<br><br>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

<br><br>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

<br><br>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

<br><br>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode 22<br/><br/>It’s been a rough week. Michael recaps the May 24th primaries, and then we discuss the aftermath of all these shootings. We don’t have answers, and we can’t put a bow on things, but maybe the episode is a place for grief? We’re not sure. Take care, dear friends.<br/><br/>Michael & Melissa<br/><br/><em>P.S. Don’t forget that this past week we launched </em><a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/launching-the-morning-five-with-michael?s=w#details"><em>The Morning Five</em></a><em>. Our hope is that it might be the kind of quick listen that helps you situate your day, and the events of the day, within the scope of God’s grace. Maybe listen to it while you drive the kids to school as a way to pray together and think together. We’re experimenting with it for now, but will likely make it available on Apple Podcasts and other podcast services soon. New episodes every mornng, Monday-Thursday.</em><br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017230-slow-cooker-pork-tacos-with-hoisin-and-ginger">Slow Cooker Pork Tacos with Hoisin and Ginger</a><br/><br/>Henri Nouwen devotional: <a target="_blank" href="https://henrinouwen.org/meditations/the-blessing-hidden-in-grief/">“The Blessing Hidden in Grief”</a><br/><br/>Liz Bruenig’s pieces in <em>The Atlantic</em>: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/uvalde-shooting-robb-elementary-horror/643118/">“78 Minutes”</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/uvalde-shooting-robb-elementary-horror/643118/">“A Culture That Kills Its Children Has No Future”</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-police-184334fed299bad71e257b585f7790ea">“Police inaction moves to center of Uvalde shooting probe”</a> (<em>AP</em>)<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.firstthings.com/article/2022/06/a-gentler-christendom">“A Gentler Christendom”</a> (<em>First Things Magazin</em>e)<br/><br/>Because Ross Douthat writes on Jacques Maritain and how to handle the decline of Christianity. <em>“For those with ears to hear, these are the practical lessons of the recent Christian past, and especially of our own country’s history. Religious power wielded wisely and mildly and indirectly, with due respect to liberty and diversity and a focus first on the faith’s internal health and zeal, can sustain a religious ascendancy for many ­generations. But religious power wielded too much against pluralism, with political ambition substituting for real faithfulness, will corrupt and enervate and bring about its own reward.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/p/what-progress-wants?s=r">“What Progress Wants”</a> (<em>The Abbey of Misrule - Substack</em>)<br/><br/>Because <em>“The Italian philosopher Augusto Del Noce saw the modern era as a thorough and permanent revolution - a radical break with the human past. He defined a modern person as ‘someone who thinks that “today it is no longer possible…”’ We do not tend to see our time as continuous with what has gone before…By sweeping away old ways of thinking, seeing and living, modernity has produced ‘a type of violence capable of breaking the continuum of history.’”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2022/05/this-will-not-pass-book-review-democrats-republican-political-power/629895/">“The Rotten Core of Our Political System”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>Because we’re reading the new book, “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future” and enjoyed this review from George Packer.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://newrepublic.com/article/166383/los-angeles-echo-park-homeless-industrial-complex">“Inside LA’s Homeless Industrial Complex”</a> (<em>The New Republic</em>)<b --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

<br><br>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Friends,<br><br>We&#8217;re trying a new experiment. Every Monday-Thursday morning we&#8217;ll release a brief, 5-minute podcast episode to start your day off with prayer and a brief recap of the news of the day. Our intent is to provide you with another easy way to pray and learn about the news without provoking unnecessary anxiety, anger or antagonism.<br><br>We won&#8217;t email you every day with the new episode, so be sure to add it to your RSS feed or check in at <a href="http://reclaiminghope.substack.com" class="linkified" target="_blank">reclaiminghope.substack.com</a> in the morning for each new episode. <br><br>The first episode runs a bit longer than future episodes will as Michael introduces the podcast. We hope you find this experiment valuable. We trust God will make use of it.<br><br>Yours,<br><br>Michael and Melissa <br><br>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

<h3>If you’ve thought about becoming a paid subscriber before, <a href="//reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe" target="_blank">now is the time</a>!</h3> <p><strong>Wear is the Love, Episode 21</strong></p> <p>This week we discuss the primaries on May 17th — who won, who didn’t, what surprised us and what didn’t. We also discuss Lis Smith’s op-ed in WaPo on the Dobbs abortion case, “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/19/lis-smith-abortion-language-choice-decision/">This is not the time to change how we talk about abortion.</a>” And finally, we discuss Matthew B Crawford’s article on liberalism, which is number 1 in the Top 5 below.</p> <p>The Top 5 articles for your week:</p> <p>1. <a href="https://unherd.com/2022/05/covid-was-liberalisms-endgame/">“Covid was liberalism’s end game” </a>(<em>UnHerd</em>)</p> <p>Because <em>“The pandemic brought liberalism’s deeper contradictions into plain view. On the one hand, it accelerated what had previously been a slow-motion desertion of liberal principles of government. On the other hand, Covid culture has brought to the surface the usually subterranean core of the liberal project, which is not merely political but anthropological: to remake man. That project can come to fruition, it seems, only with a highly illiberal form of government, paradoxically enough. If we can understand this, it might explain why our embrace of illiberal politics has met with so little resistance.”</em></p> <p>2. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/05/18/mindful-meditation-guilt-amends/">“An unintended consequence of mindfulness”</a> (<em>Washington Post</em>)</p> <p>Because <em>“Mindfulness meditation is clearly effective at calming uncomfortable feelings, but some uncomfortable emotions are useful. Guilt can motivate us to apologize when we have hurt someone or to take action to undo some of the damage we’ve done. If meditation reduces that emotion, it could prevent us from doing the right thing.”</em></p> <p>3. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-05-07/u-s-china-cold-war-hasn-t-killed-globalization-yet">“Globalization Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Not American Anymore”</a> (<em>Bloomberg</em>)</p> <p>Because <em>“Around the world, governments are paying more attention to how globalization can threaten national security, citizens’ interests and the environment. To mitigate these risks and make globalization more palatable, many are shifting away from Washington-style laissez-faire policies to a more hands-on approach of ‘managed globalization.’”</em></p> <p>4. <a href="https://www.missourireview.com/dislodged-by-josh-mccolough/">“Dislodged”</a> (<em>The Missouri Review</em>)</p> <p>Because <em>“Any chances are hard enough to come by these days, I think. And everything these past couple of years has felt like a last chance. Just leaving my house to scrounge picked-over store shelves for toilet paper felt like a kind of last-chance endeavor. And truly, I am tired of thinking about last chances. What if the last time I saw my parents was my last chance to have seen them? What if the last time I stepped foot in the classroom was the last chance I had to do so? What about that last time I went to a concert and screamed in revelatory joy? Or the last time I sat inside a coffee shop? Or the last time I went anywhere without a mask?”</em></p> <p>5.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/deafblind-communities-may-be-creating-a-new-language-of-touch">“DeafBlind Communities May Be Creating a New Language of Touch”</a> (<em>New Yorker</em>)</p> <p>Because a new language is being created right now! How fascinating!</p> <p>6. BONUS: <a href="https://longreads.com/2022/05/19/our-braided-bread-challah-essay/">“Our Braided Bread”</a> (<em>Longreads</em>)</p> <p>Because this is simply a lovely essay from a writer in Iowa who bakes challah weekly, more often than he used to, and he’s trying to understand why.</p> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode 20<br/><br/>In this week’s episode, recorded in San Francisco, we lament the mass shooting by a white supremacist in our beloved hometown, Buffalo. We discuss the heinous shooting in Buffalo, and how it’s a bit different when you’re reacting to the place you grew up.<br/><br/>Then, Michael discusses political homelessness, a topic he’s spoken on and written about for years, and rebuts a common critique.<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/p/the-monthly-salon-may?s=r">“The Monthly Salon: May”</a> (<em>Abbey of Misrule - Substack</em>)<br/><br/>Because <em>“‘Changing the world’ is of course a modern notion, and it has gone into hyperdrive since the 1960s, as religion, with its promise of perfected kingdom beyond this life, has been replaced by materialism, which requires us to try and achieve it in this one. But the prevalance of the ‘changing the world’ narrative has also become ubiquitous for another, more everyday reason: </em><a target="_blank" href="https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/p/want-is-the-acid?s=w"><em>the world is getting worse</em></a><em>. And the worse it gets, the more we are desperate to change it - or to believe that we can. With God gone, after all, what else is left to us?”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://wisdomofcrowds.live/is-a-better-world-possible-without-american-power/">“Is a Better World Possible Without American Power? A Debate With Daniel Bessner”</a> (<em>Wisdom of Crowds</em>)<br/><br/>Because we listened to this podcast episode this weekend and thought it was a super interesting distillation of Leftist frameworks and approaches to how the world works. (warning: explicit language)<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/05/13/multiverse-politics-00032277">“The Multiverse Swallows Everything — Including Politics”</a> (<em>Politico</em>)<br/><br/>Because <em>“…how could it possibly be surprising that the multiverse reigns supreme in our cultural imagination, when the core concept is one that treats aspiration as outright fantasy? The solutions offered by the loudest politicians today that might bridge that gap are frequently themselves little better than science fiction.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/05/baby-formula-supply-shortage-problem/629867/">“We’ve Never Been Good at Feeding Babies”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>Because the formula shortage is a national conversation, but one that could be prevented, possibly. <em>“‘There are only a few manufacturing plants in the country, and there are four infant-formula companies that control about 90 percent of the supply in the United States,’ Dittmeier told me. ‘It’s a highly concentrated market with a highly concentrated production capacity, so that when one plant is taken offline for just a period of weeks, you see these ripple effects throughout the entire sector.’”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/12/opinion/identity-politics-taiwo.html">“Whatever Happened to Identity Politics?”</a> (<em>NYT</em>)<br/><br/>Because we enjoyed this conversation with philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò. <em>“There was one event in particular, where a group of people had come to visit campus from an alternative high school for kids who had been railroaded out of other school systems. Working-class, Black and brown kids. And they had come to campus to see what we were doing. And this person from the medical school comes up to speak and gives this impassioned description of how racially insensitive the med school practices are, and it’s just one of those “read the room” moments — this is the furthest thing from what your audience on this particular day rightfully cares about. That was a clear moment where I realized, “Oh, it’s not just that people talk this way when it’s just us academics around.” I think some people hav --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode 19<br/><br/>In Episode 19, we discuss Michael’s writing from last week. It’s a good episode if you need to catch-up on the Dobbs Supreme Court opinion leak. Plus, we talk Italy. Our favorite!<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/april-web-only/political-apocalypse-christianity-right-left-evangelicals.html">Apocalypse Now: How the Left and Right Get Danger Wrong</a> (<em>CT</em>)<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/quick-thoughts-on-alitos-draft-opinion?s=w">Quick Thoughts on Alito’s Draft Opinion and the Fallout</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/dobbs-accountability-and-the-shifting?s=w">Dobbs, Accountability and the Shifting Ground Under Roe</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://mereorthodoxy.com/food-and-the-life-of-the-nations/">Food and the Life of the Nations</a> (<em>Mere Orthodoxy</em>)<br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/6-michael-wear-author-of-reclaiming-hope-on-his/id1557279269?i=1000517892776">Good Enough Podcast episode</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/935265/opinion-on-eu-membership-in-italy/">Italian polling on EU membership</a><br/><br/>The Top 5 Articles for your week<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://aeon.co/essays/after-jacques-derrida-whats-next-for-french-philosophy">“Since Derrida”</a> (<em>Aeon Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because this essay looks at the effects post-structuralist thinkers like Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault have on identity politics.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/07/opinion/sunday/child-tax-credit-social-security.html">“We Pay to Keep the Old Out of Poverty. Why Won’t We Do the Same for the Young?”</a> (<em>NYT</em>)<br/><br/>Because this framing is helpful to think about the array of poverty policies we have the ability to enact for children.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/parenting-decisions-dont-trust-your-gut-book-excerpt/629734/">“The One Parenting Decision That Really Matters”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>Because statistically speaking, where (geographically) a child grows up has the most impact on the later success of that child. Are we all moving to Madison, Wisconsin now, or what?<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.wired.com/story/fast-cheap-out-of-control-inside-rise-of-shein/">“Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control: Inside Shein’s Sudden Rise”</a> (<em>Wired</em>)<br/><br/>Because if Forever21 was the fast fashion giant of the 2000s, Shein is the new model. But labor reports and environmental reports show the ultra-fast retailer is inaugurating a new global reign for unsustainable business practices.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/how-a-massacre-of-nearly-300-in-syria-was-revealed/">“How a Massacre of Nearly 300 in Syria Was Revealed”</a> (<em>New/Lines Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because we must not forget the violence and turmoil of the last 11 years in Syria, and how it’s far from over. (<em>n.b. there’s coarse language and fairly descriptive details of violence and death in this essay</em>) <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love Episode 18<br/><br/>Should student loans be forgiven? By how much? At what income level? Just undergraduate loans, or should graduate loans be included? How might the politics of this issue affect the midterms?<br/><br/>We discuss each of these questions in this latest episode. Student loan debt forgiveness is all over the news, and it’s a potential midterm football. Our stances on the matter differ, but we hope you come out with a greater sense of the nuances of this complicated policy issue.<br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/>Brookings: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/student-loan-forgiveness-is-regressive-whether-measured-by-income-education-or-wealth/">“Student loan debt is regressive…”</a> <br/><br/>Roosevelt Institute: <a target="_blank" href="https://rooseveltinstitute.org/publications/student-debt-cancellation-is-progressive/">“Student loan debt is progressive…”</a><br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-technocrats-dilemma">“The Technocrats Dilemma”</a> (<em>The New Atlantis</em>)<br/><br/>Because <em>“This is the fundamental mystification of technocracy: that public policy can and should be a technical matter for specialists. We are, as Habermas puts it, subjected to “the illusory attempts of the technocrats to have political decisions be directed only by the logic of objective exigency” — or, as it’s put so often lately, we must “follow the science.” But policy, quite obviously, cannot in itself be scientific. Science or expertise should be employed in making decisions about policy, but politicians and the experts advising them must ultimately make recommendations and decisions based on values, practical and moral commitments, and political realities and possibilities. These are not scientific and, in a genuine democracy, are meant to be subject to vigorous debate.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.gq.com/story/escape-to-zoom-island">“Escape to Zoom Island”</a> (<em>GQ</em>)<br/><br/>Because “digital nomads” are potentially changing the way we think about work and where we work.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/04/20/pandemic-aid-ends-housing-nightmare/">“As Pandemic Aid Ends, Struggling Families Face a Housing Nightmare” </a>(<em>Washington Post Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because even as we talk about student loan debt forgiveness in the podcast, housing is another crisis for many people that we believe is worthy of similar policy scrutiny.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theverge.com/c/23010055/pandemic-ppe-supply-chain-gloves-coronavirus">“The Hustler at the End of the World” </a>(<em>The Verge</em>)<br/><br/>Because some people saw the pandemic in March 2020 and saw it as an opportunity, exposing the vulnerabilities of pandemic-ridden societies. <em>“Many people feel as though the past two years were stolen, wiped from the calendar and replaced with a long and empty slog. Nearly a million Americans have died of COVID, but mask mandates and vaccine requirements are ending, and the country is ready to move on, variants be damned. Kaplan still views the pandemic as an opportunity, a gift of perspective that will shape the rest of his days. Money is great and all, but as he saw with Rob, you can’t take it with you. “Time is the most precious and finite commodity you have,” Kaplan said.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://restofworld.org/2022/blackouts/#/special-operation-and-peace">“In the Dark”</a> (<em>Rest of World</em>)<br/><br/>Because, <em>“Over the last six months, Rest of World spoke to more than 70 technologists, telecomms experts, activists, and journalists from around the world to track how governments’ control over the internet has grown and evolved during the past decade. Their testimony shows that the free, open, global internet is under severe threat. Telecomms blackouts an --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode 17<br/><br/>The pod is back! This week, we received a request from a listener, Hannah, asking that we cover Jonathan Haidt’s recent article in <em>The Atlantic</em>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/">“Why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid.”</a> 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 <a target="_blank" href="https://reclaimthenet.org/transcript-of-president-barack-obamas-speech-at-stanford-april-21-2022/">President Barack Obama’s recent speech at Stanford University</a> on disinformation and the future of our democracy. <br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/>Derek Thompson’s recent article, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/04/american-teens-sadness-depression-anxiety/629524/">“Why American Teens Are So Sad”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>The Top 5 article for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/23/health/mental-health-crisis-teens.html">“‘It’s Life or Death’: The Mental Health Crisis Among U.S. Teens”</a><strong><em> (</em></strong><em>NYT</em><strong><em>)</em></strong><br/><br/>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 <em>NYT</em> focus group <a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/episode-14-catching-up-on-ukraine?s=w">we covered weeks ago on the podcast</a> 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.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://hedgehogreview.com/issues/political-mythologies/articles/a-democratic-mythic">“A Democratic Mythic?”</a> (<em>Hedgehog Review</em>)<br/><br/>Because <em>“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.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://comment.org/resisting-a-culture-of-incoherence/">“Resisting a Culture of Incoherence”</a> (<em>Comment Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because <em>“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.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-new-nuclear-reality">“The New Nuclear Reality”</a> (<em>New Yorker</em>)<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/><a t --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode #16<br/><br/>In episode 16, we cover a lot of interesting current events. First — we cover the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/christian-right-wing-politics.html">new and popular article</a> from Elisabeth Dias and Ruth Graham on the Right’s use of worship in politics. Michael has a caution for us as consumers of this type of article.<br/><br/>Next, we head over to Top 5 #1, President Clinton’s new essay for <em>The Atlantic</em>, which seeks to explain why he expanded NATO in the 90s. We discuss decision-making and the various considerations a president must make in big moments.<br/><br/>Finally, we cover the French presidential election. Voting begins tomorrow in France, and President Emmanuel Macron is in trouble. Far-right leader, Marin Le Pen, is very close in the polls. I explain the origins of Le Pen’s party, the National Rally, and why this election in France is significant for us.<br/><br/>Often, I felt like this guy while trying to describe politics in France, but I hope you stick it out with me.<br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/>Michael’s <em>Breaking Ground</em> article, <a target="_blank" href="https://breakingground.us/a-politics-worse-than-death/">“A Politics Worse than Death”</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-what-is-the-budapest-memorandum-and-why-has-russias-invasion-torn-it-up-178184">More on the Budapest Memorandum</a> (<em>The Conversation</em>)<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/france/">2022 and 2017 polls in France</a> (<em>Politico</em>)<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/fjg18u456t/France_Vote_Intention_07-Apr-2022_website_v2.pdf">YouGov polling by age in France</a><br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/04/bill-clinton-nato-expansion-ukraine/629499/">“I Tried to Put Russia on Another Path”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>Because President Clinton stands by his decision to expand NATO after the end of the Cold War.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/09/opinion/paying-parents-for-child-care.html">“Parents Who Stay Home Should Get Public Child Care Support Too”</a> (<em>NYT</em>)<br/><br/>Because Matt Bruenig argues, <em>“Forcing parents to stock shelves when they’d rather watch their toddler is a victory for no one.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://aeon.co/essays/why-virtue-signalling-is-not-just-a-vice-but-an-evolved-tool">“Is virtue signalling a vice?”</a> (<em>Aeon Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because this article lays out the scientific inquiry into an oft-batted around concept - virtue signalling - in online spaces. <em>“…virtue signalling is more nuanced and more interesting than the picture painted by conventional wisdom and political rhetoric. As it turns out, there are </em><a target="_blank" href="https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-cruel-moraliser-uses-a-halo-to-disguise-his-horns"><em>bad</em></a><em> and </em><a target="_blank" href="https://aeon.co/ideas/is-virtue-signalling-a-perversion-of-morality"><em>good</em></a><em> things about virtue signalling – but probably not for the reasons you think.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/08/germany-crucial-to-resistance-against-putin-fascism/">“After 77 years in timeout, Germany is crucial to the fascist resistance”</a> (<em>Washington Post</em>)<br/><br/>Because <em>“Germany is no longer down; in fact, it is the linchpin of the resistance to Putin, thrust into prominence by a convergence of factors: its wealth, its geography and its ingrained fear of its worst self.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/something-happened-by-us-a-demonology">“Something Happened By Us: A Demonology”</a> (<em>The</em> <em>New Atlantis</em>)<br/><br/>Because --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode 15<br/><br/>In this week’s episode, we felt our listeners might want to know a bit more about us, Melissa and Michael, as a couple. How did we meet? How did we start dating? I (Melissa) love telling this story because it’s all a bit cute, sweet, and hilarious.<br/><br/>In the second part of the episode, we discuss the op-ed from Yuval Levin titled, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/29/opinion/democrats-republicans-american-politics.html">“Why Do Our Politicians Keep Pursuing a Losing Strategy?”</a> Levin proposes that political parties need to start focusing on new questions and issue areas, and we have some thoughts.<br/><br/>Reclaiming Hope Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/03/ukraine-apparent-war-crimes-russia-controlled-areas">“Ukraine: Apparent War Crimes in Russia-Controlled Areas”</a> (<em>Human Rights Watch</em>)<br/><br/>Because this astounding report from HRW came out today and it’s making waves in the media — there’s evidence that Russia is allegedly committing terrible war crimes.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/magazine/belarus-mural.html">“The Battle for the Mural — and the Future of Belarus”</a> (<em>NYT Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because this is an excellent story of courage in the face of authoritarianism in Belarus.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://annehelen.substack.com/p/forced-to-care?s=r">“Forced to Care”</a> (<em>Culture Studies - Substack</em>)<br/><br/>Because <em>“What we have, then, is a caregiving paradigm — not just for kids, but for elders and other adults — that relies heavily on proximity to family and presumed willingness. For those without those things, there are two options: 1) pay a lot of money for help, or 2) figure it out your damn self.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/04/mackenzie-fierceton-rhodes-scholarship-university-of-pennsylvania">“How an Ivy League school turned against a student”</a> (<em>The New Yorker</em>)<br/><br/>Because this story about Mackenzie Fierceton’s horrific childhood and the subsequent issues she faced with her Rhodes Scholarship and tenure at University of Penn show how we assume stories of trauma conform to stereotypes and statistics. <em>“If trauma creates a kind of narrative void, Mackenzie seemed to respond by leaning into a narrative that made her life feel more coherent, fitting into boxes that people want to reward. Perhaps her access to privilege helped her understand, in a way that other disadvantaged students might not, the ways that élite institutions valorize certain kinds of identities. There is currency to a story about a person who comes from nothing and thrives in a prestigious setting. These stories attract attention, in part because they offer comfort that, at least on occasion, such things happen.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2022/03/28/my-friend-goo/">“My Friend Goo”</a> (<em>Paris Review</em>)<br/><br/>Because this is an absolutely heartwarming and heartbreaking story, somehow, about the relationship between a woman and a goose and how their relationship connects to the death of her younger brother. <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode #14<br/><br/>In this episode, we provide an update on Ukraine: what’s been happening these last few weeks, President Biden’s Europe visit, and what we’re looking at in the near future. After our recap, we discuss a fascinating <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/opinion/teenagers-america.html">12-teen focus group</a> the <em>NYT</em> conducted recently to understand how 16-17 year olds are seeing their world. If anything, the focus group and our conversation expands our thinking when it comes to this young age cohort and their experiences. <br/><br/>At the very end of the episode, peep one of our many, many recording bloopers. We might start sharing more.<br/><br/><strong>Episode notes</strong><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://whova.com/portal/registration/biolo_202203/">BioLogos Faith & Science 2022 virtual pass</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://renewamericamovement.com/principles/">Renew America</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/ambdanfried/status/1507791086307188736?s=21&#38;t=UpfXO4pwsxgs7Honyq7EMw">Ambassador Dan Fried’s tweet</a> on President’s Biden remark<br/><br/>President Biden’s <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/biden-putin-remarks-not-policy-change/">press conference</a> clarifying his “moral outrage” (<em>CBS</em>)<br/><br/>Anti-nuclear weapons and chemical weapons orgs: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.globalzero.org/">Global Zero</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ploughshares.org/">Ploughshares Fund</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.icanw.org/">ICAN</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.opcw.org/">OPCW</a><br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://thomashibbs.org/26120/stephen-colbert-faith">“Stephen Colbert makes the case that faith matters a great deal” </a>(<em>Pundicity</em>)<br/><br/>Because “Colbert speaks about the connection among humor, sacrifice, and hope that are bound up in his faith. Kahn, a Yale University legal scholar, sees in his parents' lives a secular parable of a post-religious world in which forgiveness is impossible and hope in the face of death is no longer sustainable.<br/><br/>In different ways, Kahn and Colbert make the case that faith matters a great deal. This is noteworthy at a time when Americans seem increasingly inclined to indifference toward religion and when churches seem largely incapable of communicating a core message that persuades ordinary Americans that religion provides something indispensable.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/zelensky-speech-russia-propaganda-history/629381/">“How Propaganda Became Entertaining”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>Because we’ve been chatting about the use of propaganda by the Ukrainian government on Wear is the Love, and this article traces the tactics used in WWII.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-europe-edf7240a9d990e7e3e32f82ca351dede?utm_source">“20 days in Mariupol: The team that documented city’s agony”</a> (<em>AP</em>)<br/><br/>Because Mariupol has nearly fallen to Russian forces, and this is a heartbreaking photo essay.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/03/26/molly-mckew-russia-cyberspace-00020656">“‘Don’t Leave the Space Open’ — How the West Can Defeat Putin in Cyberspace and Beyond’”</a> (<em>Politico Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because a foremost expert on cyber warfare, Molly McKew, thinks that the new cyber warfare tactics of the US and allies could lead to innovation in how these countries fight traditional war.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/the-harsh-realm-of-gentle-parenting">“The Harsh Realm of ‘Gentle Parenting’”</a> (<em>The New Yorker</em>)<br/><br/>Because what a fresh-breath of an article! “Still, across the parenting boards and the group texts, one --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode #13<br/><br/>We have a special guest join us this week on Wear is the Love — <em>Washington Post</em> Columnist Christine Emba. Christine’s excellent new book, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/622579/rethinking-sex-by-christine-emba/">“Rethinking Sex: A Provocation”</a> releases on Tuesday, March 22, and Michael and I wanted to make sure you had the opportunity to hear about this vital work from its author. <em>Rethinking Sex</em> looks at cultural assumptions about sex and how our current approach to sex as a culture is actually working out for people. Christine offers a different path forward that we hope will open up the conversation about sex. <br/><br/>We loved talking to Christine, and commend her book to you—not because we agree with every line of it, but because of the work it does and the potential it has to reset and open up a toxic, destructive culture when it comes to sex. Additionally, an excerpt from the book ran in <em>WaPo</em> this week, and it’s in the Top 5 below. <br/><br/>Please note that if you typically listen to our podcast with your kids, we want you to know that because of the subject matter, we talk about sex and consent, plus sexual assault is mentioned a few times. However, if your child is of an age or maturity level in which they may discuss these kinds of topics, we think the podcast is a good conversation starter.<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/17/sex-ethics-rethinking-consent-culture/">“Opinion: Consent is not enough. We need a new sexual ethic.”</a> (<em>Washington Post</em>)<br/><br/>Because “In our post-sexual-revolution culture, there seems to be wide agreement among young adults that sex is good and the more of it we have, the better. That assumption includes the idea that we don’t need to be tied to a relationship or marriage; that our proclivities are personal and that they are not to be judged by others — not even by participants. In this landscape, there is only one rule: Get consent from your partner beforehand. But the outcome is a world in which young people are both liberated <em>and</em> miserable. While college scandals and the #MeToo moment may have cemented a baseline rule for how to get into bed with someone without crossing legal lines, that hasn’t made the experience of dating and finding a partner simple or satisfying. Instead, the experience is often sad, unsettling, even traumatic.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://reallifemag.com/taking-stock/">“Taking Stock”</a> (<em>Real Life Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because this essay details the rise of “creator” in business jargon and “just as social media platforms early on helped rationalize co-creation as self-expression, a new suite of apps and tools want to do the same for ‘the creator economy,’ only now monetization opportunities (and not, it should be noted, guaranteed money) are a central part of the package.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://harpers.org/archive/2022/04/night-shifts-dream-incubation-technology-sleep-research/">“Night Shifts”</a> (<em>Harper’s Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because “When I spoke about the state of the field with the dream researcher Erin Wamsley, she described a kind of disappointment, a sense that the breakthrough insights into the nature of dreaming that seemed imminent a decade or two ago haven’t materialized. Over the past few years, this perceived impasse has led to the emergence of what a recent special issue of the journal <em>Consciousness and Cognition</em> dubbed “dream engineering.” To adapt Marx’s maxim, if hitherto the scientists have attempted to understand dreams, the engineers now seek to change them. In fact, the engineers argue that we can’t deepen our understanding of dreams <em>unless</em> we can change them.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/16/opinion/ukraine-russia-populism.ht --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode #12<br/><br/>This week, we’re back to chatting about some of our Top 5 articles, specifically George Packer’s piece in <em>The Atlantic</em> on the school culture wars and Vinson Cunningham’s interview of Dr. Cornel West in the <em>New Yorker</em>. We’re still praying for Ukraine and hope you’ll tune into episodes <a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/episode-10-on-russia?s=w">10</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/episode-11-on-nuclear-war?s=w">11</a> if you’re interested.<br/><br/>Also, don’t miss Michael’s posts from this last week, including his thoughts on <a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/to-parents-of-young-children?s=w">cooking with love on a tight schedule</a>, and his <a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/what-we-give-up-with-government?s=w">essay</a> on the appropriate use of political power. <br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="http://mediterraneansharedpast.org/">Our Shared Past in the Mediterranean Curriculum</a> (the project Melissa worked on a few years ago)<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/04/pandemic-politics-public-schools/622824/">“The Grown Ups Are Losing It”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>Because as we discuss on the podcast, George Packer asks “what is school for?” amidst the debates about what we’re teaching children in public schools.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/cornel-west-sees-a-spiritual-decay-in-the-culture">“Cornel West Sees Spiritual Decay in the Culture”</a> (<em>New Yorker</em>)<br/><br/>Because Dr. West is incisive here and throughout this great interview: “The secular has taken tremendous wounds and bruises in the last thirty years, because commodification is almost taking it over—and so, when you think of the secular, you don’t think right away of scientific authority, scientific breakthroughs. When you think of the secular these days, you think of careerism, opportunism, hedonism, egoism, individualism—and the ways in which science seems to be driven by corporate greed, seems to be moving toward the explosion of the planet or the collapse of the environment. So that the secular has a very different resonance now than it did in ’77. It’s almost as if everybody recognizes the spiritual decay and the moral decrepitude of the culture.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://hedgehogreview.com/issues/political-mythologies/articles/awaiting-a-new-prophetic-dispensation">“Awaiting a New Prophetic Dispensation”</a> (<em>Hedgehog Review</em>)<br/><br/>Because “Perhaps we can tuck our disagreements about fundamental things away into our private lives, and let the public sphere be a place for adjudicating public things.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2022/hamid-hayat/">“The man who paid for America’s fear”</a> (<em>San Francisco Chronicle</em>)<br/><br/>Because in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, hundreds of Muslims were detained and jailed on charges of terrorism, and this essay shows the lingering impact that experience had on one such man.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/11/opinion/ukraine-russia-war-independent-generation.html">“Here is How It Feels to Watch Russia Wage War in Ukraine”</a> (<em>NYT</em>)<br/><br/>Because young people, i.e. those under 30 who know nothing but a democratic Ukraine, talked to the NYT about their experiences and attitudes towards the war. <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

11 episodes in, we have our first guest on Wear We Are. Rev. Dr. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, a dear friend and priest and nuclear abolitionist who is kind enough to talk to us about one of the most distressing things in the news right now: nuclear war. As an activist, Tyler has a lot of experience working towards the US’s reduction of nuclear arms, but he also knows how to talk about this subject in an accessible way. We hope you learn something new! --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love Episode #10<br/><br/>It’s a heavy week. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is all we can think about. We chat about <a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/we-lack-the-ability-to-ideate-and?utm_source=url">my Substack piece on foreign policy</a> and the Russian invasion and the issues of valor, public diplomacy, and masculinity that we’re seeing playing out in the news and on social media. We are actively praying for Ukraine.<br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/MelissaMWear/status/1497430093332897797">The photo of the children and the Ukrainian tank</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/SaoSasha/status/1497311531041640450">The video of President Zelensky showing he is alive and well</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/JamWaterhouse/status/1497444106833907712">The quote from Zelensky on offers of evacuation from the US</a><br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/26/22951016/russia-ukraine-long-peace-nuclear-weapons-global-development">“The war in Ukraine could portend the end of the “long peace””</a><strong> </strong>(<em>Vox</em>)<br/><br/>Because this is a good article to pair with my Substack post this week on the myth of European peace — Russia’s war is shattering perceptions and realities about the European continent.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/25/putin-russia-ukraine-invasion-endgame-experts-00011652">“What Does Putin Really Want?”</a> (<em>Politico Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because Putin’s endgame is the question of the day, and Politico asked 19 experts about his possible motivations. One expert was blunt: “Putin’s endgame is nothing short of a revanchist imperialist remaking of the globe to take control of the entire former Soviet space.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2022-02-26/putins-war-home">“Putin’s War at Home” </a>(<em>Foreign Affairs</em>)<br/><br/>Because while Ukraine burns, Russian citizens are not giving Putin the tacit support he thought he would receive, and this costly invasion could make him more vulnerable to instability.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://wisdomofcrowds.live/negotiating-with-madmen/">“Negotiating with Madmen”</a> (Wisdom of Crowds)<br/><br/>Because it’s very easy to call Vladimir Putin “irrational” as we often do with authoritarian leaders, but this essay argues that Putin is following his worldview to its conclusion with the war.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/02/25/economic-weapon-review-sanctions-history-mulder/">“Economic sanctions were designed as a severe threat. Now they’re a default policy option.”</a> (<em>Washington Post</em>)<br/><br/>Because if you’re wondering what a sanction is, when they’ve worked, and why they’re talked about so much, this essay is for you. <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode #9<br/><br/>This week, we chat about the recent polling commissioned by the DCCC and reported by <em>Politico</em> (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/15/gop-culture-war-attacks-alarmingly-potent-dccc-warns-00009265">article here</a>) that shows how Democrats, especially in vulnerable districts, are faring against Republican culture war attacks (spoiler: not well!). After, we discuss the <em>NYT Magazine</em> piece in the first Top 5 on what might be driving “anti-ambition” across American workplaces. <br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/>IFYC report: <a target="_blank" href="https://ifyc.org/sites/default/files/Evangelicals_and_Interfaith_Engagement.pdf">“Evangelicals and Interfaith Engagement: Assessing Evangelical Resources, Motivations, Hesitancies, Hopes”</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://ifyc-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zZ8yqXIdSYOW99AsCfxqxQ">IFYC webinar registration, 2/21 at 1pm EST/12pm CT</a><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/08/opinion/democrats-david-shor-education-polarization.html">Ezra Klein interview with David Shor</a> (<em>NYT</em>)<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/style/digital-divide-screens-schools.html">“The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids Is Not What We Expected”</a> (<em>NYT</em>)<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/magazine/anti-ambition-age.html">“The Age of Anti-Ambition”</a> (<em>NYT Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because the “Great Resignation” isn’t happening just because of burnout or because some would like a better title or salary. There are multiple factors causing workers to ask “ what is all this striving for?”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/17/us/politics/tiktok-ava-majury.html">“A Child’s TikTok Stardom Opens Doors. Then a Gunman Arrives.”</a><em> (NYT)</em><br/><br/>Because children and their parents are being given choices: pursue fame and fortune on social media apps and risk all kinds of negative consequences, or limit the potential for stardom, income and avenues of self-expression that comes with hyper-connectivity and virality. In a world where it seems there are no gatekeepers to attracting the attention of millions, how is one expected to turn down the opportunity to seek their affirmation and be validated by it? Our society has few ready, constructive answers to turn to when answering these kinds of questions.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/on-attentional-norms">“On Attentional Norms”</a> (<em>Hedgehog Review</em>)<br/><br/>Because Alan Jacobs looks at the norms we’re creating on Zoom, that is how little time and attention we give to meetings and speakers. <em>“But Zoom, it seems to me, is a medium that offers constant permission to be distracted. And while the norms of any particular moment are in a sense not objectively good or bad, they can be good or bad in relation to certain human purposes. The purposes I have in my classes are not compatible with the attentional norms that we’ve learned to employ in our teleconferencing pandemic.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/covid-and-the-brittle-west">“COVID and the Brittle West”</a> (<em>The New Atlantis)</em><br/><br/>Because we’re at the point in the pandemic — two years in — where we can start asking questions about when the US’s public health policy succeeded in doing its job, and when it failed. And this essay argues that the West’s fixation on data and personal choice caused reactive rather than proactive policy decisions. <em>“Our need to fully justify action by politicians and public officials — a basic requirement of the rule of law — tended to reduce their ability to make decisions in a moment of emergency, when full justification by data, let alone publicly avail --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

<h3>Wear is the Love, Episode 8</h3> <p>This week’s episode is chill (pun intended, which will make sense when you listen to the episode) because Michael just got back from a lot of travel. We enjoyed discussing <em>The Atlantic</em> article featured below about parenting and perfectionism.</p> <h5>Episode notes:</h5> <p><a href="https://www.ticketweb.com/event/annie-f-downs-hope-community-church-tickets/11299965?pl=transparentprod">Get your tickets to the That Sounds Fun Tour here</a>. February 17th in Philadelphia, 730pm</p> <h5>As always, if you like this podcast, like this newsletter, <a href="//Reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe">you should consider supporting us</a>!</h5> <h3>The Top 5 articles for your week:</h3> <ol> <li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/02/foreverland-excerpt-heather-havrilesky-i-nearly-ruined-my-daughters-talent-show/621506/">“Let Your Kids Be Bad at Things”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>) Because this essay is a bit more nuanced than its title, and it’s pretty hilarious, but it asks the question: do we ever stop caring about what other people think?</li> <li><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/10/sweethearts-candy-slogans-toxic-positivity/">“Dear Sweethearts: Don’t tell me I ‘GOT THIS’”</a> (<em>Washington Post</em>) Because Christine Emba tells it like it is: toxic positivity from the makers of sweethearts and M&amp;Ms won’t solve our societal ills.</li> <li><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/a-divers-hunt-for-lost-slave-ships-led-to-an-incredible-journey">“The search for lost slave ships led this diver on an extraordinary journey”</a> (<em>National Geographic</em>) Because some estimate around 1,000 ships sunk during the mid-Atlantic slave trade, and one diving group is helping to preserve artifacts [and history] from these ships.</li> <li><a href="https://comment.org/grow-deep-not-wide/">“Grow Deep, Not Wide”</a> (<em>Comment Magazine</em>) Because the entire new issue of Comment Magazine is beautiful and ruminates on the idea of “gift logic,” but my favorite essay in the bunch is from Joy Ike on what it was like to open up free painting on her porch in her Philadelphia neighborhood.</li> <li><a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/europe/2022-02-11/how-make-deal-putin">“How to Make a Deal With Putin”</a> (<em>Foreign Affairs</em>) Because Michael McFaul, a former ambassador to Russia proposes this bold solution to the current Ukraine crisis because it could de-escalate tensions and provide a door for the energizing of many other US-Russia agreements: “Biden should seize the diplomatic offensive and counter with a comprehensive, grand bargain for enhancing European security. Call it “Helsinki 2.0.” This agreement could refresh and modernize the Helsinki Accords signed during the Cold War, which stabilized the continent even as U.S.-Soviet competition grew in other parts of the world. It could resuscitate and amend defunct arms control agreements and provide a bigger framework for European security, and in the process help solve the issues surrounding Ukraine.”</li> </ol> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode #7<br/><br/>This week’s episode was recorded early due to Michael’s travel, and so instead of talking Top 5, we caught up on politics, including the latest scandal for UK PM Boris Johnson and how COVID has changed some conventional political wisdom on scandals. We also chatted about Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s statements that he might run in 2024, and how leaders can still change the trajectory of party politics, especially for the GOP.<br/><br/><strong>Episode notes:</strong><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2022/01/31/theresa-may-boris-johnson-partygate-coronavirus-ctw-intl-vpx.cnn">Former PM Theresa May’s comments at Parliament</a> (<em>CNN</em>)<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sue-gray-report-boris-johnson-party-no10-b2005713.html">More on the PM’s scandal</a> (<em>The Independent</em>)<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1488303699533475840">Hogan’s appearance on </a><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1488303699533475840"><em>CBS</em></a><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1488303699533475840"> about a potential 2024 presidential run</a><br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/30/moral-calculations-billionaire/">“The moral calculations of a billionaire”</a> (<em>Washington Post</em>)<br/><br/>Because one billionaire looks at where he’s come from, where he is now, and how he struggles with stewarding his fortune.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/is-this-still-an-emergency">“Is This Still an Emergency?”</a> (<em>The New Atlantis</em>)<br/><br/>Because this article on pandemic polarization is a great chaser to <a target="_blank" href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/p/episode-6-pernicious-polarization">last week’s Top 5 and podcast feature</a> on Thomas B. Edsall’s article. M. Anthony Mills observes: “…two years after the pandemic began, quite like two years after 9/11, today we are no longer united around a common purpose but divided. We are divided over the nature of the threat, what it will take to defeat it, and what defeating it even means. We are a long way from the tornado politics that seemed to characterize our pandemic response in the winter of 2020, and we are not likely to go back.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/02/college-campus-free-speech-cancel-culture/621484/">“What College Students Really Think About Cancel Culture”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>Because when we think about polarization, we tend to ask “how will any of us ever get along again?” There are many grassroots and nationally organized civil dialogue groups taking place on college campuses which gives us a bit of hope for the future of social cohesion.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.thedriftmag.com/what-was-the-ted-talk/">“What Was the TED Talk?”</a> (<em>The Drift Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because “…as Chris Anderson, TED’s longtime curator, puts it, “We live in an era where the best way to make a dent on the world… may be simply to stand up and say something.” And yet, TED’s archive is a graveyard of ideas. It is a seemingly endless index of stories about the future — the future of science, the future of the environment, the future of work, the future of love and sex, the future of what it means to be human — that never materialized. By this measure alone, TED, and its attendant ways of thinking, should have been abandoned.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/opinion/caleb-love-bombing-gaslighting-trauma.html">“If Everything Is ‘Trauma,’ Is Anything?”</a> (<em>NYT</em>)<br/><br/>Because I (Melissa) am personally interested and invested in “semantic drift” or how our lexicon changes to fit the moment (the pandemic) and the --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love Podcast #6<br/><br/>This week, we take on Thomas B. Edsall’s article, “America Has Split, and It’s Now in ‘Very Dangerous Territory.’” The articles, which is listed in the Top 5 below, covers “pernicious polarization” and some really fascinating studies about the level of polarization in the US. At the end, we also discuss the provocative question of the day: “Will there be a civil war in the US?”<br/><br/>Episode Notes<br/><br/>In the podcast, we mentioned this study out of Stanford on <a target="_blank" href="https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.uci.edu/dist/1/863/files/2020/11/Finkel-et-al.pdf https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.uci.edu/dist/1/863/files/2020/11/Finkel-et-al.pdf">political sectarianism</a>.<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/opinion/covid-biden-trump-polarization.html">“America Has Split, and It’s Now in ‘Very Dangerous Territory.’”</a> (<em>NYT</em>)<br/><br/>Because “Polarization has become a force that feeds on itself, gaining strength from the hostility it generates, finding sustenance on both the left and the right. A series of recent analyses reveals the destructive power of polarization across the American political system.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://expmag.com/2022/01/what-fast-fashion-costs-the-world/">“What fast fashion costs the world”</a> (<em>Experience Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because “Since 2000, the global production of clothing has doubled. Today, the average American buys about 68 new items of clothing a year.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22878920/school-shootings-survivors-columbine-mental-health">“The school shooting generation grows up”</a> (<em>Vox</em>)<br/><br/>Because school shootings began in the 80s, and those young kids that experienced them are now fully grown adults who are dealing with the consequences of the events themselves and the lack of language and healthcare and dialogue afterwards.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://theconvivialsociety.substack.com/p/the-dream-of-virtual-reality">“The Dream of Virtual Reality”</a> (<em>Substack - Convivial Society</em>)<br/><br/>Because recent writing from David Chalmers argues for the actual “reality” of “virtual reality” and L.M. Sacasas dives into Chalmers’ points and asks some thought-provoking questions: <br/><em>For example, I wonder for how many of us the experience of the world is already so attenuated or impoverished that we might be tempted to believe that a virtual simulation could prove richer and more enticing? And how many of us already live as if this were in fact the case?…The claim that, even now, virtual realities can outstrip my experience of the world is increasingly plausible when I have lost the capacity to wonder at and delight in the gratuity and beauty of the world. And there may be many reasons why such capacities may have diminished, ranging from the ever-more complete enclosure of our experience within a frame of human artifice to the loss of the arts of perception and the power of social structures that eliminate the gift of leisure in principle and in practice for so many. In other words, I mean for us to consider how we might have already begun to sever our relation to our common world long before the virtual worlds Chalmers envisioned are, if ever, realized.</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.wired.com/story/a-grand-unified-theory-of-buying-stuff/">“A Grand Unified Theory of Buying Stuff”</a> (<em>Wired Magazine</em>)<br/><br/>Because one writer discovered that much of the time, the stuff we buy needs even more stuff. And during a supply chain crisis, that’s a critical realization. <br/><em>I am learning about the supply chain, procurement, product life cycle, and overall greenhouse gas emissions of the goods we buy. When I opened a spreadsheet to calculate the emissions of my drum machine excursion, listing all the stuff I’d bought and --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

Wear is the Love, Episode #5<br/><br/>We chat about Alissa Wilkinson’s “A Syllabus for a new world” and Yair Rosenberg’s “Your Bubble is Not the Culture” in this week’s episode. We also talk about the Buffalo Bills’ divisional game tonight against the Chiefs. Go Bills!!<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/deep-shtetl/61e06b2c55e52500217add01/your-bubble-is-not-the-culture-lin-manuel-miranda-harry-potter/">“Your Bubble is Not the Culture”</a> (<em>The Atlantic</em>)<br/><br/>Because “The deep-seated need to justify one’s own relevance is how we end up with cultural criticism that evaluates art as politics, rather than as art which also has political elements.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.vox.com/22820558/covid-pandemic-books-movies-syllabus-station-eleven">“A Syllabus for a new world”</a> (<em>Vox</em>)<br/><br/>Because “…real hope — not the kind politicians talk about, but the kind that keeps you alive — requires something other than violence and forgetting. To put it in Hannah Arendt’s terms, living well (perhaps living at all) requires amor mundi, or love of the world: the commitment to see the world not as we imagine it to be but as it really is, and to love it anyhow. Truly living means being willing to understand how we got here, and where we could go, to face our anxieties and agree together that mere survival is not sufficient.<br/><br/>Art can give us binoculars to see in both directions.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/business/quitting-contagious.html">“You Quit. I Quit. We All Quit. And It’s Not a Coincidence.” </a><em>(NYT)</em><br/><br/>Because “Quitting rates were high in August, September and October. Then, according to Labor Department data, they climbed even further: More than 4.5 million people left their jobs voluntarily in November, a record high in two decades of tracking. Economists explained the numbers by noting that competition for workers led to better pay and benefits, driving some to seek out new opportunities. Psychologists have an additional explanation: Quitting is contagious.”<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-feel-burnt-out-personally-and-politically/">“Americans Feel Burnt Out — Personally And Politically”</a> (<em>FiveThirtyEight</em>)<br/><br/>Because this is a detailed and comprehensive write-up of all the polling we have on-hand to try and explain why Americans across all political spectrums feel hopeless, embattled, or apathetic towards our politics.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.gawker.com/celebrity/in-defense-of-shame">“In Defense of Shame”</a> (<em>Gawker</em>)<br/><br/>Because this is a provocative examination of performative vulnerability, and the expectations that often come with it. “Some combination of social media and reality television has led to a society in which fewer and fewer people seem to understand that self-expression is not unambiguously good. Vulnerability has been commodified, but so has a certain never-apologize mentality, despite the fact that the two are diametrically opposed. In fact, few acts require more vulnerability than admitting you were wrong. It is now widely accepted by many that the more publicly vulnerable you are and the more you over-share, the more you know yourself. Yet there is something much more productive and honest about sitting quietly with your own feelings, digging in before lashing out. Expressing does not necessarily equal processing.” <em>(n.b. there’s some vulgarity in this essay)</em> <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>

This week, we discuss 3 out of 5 of our Top 5 articles, this time on the future of food. We really enjoyed recording this episode because we get to talk about Italy and Italian cuisine. Enjoy!<br/><br/>The Top 5 articles for your week:<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://time.com/6137593/massimo-bottura-food-waste/">“Massimo Bottura Wants You to Stop Wasting Your Food”</a> (<em>TIME</em>)<br/><br/>Because there’s something incredibly special about using food and space and place to transform the notion of a typical soup kitchen.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.popsci.com/environment/eating-invasive-species/">“Welcome to invasivorism, the boldest solution to ethical eating yet”</a> (<em>Popular Science</em>)<br/><br/>Because there are plenty of invasive species that could be eaten, and through their use, controlled better. But also, <em>“‘Creating a market engenders pressure to maintain that problematic species,’…In other words, building demand for invasives on consumers’ plates might actually encourage their persistence in the long term.”</em><br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://www.eater.com/22866863/future-of-food-drone-delivery-apps-ghost-kitchens">“Is the ‘Future of Food’ the Future We Want?”</a> (<em>Eater</em>)<br/><br/>Because the restaurant industry and tech industry are teaming up to discuss and pilot new ways to provide celebrity food experiences to your front door. (<em>n.b. there is cussing in the article</em>)<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://thewalrus.ca/clean-online-reputation/#">“The Dirty Work of Cleaning Online Reputations”</a> (<em>The Walrus</em>)<br/><br/>Because in exchange for several thousand dollars, anyone can curate their online history and reputation.<br/><br/><a target="_blank" href="https://yalereview.org/article/jason-guriel-against-the-stream">“Against the Stream:</a><a target="_blank" href="https://yalereview.org/article/jason-guriel-against-the-stream"><strong> </strong></a><a target="_blank" href="https://yalereview.org/article/jason-guriel-against-the-stream">The forgotten pleasures of analog media”</a> (<em>The Yale Review</em>)<br/><br/>Because the author, Jason Guriel, writes an ode to physical, slow-paced media and art. <em>“If the present age, the Age of Scrolling, abets sampling and second thoughts, the Age of Browsing encouraged second chances. Owning physical media forced you to reckon with it, to appreciate it. (Maybe you sometimes tried too hard to appreciate something, but there are worse sins.) We steeped ourselves in stuff, and the stuff would start to sink in. Art has always required second—and third and fourth—chances to saturate the mind. Streaming platforms, on the other hand, flood the mind. They set it afloat and bear it away—on to the next novelty. They promise abundance but deliver a deluge.”</em><br/><br/>Like the podcast? Like this weekly list of articles? Like us? Then consider supporting us by becoming a paid subscriber! <br/><br/>Get full access to Reclaiming Hope Newsletter at <a href="https://reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">reclaiminghope.substack.com/subscribe</a> --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support" rel="payment">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/wear-we-are/support</a>