Episode 17: Democracy & Social Media

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:

1. “‘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.

2. “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.”

3. “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.”

4. “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.

5. “A day in the life of (almost) every vending machine in the world” (The Guardian)

   Because I’ve never really much thought about vending machines, but now you have the chance to understand how they work. A bit of fun to start your week.