From abortion to immigration, a long-debunked scientific movement still casts long, confusing shadows over our most fraught debates.
sociology
If Following McMillan Cottom and Gay on Twitter Isn’t Enough, Here You Go
More of this sort of thing, thanks.
The Precarity of Everything: On Millennial (Blacks and) Blues
Reniqua Allen — the author of It Was All a Dream: A New Generation Confronts the Broken Promise to Black America — on Black millennials, millennial burnout, and hope in a time of uncertainty.
There Was Nothing We Could Have Done, Because We’re Racist and You’re Black
“The prevalent perception of black women as unruly bodies and incompetent caretakers overrules even the most dominant stereotype about us—namely, that we are superhuman.”
A Nuclear Bomb at Ground Zero, and What Happens Next
At the Atlantic, two researchers discuss their study of how humans might respond after a nuclear attack on Manhattan.
On the Thin Line Separating Honesty from Rudeness
Rachel Cusk explores the complicated question of politeness from various angles — from Brexit and the Trump presidency to airport security checks and in-store shopping etiquette. But she also dives deep into the fundamental difficulty of separating honesty from being plain rude.
The Age of Rudeness
When society is as polarized and stratified as it is today, what does it take to imagine a definition of politeness and civility that transcends our differences?
Our Stick Figure Family Decals, Ourselves
In a recent issue of Maclean’s, Anne Kingston tackled the sociology—and potent symbolism—of those cartoon stick figure decals you see affixed to the back windows of SUVs the world over. “Few trends,” she argues, “reveal shifting family values in a mobile, personal-branding-obsessed society as do family stick figures.” From the piece: Between those extremes, a create-your-own-stick-family narrative […]