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Who actually advantages from distant work? Is it true that politicians must be anti-immigration to win elections? Every episode of Good on Paper, the brand new podcast hosted by my colleague Jerusalem Demsas, delves right into a misunderstood coverage subject that deserves extra nuanced evaluation. I spoke with Jerusalem about how some narratives get lodged within the public’s thoughts and the risks of tales that really feel true however aren’t.
First, listed below are three new tales from The Atlantic:
A Option to Simplify
Stephanie Bai: Why do you suppose sure narratives can develop into so entrenched, even when the info don’t help them? And why are different narratives extra more likely to fade?
Jerusalem Demsas: Narratives are a approach of simplifying a very difficult world. Compelling ones observe story constructions that we’re used to seeing: a villain and a hero, a foul developer versus a mom who’s struggling to get her youngsters by way of school. These sorts of narratives are compelling as a result of there’s a spark of reality in them, which is that there are energy struggles on the planet; there are winners and losers. Many narratives stick as a result of they reaffirm our personal opinions and views, however that may be actually harmful: Simply because one thing feels true doesn’t imply that it’s.
The narratives that don’t stick are often those which are extra difficult. There isn’t at all times a clear-cut good man and dangerous man. Usually we’re simply current in programs the place a bunch of individuals act in their very own self-interest; a few of them are attempting to do good, however individuals have totally different conceptions of what good is. Attempting to explain a world filled with that sort of complexity isn’t as satisfying.
Stephanie: In your current story about maternal mortality, you speak in regards to the doom-and-gloom framing that activists can use to highlight points. What are a number of the counterproductive penalties of that strategy that folks may not anticipate?
Jerusalem: There’s this notion, which will be proper within the quick time period, that when you say, “A bridge goes to break down,” it’s going to get extra consideration than a report that claims there are some structural deficiencies in America’s infrastructure.
However in the long run, that first framing actually erodes belief between the people who find themselves making an attempt to get consideration for his or her trigger and the people who find themselves making an attempt to triage totally different points. As a result of on the finish of the day, there are finite quantities of time and assets. Coverage makers have to decide on which issues to prioritize, which means that one thing else will lose out. So if established organizations or journalists are consistently pushing out this narrative that the whole lot’s on fireplace, it impedes coverage makers from making any type of ordering selections. They could attempt to do the whole lot without delay or prioritize the improper issues, which may result in chaos.
Stephanie: In your first episode, you talk about a research that discovered that senior ladies engineers at an unnamed Fortune 500 firm have been extra productive once they labored remotely as a result of they have been spending much less time on mentorship and giving suggestions. However a prevailing narrative that took off throughout the pandemic is that ladies working from residence are doubly burdened: They must juggle youngster care and cope with the standard work tasks. As extra analysis will get achieved on this matter, what are the following questions in your thoughts in relation to how distant work impacts ladies?
Jerusalem: Once we ask, Is distant work working for girls?, we’re additionally asking, Are they fulfilled? Is it true that distant work is making it attainable for them to be extra versatile, go choose their youngsters up from college, or hang around with their buddies of their free time? Additionally, although it’s the case that mentorship is uncompensated by most employers, there’s quite a lot of connection that extra skilled staff derive from that kind of labor. Some individuals have responded to my podcast saying that they miss that side of their work, though they resented not being paid for it.
I believe it’s actually essential to start out from the query: What do we would like work to do for individuals’s lives? Does that differ by trade?
Stephanie: What’s an concept or narrative that sounded good on paper to you however may not warrant an entire podcast episode?
Jerusalem: The concept that cross/fail courses are straightforward and never tense. I took Mandarin cross/fail my senior yr of school, considering it will be a low-stakes approach of studying slightly little bit of an essential language. I ended up within the horrible center house of devoting sufficient time to the category in order to not fail but not devoting sufficient time to actually choose up slightly Mandarin. What do I bear in mind? Wǒ bú huì shuō zhōngwén.
Associated:
At this time’s Information
- Hunter Biden was convicted on three felony costs associated to the acquisition and possession of a handgun.
- Hamas stated that it was prepared to simply accept the UN Safety Council’s U.S.-backed decision for a everlasting cease-fire in Gaza as the idea for additional negotiations, in accordance with Reuters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has neither formally accepted nor rejected the proposal.
- The Biden administration introduced a proposal that will forestall credit-reporting companies from utilizing medical debt to calculate credit score scores.
Night Learn
The Subsequent Nice American Mega-Style
By Spencer Kornhaber
Should you ask Individuals about their favourite style of music, the highest choose tends to be traditional rock. However when you ask them which style is “most consultant of America immediately,” you get principally a break up: 36 p.c say nation, whereas 37 p.c say rap/hip-hop, in accordance with a 2023 ballot from the analysis agency YouGov … These findings would appear to help numerous preconceptions a few crimson/rural America and a blue/city America, united solely in affection for “Don’t Cease Believin’.”
However what if these genres needn’t be all that separate? What if hip-hop and nation merged into one thing that felt like traditional rock? The concept seems like it will be worthwhile for the file trade—and it may be what’s taking place now.
Extra From The Atlantic
Tradition Break
Cheer alongside. Workforce USA’s historic win within the present world cricket event was a shot heard all over the world, Joseph O’Neill writes. Now it simply wants a home viewers.
Watch. Ishana Evening Shyamalan’s debut movie, The Watchers, finds a cautious stability between the freaky and the mundane, David Sims writes.
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