#385: “Thin Is Power”

Plus: Article Clubber Melinda shares her thoughts on “HUMAN_FALLBACK”

I went on my first diet when I was 12 after a friend told me I was too chubby to attract the girls at our middle school. (Likely there were other things going on.) Somehow I got my hands on a series of cassette tapes that offered a comprehensive course on the neuropsychology of weight control. It wasn’t a diet; it was a “life program.” Always the meticulous learner, I listened from beginning to end. In addition to the affirming subliminal messages, the course urged calorie restriction and willpower. Starve yourself for long enough, it suggested, and you’ll lose weight. (I didn’t.)

If you’ve subscribed to this newsletter for a while, you know that I’m fascinated by articles about weight loss, body positivity, and fat shaming. For example, here’s a collection of articles I compiled a few years ago. This week’s lead article explores the rise of Ozempic and how the drug is reminding us of the inevitable — that in our society, no matter what we say, it’s better to be thin.

If the topic of anti-fatness doesn’t interest you, scroll on down for two other great pieces. The first recounts the Red Cross and the U.S. military’s racist blood donation policy during World War II. The second is a joyful, thoughtful interview with loyal reader Melinda about her thoughts on “HUMAN_FALLBACK,” this month’s deep dive. (Yes, you should absolutely listen.) Please enjoy!

1️⃣ Life After Food?

We love wellness and body positivity — as long as we’re thin. That’s at the core of this outstanding article about Ozempic, the diabetes drug that fancy people in New York and Los Angeles (and everyone at the Oscars) are taking as an appetite suppressant to get drastically thin. Author Matthew Schneier does a great job peeling back the layers of anti-fatness in our society. He writes:

The whole shaky edifice of wellness rested on the rickety foundations of body acceptance: Everyone was beautiful; it was the standards, not the bodies themselves, that were wrong. Which is true, of course — it just turned out we only sublimated the standards, hid them behind vagaries of looking good, feeling good, and being so much more buoyant without dairy, or gluten, or whatever. How quickly we’ve abandoned our contortions and commitments to acceptance as soon as a silver bullet comes around.

➡️ Read the article (19 min) (if you hit a paywall)

2️⃣ The Red Cross And Jim Crow

More than 1 million African American men and women fought for the United States in World War II. But the American Red Cross did not accept blood from Black donors. In this informative, clearly-written piece, Melba Newsome explains how the U.S. military assumed white soldiers would feel uncomfortable receiving Black blood. Not the case, according to the evidence, but no matter. What also didn’t matter: that Dr. Charles Drew developed the first large-scale blood banks that saved thousands of British soldiers during the war. Protest ensued. After a year of public pressure, the Red Cross in 1942 announced a compromise: It would take Black donors’ blood, but process it separately. Nearly 80 years later, in 2021, the Red Cross apologized, calling the policy a “regrettable decision” that accommodated “cultural norms of the time.” No wonder Black people now account for less than 3 percent of blood donors.

➡️ Read the article (11 min)

3️⃣ Article Clubber Melinda shares her brilliant thoughts on “HUMAN_FALLBACK,” by Laura Preston

My favorite part of putting this newsletter together is meeting and getting to know kind, thoughtful people who love to read and discuss the best nonfiction articles on race, education, and culture. Over and over again, I’m floored by how quickly and deeply we all connect.

That was the case again this week, when I asked new Article Clubber Melinda to share her thoughts on this month’s selection, “HUMAN_FALLBACK,” by Laura Preston. (If you haven’t read it yet, you should! It’s about artificial intelligence, capitalism, and the stripping away of humanity.)

Melinda is an activist, lawyer, and cat mom living in Washington, D.C. A lover of many genres, from memoir to fantasy novels, she’s normally reading several things at once and hunting for her next read at her favorite local bookstore, Solid State Books.

And also important: She’s got great thoughts on this month’s article! Within 30 seconds of opening the Zoom and saying hi, it was like we were already friends. I encourage you to listen in on our conversation. Here are some topics we talked about:

  • how Melinda found The Highlighter Article Club (thank you, Ann Friedman!) and what she likes about it so far

  • how “HUMAN_FALLBACK” isn’t your typical article on artificial intelligence

  • how the article made us feel extremely uneasy about the future of humanity

  • what questions we want to ask author Laura Preston when we meet up

Isn’t Melinda great? I’d love it if you could leave her a comment to welcome her to our Article Club reading community. What did Melinda share that you connected with?

Leave a comment

Also, there’s still time to join our conversation on Sunday, March 26, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. Ms. Preston will be joining us! Here’s more information. Hope you sign up.

Join the discussion!

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 3 new subscribers – including Deborah and Giffe — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Zaretta! Ziba! Zachary!), you’re pretty great. VIP Melinda, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Monica and Marna (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. (More hoodies?)

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!

#384: Our Whispering Wombs

Excellent articles on Black women, affirmative action, substance abuse, and kids

Happy Thursday, Loyal Readers. Today’s issue is classic Highlighter: four outstanding articles on race, education, and culture — from a variety of publications. If you’re new here (22 of you this week!), welcome. I hope you find the articles valuable and our reading community kind and thoughtful. Please feel free to reach out!

Today’s lead article, “Our Whispering Wombs,” is so good, I’m fairly certain you’ll see it again in December when I announce the best pieces of the year. Part family history, part ode to Black women, part history of gynecology, and part resistance to racism, Elsa Julien Lora’s essay is beautifully written. You won’t regret reading it.

If you have more time, the other three articles are excellent as well. They explore affirmative action; the meaning of the 14th Amendment; the pain a father feels knowing his daughter suffers from substance abuse, the comfort a dog brings; and the awful effects of COVID on our kids. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

💬 ARTICLE CLUB: This month we’re discussing “HUMAN_FALLBACK,” by Laura Preston. It’s about artificial intelligence, capitalism, and the stripping away of humanity. I invite you to join our conversation on Sunday, March 26, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT. Ms. Preston will be joining us! Here’s more information. Hope you sign up.

Sign up for the discussion

1️⃣ Our Whispering Wombs: A Black Family History

Elsa Julien Lora grew up in a home with loving images of her foremothers adorning the walls. There were photographs of her mother and grandmother, daguerreotypes of her great-, great-great-, and great-great-great grandmother. I just want you to know that you can always talk to me, they told her.

This essay traces generations of women in Ms. Lora’s family, beginning with her great-great-great-great grandmother Sarah, whose uterus “held the future of the slave economy, and also of our family.” She died at age 35 after raising 10 children. About her great-great-great grandmother Cordelia, Ms. Lora writes, “I don’t know anything about her birth other than that it deepened her father’s pockets.”

Ms. Lora discusses not only her foremothers’ resistance to slavery but also how they navigated the rise of gynecology as a profession. Ms. Lora suspects several women in her family lived with uterine fibroids at a time when doctors practiced on enslaved women without anesthesia. She writes:

The gynecological profession and the institution of slavery had a symbiotic relationship. On the one hand, gynecology was only able to advance as a field as quickly as it did because practitioners were able to experiment on enslaved women’s bodies. On the other, the slave economy depended on enslaved people’s productive labor, which was only made possible by enslaved women’s reproductive labor. Slaveholders relied on the insights and services of gynecologists to keep enslaved women healthy during childbearing years. In the words of historian Jennifer Morgan, “Black women’s bodies are inseparable from the landscape of colonial slavery.”

Ms. Lora tracks the disrespect and dismissal of Black women’s bodies over generations, exploring at length her mother’s experience with fibroids. Doctors often believe Black women don’t feel pain. Doctors often recommend hysterectomies when myomectomies are appropriate. “At your age, what do you need your uterus for, anyway?” they ask. Ms. Lora’s mother resists, getting the operation she desires — the successful removal of 117 fibroids.

Shortly after her 24th birthday, Ms. Lora wakes up with a fullness in her belly. Despite her family history, a nurse suspects it’s a kidney issue. It’s not. “I called my mom as soon as the results came in,” she writes. “ ‘I have fibroids.’ Tears pooled in the corners of my eyes. ‘Well of course you do.’ ” (26 minutes)

➡️ Read the article

Zuzu, who belongs to VIP Monica, (1) is very cold, (2) is not a cat. Want your pet to appear here? It’s easy! hltr.co/pets

2️⃣ Why Is Affirmative Action In Peril?

The Supreme Court most likely will strike down affirmative action next June. This article explains why. According to journalist and law lecturer Emily Bazelon, it all comes down to understanding Regents v. Bakke, the 1978 decision that banned racial quotas but preserved affirmative action. In order to lure enough justices, lawyer Archibald Cox devised a strategy that centered the benefits of diversity, rather than the responsibility of reparations, as the reason affirmative action should continue. In other words: Let’s forget that the 14th Amendment’s purpose was to give equal rights to Black Americans. In the short term, the tactic worked. The Court sided with Mr. Cox 5-4, and affirmative action has endured despite many challenges, including in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Fisher v. Texas (2016). But now with a much more conservative court, Ms. Bazelon suggests that affirmative action’s “diversity” rationale may be similar to abortion’s “privacy” rationale — way too flimsy to survive. (35 min)

➡️ Read the article

3️⃣ Running With Hank

This piece by Caleb Daniloff is beautifully written, and I urge you to read it — even if you’re not a parent, runner, or pet owner. Content note: substance abuse.

I had taken to writing my daughter’s obituary, revising it week after week. It usually cropped up during a run, as if the movement jarred the sentences loose from the dark place where I hid my fears. But then I’d get stuck. All these sepia-toned memories were of her as a child. I struggled to conjure anything meaningful from the previous 10 years. Where was that impish blond-haired girl who loved to draw and silly-dance to TV theme songs, who didn’t care what people thought?

That kid had been replaced by someone I no longer recognized—a stranger with vacant eyes and sores hidden beneath thick makeup, thin as a coatrack. Addicted to heroin and fentanyl. At 25.

The only thing of Shea’s that I could reach out and touch was her 3-year-old dog, Hank, a 30-pound mutt who was now living with us. I started running with him at the nearby Middlesex Fells Reservation a few times a week after a particularly low point in Shea’s journey. (14 min)

➡️ Read the article

4️⃣ The Other Long Covid

It’s been three years since schools closed due to COVID-19. We are still coming to terms with the pandemic’s drastic and long-lasting effects. This informative Vox explainer both confirms what we already know and offers a clear-headed assessment of the generational trauma that our young people have suffered. The data is stark: For example, 1 million students dropped out or disappeared from school. More than 200,000 children lost a caregiver. Fewer high school graduates will go to college. Mental health is at a crisis. While I’ve read statistics like these in various articles over the years, having them all in one place hit me differently. Also I appreciated author Bryan Walsh’s treatment of “learning loss.” He writes, “Students didn’t suddenly lose what they had already achieved before the pandemic. Rather, they lost the opportunity and the time to build on what they knew.” Even though I’ve mostly stayed away from highlighting COVID-related articles in this newsletter, I found this one succinct and illuminating. (17 min)

➡️ Read the article

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 22 new subscribers – including Daron, Lee, Carol, David, Viola, Ruben, Ronny, Elena, Bob, Isa, Arora, Sharon, Suhith, and Kate — I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Yara! Yvette! Yuri!), you’re pretty great. Loyal reader Katie, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Melinda and Pearl (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. (More hoodies?)

Subscribed

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!

Magic numbers

We’re close to two big milestones, and I’m excited.

Dear VIPs,

I recorded an audio letter this rainy Saturday to share some good news: We’re close to two big milestones: 1,000 total subscribers and 100 paid subscribers.

In this quick four-minute recording, you’ll also learn about…

  • my childhood love: baseball

  • my other childhood love: numbers

  • what a magic number is

  • how close we are to reaching 1,000 free and 100 paid subscribers

  • how running an ad in Ann Friedman’s newsletter was a fantastic idea

  • how you can help get us over the top

Would love to have you at the discussion! Sign up here.

As always: Thank you for your loyal readership and generous support. Hope you have a restful weekend and great week coming up.

-Mark

Leave a comment

PS: Also, take a look at this good news! Article Club now ranks #19 in the Education Category over at Substack. Maybe Top 10 someday? 😀

#383: It’s March! Let’s read and discuss “HUMAN_FALLBACK.” (It’s about AI.)

Join us on Sunday, March 26 to discuss Laura Preston’s outstanding essay

Are you scared of ChatGPT? Many of my educator friends are. Take your pick:

Me, I’m not so worried. At least, not in the short term. But if you ask me if I’m afraid of machines taking us over someday, I’d say yes, We’re doomed.

We’re seeing it already: I can’t drive anywhere without my GPS; my students can’t remember anything unless they set a reminder; I don’t know where I’m supposed to be unless I check my Google calendar; my friends are tracking their sleeping and their snoring, everyone’s got their AirPods in.

One big trend is that I no longer know for certain if I’m chatting with a person or a computer. That’s what this month’s Article Club selection is all about. If you’re creeped out about technology, you’ll really be creeped out by “HUMAN_FALLBACK,” by Laura Preston. (But in a good way, I promise!)

If you’re intrigued by the question, “What does it mean to be human?” then I urge you to read Ms. Preston’s outstanding essay and join our discussion on Sunday, March 26. There’s more information below!

HUMAN_FALLBACK

Ever felt you were chatting with a bot? It could have been Laura Preston. She’s a 29-year-old graduate student whose job is to help a conversational AI named Brenda lease apartments to people who think they’re talking to a human being. Usually Brenda does fine, but if prospective tenants get too personal, she surrenders, calling for “human fallback.” That’s when Ms. Preston takes over. She has three minutes to craft the perfect reply, or else the humans might get suspicious (and her boss angry). The job (which pays better than teaching, by the way) is nonetheless mind-numbing. “The only way to keep pace with the inbox was to go into a state of focus so intense that at times I felt on the verge of astral projection. I heard nothing and felt nothing, not even the cues of my body.” (26 min)

Read the article

This month, I warmly invite you to read, annotate, and discuss “HUMAN_FALLBACK” as part of Article Club.

If you’re interested, this how things will go:

  • This week, we’ll read the article

  • Next week, we’ll annotate the article as a group

  • The following week, we’ll hear what a loyal reader thinks about the piece

  • On Sunday, March 26, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT, we’ll discuss the article. Ms. Preston plans to join us! ⭐️

Sign up for the discussion

If this will be your first time participating in Article Club, I’m 100% sure you’ll find that you’ll feel welcome. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community. Feel free to reach out with all of your questions.

Thank you for reading this week’s issue of The Highlighter Article Club. Hope you liked it. Feel free to share your thoughts and feedback. I’d love to hear from you.

To our 5 new subscribers – including Ann and Ken – I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Xavier! Xiomara! Xander!), you’re pretty great, too. VIPs Rachel and Robert, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow.

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

❤️ Become a paid subscriber for $3 a month, like Erin and Phillip (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes, including exclusive audio letters from me to you.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!

#382: Grieving California

Excellent articles on climate grief, fat shaming, and veterinarians’ mental health

Except for a one-year stint in Boston and a four-week stint in New York, I’ve lived in California my whole life. I was born here, was raised here, went to college here, and have spent nearly my whole adulthood here. But for some reason, I don’t strongly identify with my state. For example: Please don’t ask me how many times I’ve been to Yosemite, or gone on road trips up or down the coast, or exactly where Big Sur is.

Lately, though, I’ve felt more California pride. Maybe it’s because people are leaving the state and I’m feeling defensive. Or maybe it’s that I’m appreciating recent trips to Santa Cruz and the Sierras. Or maybe it’s that I’m grateful for California’s natural beauty and I’m finally not taking it for granted.

Whatever it is, I’m finding myself reading more articles about the state of my state. One of them is this week’s lead article, “Grieving California,” which reminded me of the ravages of climate change and the human consequences of loss. Especially if you’re from California, I encourage you to read the piece.

If California doesn’t interest you, or if climate-related articles feel too doomsday, scroll on down to take in the pet photo and two other great articles. The first is about the simultaneous trends of body positivity and fat shaming, while the second is about the mental health of veterinarians. Please enjoy!

Here’s VIP Clare, making sure to wear her Highlighter Hoodie while enjoying an after-school skate. If you’re jealous of Clare’s great fortune, attend our next Highlighter Happy Hour, where you too could win the grand prize.

💬 ARTICLE CLUB: It was great to hear from so many of you who said you appreciated listening to last week’s interview with Naomi Gordon-Loebl, author of “Saying Goodbye to My Chest,” this month’s Article Club selection. If the piece moved you, there’s still time to join our discussion this Sunday at 2 pm PT. Would love to have you there, alongside other thoughtful readers.

Sign up for this Sunday’s discussion

1️⃣ Grieving California

A building that burns can be rebuilt. But if fire incinerates a state of mind, can that be put back together? After neighbors move, new homes rise from the ones that burned, and the landscape is marked by the fingerprints of flames – the time before can feel like a past life. It’s the kind of rupture that transcends space and time, shaping our memories, our goals for the future and even our understanding of where we belong. Part of living here now means grappling with apocalyptic scenes and with whether this version of California can still be called home.

You don’t have to be from California to appreciate this beautifully written article, in which Erica Hellerstein explores the trauma people have experienced as a result of the massive wildfires that have plagued the state. Rather than focusing on the despondent, however, Ms. Hellerstein devotes her energy to show what people are doing to understand and process their emotions. “It’s really important to know that climate distress is not a pathology,” says Robin Cooper, the co-founder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance, which is developing resources and therapies to help people deal with the psychological impact of climate change.

Similar work is happening in California schools. A recent survey revealed that 3,000 students in Sonoma County are still showing “increased anxiety, stress, depression, behavioral problems, or decreased academic performance as a result of the 2017 Tubbs wildfire.” Educators there have used resources from the Good Grief Network, a 10-step, peer support program to help people process their climate grief.

Most importantly, Ms. Hellerstein emphasizes that you don’t have to be a survivor of a climate catastrophe to feel the calamitous effects of climate change. If you’re feeling dislocated or distressed or disillusioned, you’re not alone. (28 min)

➡️ Read the article

Chuy, who belongs to VIP Lopez, enjoys begging for food, running wild and free, and secretly jumping on beds when no one us looking. Want your pet to appear here? hltr.co/pets

2️⃣ Fat Shaming Shouldn’t Be Part Of Our ’New Normal’

I went to the doctor this week. We talked about my weight. I said I’m happy with my current relationship with food. He said I should lose a few pounds. The exchange reminded me of this thoughtful essay, written at the height of the pandemic, in which Erika Thorkelson wonders why the rise of body positivity has corresponded with an increase in Instagram advertisements urging us to watch our weight. “Despite gentle shifts toward fat acceptance in the last few years,” Ms. Thorkelson writes, “it’s clear our culture remains obseesed with controlling our bodies.” She adds:

Poor and working-class women, like those in my family, were often encouraged to look to their weight as the source of their problems rather than the larger forces of structural issues like misogyny and capitalism. If you had trouble finding a job or your husband was cheating on you, getting skinny was supposed to be the answer.

Getting skinny is apparently the answer we should be messaging to our kids, too, according to a report released last week by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It seems like we’re saying, “All bodies are beautiful, as long as they’re thin.” (14 min)

➡️ Read the article

3️⃣ Our Business Is Killing

Dr. Andrew Bullis is a veterinarian in a small town in Pennsylvania. He treats cats and dogs and chickens and pigs. He loves his job — despite the long hours, the poor compensation, and the complaints of his clients. But there’s one thing that Dr. Bullis can’t stomach, even though he does it every day: killing. More than any other procedure, vets perform euthanasia, which in most cases is the right decision for the animal. But not always, as Dr. Bullis explains in this heartbreaking story about a dog named Lacey, who crushed her leg in an accident, but who didn’t have to die. “Euthanasia gets to us,” Dr. Bullis writes. “Really gets to us.” This stress has led to significant mental health challenges for veterinarians, who die by suicide at a rate two to three times higher than the general population. (15 min)

➡️ Read the article

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 4 new subscribers – including Brooke and Pearl – I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Warren! Wanda! Wilma!), you’re pretty great. Loyal reader Jim, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Melinda and Pearl (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. (More hoodies?)

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!

#381: An interview with Naomi Gordon-Loebl, author of “Saying Goodbye to My Chest”

There’s still time to join our discussion next Sunday, February 26!

Happy Thursday, loyal readers. Great to see so many new subscribers here this week. Welcome to our kind and thoughtful reading community. Hope you like it here.

This month at Article Club, we’ve been focusing on “Saying Goodbye to my Chest,” by Naomi Gordon-Loebl. If you haven’t read the article yet, I encourage you to do so. In the essay, Gordon-Loebl poignantly and vulnerably discusses her upcoming top surgery. It’s outstanding.

Also: I hope you’ll join us to discuss the article on Sunday, February 26, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT on Zoom. There’s still time to sign up! Article Clubbers are kind and thoughtful and welcoming. Our conversations are always in small, intimate, facilitated groups.

Sign up for the discussion!

I’m excited to share that I had the opportunity to interview Naomi a couple days ago about her brilliant essay. We talked about a number of topics, including:

  • how it feels to be on the other side of her top surgery

  • how there’s no one monolithic experience of being trans

  • how trans people deserve stories of nuance and complexity

  • how writing is like going down to the bottom of the ocean and noticing what you’re seeing along the way

  • how educators should treat trans kids (and all kids) in the classroom

I hope you take a listen and let me know what you think.

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 65 new subscribers – including Faith, Francis, Jessica, Sarah, Mary Lou, Adrienne, Hilary, Jenn, Maria, Kate, Tracy, Marilyn, Paula, Kellie, Abby, Laura, Tim, Dakota, Lauren, Shannon, Erin, Dolores, Colleen, Carly, Nicole, Lorna, Heidi, Paula, Kat, Emma, Kelsey, Kim, Alex, Terri, Hallie, Jodie, Carolyn, Tiffany, Marian, Melinda, and Jillian – I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Venus! Vard! Violet!), you’re pretty great. Loyal reader Mike, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Lorna and Jack (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. (The hoodie is next!)

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!

#380: The Mental Health of Teachers & Students

Plus: There’s still time to sign up for our discussion of “Saying Goodbye To My Chest”

I’m back working in a school again this year, and I’m liking every minute. (Well, maybe not every minute.) One thing’s for certain: The work isn’t easy. It’s never been, of course. But in my experience, what they’re saying out there — that schools right now are challenging — is undeniably true.

Today’s issue is dedicated to the mental health of teachers and students. There are three pieces: one about teachers, one about students, and one about the barriers to healing. If you’re a teacher or a parent, I hope you’re getting the support you need. If you know someone who is a teacher or a parent, please extend them a kind, affirming word. Or call them up and listen.

💬 ARTICLE CLUB: I invite you to join Article Club this month. We’re discussing “Saying Goodbye to My Chest,” by Naomi Gordon-Loebl. If you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time. Click the big button below!

Sign up for our discussion!

🎉 There are only 4 tickets left to Highlighter Happy Hour in Oakland next Thursday. (Yes, it’s a popular event.) Get your free ticket here. I’m really excited to see you all.

1️⃣ The Mental Health Challenges Facing Teachers Now

Most of the conversations I’m in, we’re talking about the mental health of our young people. And we should definitely be having those conversations. But what I appreciated about this article is that it focuses on the challenges teachers are facing in the classroom and how it’s affecting them. This well-written piece by Marianna McMurdock follows a science teacher in New York who is experiencing vicarious trauma and empathetic distress. “You need therapy when you have trauma exposure,” says Prof. Tish Jennings, an expert in teacher stress. Unfortunately, very few districts offer any meaningful emotional support for teachers. (9 min)

➡️ Read the article

Malala, who belongs to loyal reader Pauline, loves tennis balls, ham, and cheese. She enjoys the snow in Colorado Springs and meeting deer in the backyard. Her 2023 goal is to pass the Canine Good Citizen evaluation and training. Malala’s love language is physical touch. Want your pet to be featured here? hltr.co/pets

2️⃣ The Teen Mental Illness Epidemic

No, the kids are not all right. That’s the conclusion of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who argues that the rise of social media (especially the like button) over the last 10 years has correlated with an unprecedented crisis among young people. Teenagers are experiencing record levels of depression, mental illness, self-harm, and suicide. The graphs in this piece are startling. Here’s an example:

Also compelling is a comprehensive Google Doc that includes more than 100 pages of research studies that corroborate Prof. Haidt’s claims. (13 min)

➡️ Read the article

3️⃣ There Is No Healing In An Anti-Black World

Da’Shaun L. Harrison:

healing is erratic, indiscriminate, chaotic, and arbitrary. it knows no bounds and follows no rules. and in its wake, i've found that it often puts your heart up as collateral—leaving one unwilling to feel as deeply as they once did, or love as earnestly as they once did, or exist as vulnerably as they once did. at least, that's true for me.

This piece is meant to be read slowly, and several times. I took time to look closely at how Harrison uses capitalization and how they problematize the common refrain, “Healing isn’t linear.” I’d love to hear what you think. (6 min)

➡️ Read the article

Thank you for reading this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 4 new subscribers – including Jakob – I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Unique! Ulises! Ursula!), you’re pretty great. Loyal reader Nancy, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Christine and Erik (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. (The hoodie is next!)

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!

#379: It’s February! Let’s read and discuss “Saying Goodbye To My Chest”

Join us on Sunday, Feb. 26 to discuss Naomi Gordon-Loebl’s outstanding essay

Happy Thursday, Loyal Readers. I need to get one thing off my chest before launching into today’s issue. David Coleman of College Board is a very silly man. Caving in to political pressure and watering down AP African American Studies is not exactly the best way to start Black History Month.

I could go on (and on) about Mr. Coleman. But let’s not distract ourselves from the task at hand: reading and discussing this month’s Article of the Month, “Saying Goodbye To My Chest,” by Naomi Gordon-Loebl. It’s a powerful piece.

In particular I recommend it if you identify as cisgender or have not had much experience with trans people or trans issues. As we’ve established over and over again, reading is never enough when we’re on a journey of learning and understanding. But it’s a good step toward empathy.

⭐️ HHH #19 is Thursday, Feb. 16, 5:30 - 8:00 pm PT. We’ll gather at our usual spot, Room 389 in Oakland. Hope to see you there. Get your free ticket here.

The author post-surgery. C Jess T. Dugan; “Naomi at Sunset,” 2022, Courtesy of the artist and CLAMP, New York

Saying Goodbye To My Chest

Naomi Gordon-Loebl put on a binder for the first time when she was 14 years old. She liked how the white T-shirt fell against her flat chest. She loved the way she looked and felt. But only seven months ago, fully 20 years later, did Ms. Gordon-Loebl make the appointment for her top surgery. She explains:

I never hated my chest. It’s a perfectly fine chest; a good one, and I’m fond of it, even. It’s been with me for some 21 years. Everywhere my body has traveled, it has come along. Everything I have done, it has done too. It has been a part of me, and in some ways, it always will be. It needs to go now, not because it is wrong, or something worth despising, but simply because it is standing in the way of a life I can no longer postpone.

In this beautifully written account, Ms. Gordon-Loebl shares her journey and explains how she has felt being trans. It’s like “moving through a world where there are invisible rules” that she is always breaking. She writes about washing her hands quickly in the bathroom, getting patted down in the airport security line, and wanting desperately to sleep shirtless. “Sometimes I find myself idly imagining that what I am doing is returning my body to its rightful state,” she writes. (18 min)

Read the article

This month, I warmly invite you to read, annotate, and discuss “Saying Goodbye To My Chest” as part of Article Club.

If you’re interested, this how things will go:

  • This week, we’ll read the article

  • Next week, we’ll annotate the article as a group

  • The following week, we’ll listen to our interview with Ms. Gordon-Loebl

  • On Sunday, Feb. 26, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT, we’ll discuss the article

Sign up for the discussion!

If this will be your first time participating in Article Club, I’m 100% sure you’ll find that you’ll feel welcome. We’re a kind, thoughtful reading community. Feel free to reach out with all of your questions.

Thank you for reading this week’s issue of The Highlighter Article Club. Hope you liked it. Feel free to share your thoughts and feedback. I’d love to hear from you.

To our 5 new subscribers – including Ann and Ken – I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Taylor! Tyler! Tien!), you’re pretty great, too. VIPs Molly and Jared, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow.

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

❤️ Become a paid subscriber for $3 a month, like Katie and Rachel (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes, including exclusive audio letters from me to you.

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!

#378: What Guns Did To My Childhood

I’ll say it again: Mitchell S. Jackson knows how to write

Happy Thursday, loyal readers. Thank you for your kind words about last week’s interview with E. Alex Jung, author of “The Spectacular Life of Octavia Butler.” I look forward to seeing many of you this Sunday for our discussion of his great article.

This week, I’m featuring another brilliant piece by one of my favorite writers, Mitchell S. Jackson. Before I reveal it, it’s important to note that Mr. Jackson is no stranger to The Highlighter. Some evidence:

In that interview, we asked Mr. Mitchell what separates his writing, what makes his writing special. His answer began with a humble preamble. Then he said he likes the challenge: that if he’s going to spend months on a feature story, he wants to push himself, he wants to break convention, he wants to do something new with form.

But then he got specific. The truth is, he doesn’t think of himself as a journalist. Rather, he came up from fiction. He has two master’s degrees in creative writing. He thinks of nonfiction with a fiction writer’s mindset. And that means he cares about writing at the sentence level.

I’m very much concerned with the sentence. I’m almost concerned with the sentence over the story. And so the benefit of writing nonfiction is that, You don’t have to invent the scenes, but the kind of ethos of wanting to make beautiful sentences, that’s really what I want to do.

This sentence-level attention to detail is abundantly clear in this week’s selection, “What Guns Did To My Childhood.” I highly recommend that you read it.

Read the article

Mr. Jackson as a high school sophomore in Portland in 1991.

I don’t want to spoil your experience reading the piece, but I do want to call out a couple passages to explain what I’m talking about when I say that Mr. Mitchell cares about sentences. Here’s one:

I’m not some fancy teacher of writing, but I can identify great writing when I read it. Mr. Mitchell could have written another “guns steal young people’s innocence” piece. But because he cares about sentences, we feel the slumped shoulders and the dimmed eyes. We feel the nullification of childhood grace.

If you read the article, I also invite you to notice how Mr. Mitchell plays with words. His word choice is precise: He switches between isn’t and ain’t based on his purpose. He throws in a comcomitant right after a hella.

I’m convinced he does this to mess with his reader — in particular: his white liberal college-educated New York Times-subscribing reader. Mr. Mitchell doesn’t let his reader rest. He doesn’t want them (you?) to be comfortable. He did it in his Ahmaud Arbery profile, and he does it again here. In one example, he interrupts his narrative to remind his reader:

Later, when presenting a list of startling statistics about gun violence, he again pauses to make sure we are listening to him. “Do you hear me?” he asks. In other words, Mr. Mitchell is not letting us go about our day.

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there for now. Except one last thing: If you are a teacher (many of you are), this is a piece I’d recommend that you read with your students — not only because of the content, but also because of all the writerly moves Mr. Mitchell makes. Please enjoy (and tell me about it!).

⭐️ The 1619 Project docuseries premieres today. Many of you participated in our six-month book study of The 1619 Project last year. Anyone want to organize a watch party of the six-part docuseries? Let me know.

Y'all, after two years working on this, tomorrow is premiere day for the greatest story never told, #1619hulu #1619project six-part docuseries on @hulu. The first 2 eps DEMOCRACY & RACE drop. I'm so excited & nervous. Who's hosting a watch party? Please let a sister know! 🖤✊🏽

8:59 PM ∙ Jan 25, 2023

2,938Likes 491Retweets

Thank you for listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 7 new subscribers — including Silvia, Bobby, Fay, and Carolyn – I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Sara! Sarah! Sarrah!), you’re pretty great. Loyal reader Elisabeth, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Telannia and Steven (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. (The hoodie is next!)

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!

#377: An interview with E. Alex Jung, author of “The Spectacular Life of Octavia Butler”

Please come join our discussion on Sunday, January 29

Happy Thursday, loyal readers. This month at Article Club, we’ve been focusing on “The Spectacular Life of Octavia Butler,” by the talented writer E. Alex Jung.

If you haven’t read the article yet, I urge you to do so. It’s excellent. Even if you are a newbie to Ms. Butler’s work, you’ll appreciate how Mr. Jung honors her and her impact. There aren’t many great profiles out there about Ms. Butler. Now, thanks to Mr. Jung, we have one.

Also: I hope you’ll join us to discuss the article on January 29, 2:00 - 3:30 pm PT on Zoom. There’s still time to sign up! Article Clubbers are kind and thoughtful and welcoming. Our conversations are always in small, intimate, facilitated groups.

Sign up for the discussion!

I’m excited to share that Sarai and I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Jung a couple weeks ago about his brilliant article. Sarai took the lead this time – which I was very happy about, given that she’s an expert of Ms. Butler’s work. We talked about a number of topics, including:

  • why Mr. Jung decided to focus on Ms. Butler as a subject

  • how reading her personal journals influenced Mr. Jung’s approach to the piece

  • why contracts (professional and personal) were so important to Ms. Butler

  • manifesting (of course)

  • how Ms. Butler pushes us to imagine a better world

I hope you take a listen and let me know what you think.

E. Alex Jung

Thank you for listening to this week’s issue. Hope you liked it. 😀

To our 3 new subscribers — James, Rachel, and Bria – I hope you find the newsletter a solid addition to your email inbox. To our long-time subscribers (Ronald! Reginald! Ryan!), you’re pretty great. VIP Camille, thank you for sharing the newsletter and getting the word out.

If you like The Highlighter Article Club, please help it grow. I really appreciate your support. Here are two ways you can help out:

❤️ Become a paid subscriber, like Rachel and Helene (thank you!). You’ll join an esteemed group of readers who value the mission of The Highlighter Article Club. Plus you’ll receive surprise perks and prizes. (The hoodie is next!)

📬 Invite your friends. Know someone who’s kind, thoughtful, and loves to read? Share with them today’s issue and urge them to subscribe. Word of mouth is by far the best way to strengthen our reading community. Thank you very much for spreading the word.

Share

On the other hand, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, please feel free to unsubscribe. See you next Thursday at 9:10 am PT!