflect the actual, pressing issues that people with autism encounter in their daily lives. In this essay, Garcia draws on his own experiences as an autistic person to call for research and policies that improve health, educational, and employment outcomes for people with autism.

Eric Garcia, "We Don't Need a Cure for Autism. We Need to Make Living with It Easier." TIME, 27 August 2021.

 

Race and representation in the college classroom: J. Nathan Matias, Neil Lewis Jr., and Elan Hope on the barriers to retaining a more diverse tenured and tenure-track faculty at U.S. universities

People of color are underrepresented in a variety of fields and settings, including in medicine, clinical trials, and the military. This problem also exists in U.S. higher education. In this essay, scholars J. Nathan Matias, Neil Lewis Jr., and Elan Hope show how “Black, Hispanic, American Indian and multiracial faculty members are underrepresented in faculty ranks.” They explain how efforts by universities to diversify their faculty fail to address the structural inequities within higher education that prevent faculty of color from feeling supported and achieving tenure.

J. Nathan Matias, Neil Lewis Jr. and Elan Hope, "Universities Say They Want More Diverse Faculties. So Why Is Academia Still So White?" FiveThirtyEight, 7 September 2021

 

An epidemic of teenage loneliness: Jonathan Haidt and Jean M. Twenge on the mental health impact of smartphones on Gen Z

There’s been a shift in how teenagers hang out, and you can hear it: the chatter that used to buzz through a high school cafeteria has often morphed into silent scrolling on smartphone screens, punctuated by tiny pings as teens message each other through their social media apps. The isolation many teenagers have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic has made social media even more critical to how they sustain their relationships with each other. Yet there are questions about the long-term health consequences of social media and smartphones on teenagers. In this July 31, 2021 essay, Jonathan Haidt and Jean M. Twenge explain their research about the connection among smartphones, social media, and the mental health of teenagers, both in the US and across the globe.

Jonathan Haidt and Jean M. Twenge, "This Is Our Chance to Pull Teenagers Out of the Smartphone Trap," The New York Times, 31 July 2021.

 

Relying on robots to care for us: Anna Romina Guevarra on the consequences of automating the work of caregivers

Thanks to rapid advances in artificial intelligence, what used to be sci-fi fantasy is now reality: robots can now teach, provide therapy, and administer care in hospitals and other medical facilities. But as Anna Romina Guevarra, associate professor and director of Global Asian Studies at University of Illinois Chicago, asks, should they? In her August 2, 2021 essay in Boston Review, Guevarra explores issues of labor and bias to determine the “potential harm of automating care work.”

Anna Romina Guevarra, "Here Come the Robot Nurses," Boston Review, 2 August 2021.

 

Power of the press: Danielle Kilgo on how journalists and news organizations cover protests

What stories are emphasized in the news, and why? Danielle Kilgo, a professor of journalism at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, argues that journalists and the news media choose to highlight “spectacle, conflict, disruption” over stories that cover “the substance of movements.” In this April 30, 2021, article, she uses her research about how the press has covered Black Lives Matters demonstrations to challenge journalists to report on protests in a way that more accurately explains and legitimizes the concerns of the protestors.

Danielle Kilgo, "Unraveling the Protest Paradigm,"Columbia Journalism Review, 30 April 2021.

 

“When we protect nature”: Greta Thunberg on changing the ways we farm, eat, and treat nature

What does the COVID-19 pandemic have to do with the climate crisis and the worldwide loss of wildlife habitats? Activist Greta Thunberg argues that industrial agriculture, which supports meat- and dairy-heavy diets, plays a significant role in these interconnected crises. In this five-minute video, Thunberg challenges her audience—us!—to adopt a plant-based diet and change our fundamental relationship with nature.

Tom Mustill, director, featuring Greta Thunberg, "Our Relationship with Nature Is Broken," 22 May 2021.