#109: Touching Death

Welcome to The Highlighter #109! Now that we’ve passed Labor Day, the school year has officially begun, which means that parents are happy and teachers are looking forward to Winter Break. I’ve got a solid assortment of articles this week, so I encourage you to find some quality time — how about maybe three hours? — to curl up in a comfy place and read well-written pieces about seeking God (via snake handling), protecting whiteness (via President Trump), resegregating schools (via district secession), teacher sustainability (via side hustle), and cheap clothes (via worker exploitation). There’s something for everyone in this week’s issue of the newsletter, so dig in and let me know what you think. Please enjoy!

Touching Death: The Turbulent Life of One of America’s Last Snake-Handling Preachers

In the South there are Pentecostal churches whose pastors handle venomous snakes and drink poison to get closer to God. Congregants of these “signs-following” churches believe that contact with cottonmouths provides a spiritual epiphany that no opioid can offer. One parishioner said, “It’s a feeling that’s completely unexplainable. The hair on your head and your arms stands up. It’s something better than drinking, smoking, or pill taking. It’s better than all of that.” This article by Jordan Ritter Conn reminds us that our country is big and diverse. Take your time, and check out the videos, too, to gain the full effect. (⏳⏳ - 30 mins)

The First White President

Please read every word. I woke up this morning to find this article by Ta-Nehisi Coates (#3, #10, #48, #58, #71) and scurried to read it and include it in today’s issue. (By noon, it’ll be shared all over the Internet.) In scintillating prose, Mr. Coates convincingly argues that white liberals like to attribute President Donald Trump’s election victory to the economic angst of working-class white Americans. No way. White people from every socioeconomic group preferred Mr. Trump, and the 2016 election served to protect whiteness and white supremacy. As usual with Mr. Coates, be ready, if you’re white, for a proper history lesson and a swift punch to the gut. (⏳⏳⏳ - 46 mins)

The Resegregation of Jefferson County Via School District Secessions

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) mandated school desegregation but did not prevent towns from seceding from their districts to form segregated autonomous districts. That’s the focus of this brilliant piece by Nikole Hannah-Jones (#18, #22, #46, #47, #65, #82), my favorite education reporter. Ms. Hannah-Jones traces how white people in Jefferson County in Alabama argued for “local control” of their schools and fought for “colorblind” policies that have splintered the school district and reversed the racial and educational progress that integration brought fifty years ago. When it comes down to it, Ms. Hannah-Jones suggests, white parents just don’t want their kids learning together with African American kids. (⏳⏳⏳ - 46 mins)

Paloma is a wonderful dog and belongs to loyal subscriber Jamie.

Silicon Valley Courts Brand-Name Teachers, Raising Ethics Issues

It’s the beginning of the school year, so that means it’s time for the annual bashing of public school teachers. This article blames teachers for courting tech companies for swag, merchandise, and side gigs. While I’m not a proponent of the over-corporatization of schools, I won’t denigrate a teacher’s hustle or their development of money-making schemes. (The most a teacher in San Francisco can make is $93,000, after 28 years in the classroom. You’d better have a wealthy partner, or no kids, or a Prop. 13-protected home, or all of the above.) (⏳⏳ - 23 mins)

A $6-an-Hour Worker in Los Angeles Makes the Shirt You Bought for $13

This is a clear, well-written article about the clothing industry in Los Angeles and how large retailers like Forever 21 protect themselves from liability stemming from manufacturers underpaying their workers. Ross, TJ Maxx, and Forever 21 contract with companies that employ undocumented Latinos and pay by the piece — 51 cents to sew an entire tank top, for instance, or 10 cents just for the neck. Check out the photos and videos, too, including the one with Dov Charney (formerly of American Apparel, before he was ousted for sexual harassment). (⏳ - 15 mins)

This Week’s Podcast: The podcast went big and revolutionary this week, thanks to loyal subscriber and social studies teacher Allison McManis. Last Thursday, Allison let me know that she was college roommates with Zoë Carpenter, who wrote “What’s Killing America’s Black Infants,” which I highlighted last week. Let’s get her on the show! I said. And it was done. For the first time, the podcast features not only a loyal subscriber of The Highlighter but also the author of one of its articles. This could be a thing! If you haven’t listened yet, here it is — please do. Then subscribe!

Thank you for reading this week’s issue of The Highlighter! The digest’s momentum continues apace. Let’s welcome new subscribers Joanne, Robert, Amanda, Katy, Travis, and Alison! (Big thanks to loyal subscriber Jessica for her outreach.) Please keep encouraging your friends and family to subscribe, and let me know what you thought of today’s issue (thumbs are below). Also: At the end of each article blurb, do you prefer reading times, or hourglasses, or both, or neither? Have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you again next Thursday at 9:10 am.

#108: Forever Yesterday

Welcome to The Highlighter #108! You’re going to like the articles in today’s issue. They run the gamut. There are pieces about the extraordinarily high mortality rate of African American babies, the role poverty and ignorance play in American hate, the impossible quest to understand a harrowing disease, the sacrifices poor people of color make to get health care, and the intricacies of this year’s smash hit. (Also, check out the helpful hourglasses, perfect for planning reading sessions.) Please enjoy!

Forever Yesterday

This is a quiet, touching first-person account by a man whose mother has Alzheimer’s. Kevin Sampsell strives to understand the disease, asking his mother questions, helping her to feel comfortable, trying not to avoid opportunities to connect. Mr. Sampsell is tender in his approach, and as a result of the time he spends with his mother, he realizes that people suffering from Alzheimer’s live largely in a state of anxiety — about what’s “out there,” what’s seemingly new and foreign. For his mother, who has lived the past two years in a facility, there is a deep yearning for a return home. ⏳⏳

What's Killing America’s Black Infants?

Our divided country allows one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. While white babies die infrequently, African American babies die at a staggering, appalling rate. A Black mother in San Francisco is six times more likely to lose her baby than a white mother in the same city. The cause for this disparity? The prevailing notion is poverty, but Zoe Carpenter disputes that claim, arguing that chronic stress from institutional racism is the core cause. Tonda Thompson, who lost her son, said, “We do have a stigma of ‘She’s not married; she messed up; she’s young—she ain’t going to be nothing.’ And that attitude gets into her mind and goes to the baby.” ⏳

At an Arkansas Mosque, a Vandal Spreads Hate and Finds Mercy

This is the story of a poor young white man named Abraham who vandalizes a mosque in western Arkansas. He doesn’t even dislike Muslims, he says. This well-written, well-paced piece by Sabrina Tavernise tells Abraham’s story from five different perspectives. What emerges is how little we know about our community, how ignorant we are of our neighbors, particularly when they look different from us. (Also prominent: how there’s still forgiveness and mercy in our country — with people of color doing the forgiving and white people receiving the mercy.) ⏳⏳⏳

MJ, who belongs to loyal subscribers Angelina and Clem, rules The Highlighter. This is his second appearance (see #81). MJ has certain feelings when there is reading happening nearby.

Blue Dream

Marcos Santiago Gonsalez is a queer Brown man who wants to protect himself from contracting HIV. Because he is on Medicare, he must answer personal questions about his sexual behavior in order to receive PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis. Mr. Gonsalez finds this experience dehumanizing. He writes, “The corporatization of care becomes a means of engineering sexual relations and sexual promiscuities into predictable variables of cost benefit and loss.” ⏳

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About ‘Despacito’

Sometimes headlines do not accurately describe what you’ll find in the article after you click. This headline, on the other hand, is entirely accurate. All things “Despacito” are contained within — and this is a very good thing. Berklee College of Music professor Wayne Marshall analyzes the song in depth — its structure, its chord progression, and its “bourgeoification of the genre” raggaeton. Mr. Marshall makes sure to point out that most of the song’s views came well before Justin Bieber got involved. ⏳⏳

This Week’s Podcast: After a one-week respite, The Highlighter Podcast was back in full force on Sunday. I got to chat with middle school principal Tim Reidy about last week’s article, “When Should a Child Be Taken From His Parents?” With his background in counseling and his work with special populations in San Francisco, Mr. Reidy knows firsthand the complexities of child protective services and the foster care system. I’m pleased with the enthusiasm that loyal subscribers have shared about the podcast, and I’m hoping it’s another way to bring our community together. Please let me know if you’d like to be on the show. Don’t be scared!

Thank you for reading this week’s issue of The Highlighter! I’m pleased to announce that last week’s issue achieved a big milestone: 100 opens! On the other hand, sadly, my birthday month is almost over. But there is still time to demonstrate your generosity by encouraging a close friend or family member to subscribe to the newsletter. While you think of whom to ask, let’s please welcome new subscribers Ling, Deborah, Todd, Juliana, and Christsna. Readership is picking up! Let me know what you thought of today’s issue (thumbs are below), have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you again next Thursday at 9:10 am.

#107: Southern Comfort

Welcome to The Highlighter #107! All four articles this week follow topics that I’ve featured in previous issues of the newsletter. The first piece continues the conversation from last week’s edition on Charlottesville. The second piece on foster care builds off of articles in Issues #57, #96, and #103. Then please enjoy the pet photo break (dogs now outnumber cats in the series). After taking a few moments to smile, get back in there. The third piece is a follow-up to a recent scathing portrayal of Generation Z (#105). Rounding out today’s issue is a return to one of my deepest fears. (Why do I keep reading about it?) Please enjoy!

The Changing Causes of the Civil War

(19 mins) This is an outstanding historiography of the Civil War by James M. McPherson. (I’m looking especially hard at you, U.S. History teachers!) Although slavery was the direct cause of the Civil War, historians in its aftermath suggested various interpretations to assuage the pain of Southern white people. That’s how we got notions like states’ rights and protecting Southern heritage and the War of Northern Aggression. But if you look at the documents from the time period, Prof. McPherson notes, there is no argument.

When Should a Child Be Taken from His Parents?

(55 mins) This article by Larissa MacFarquhar will most likely win some sort of prize. Right from the start, Ms. MacFarquhar employs the second person point of view twice. The first time, you’re a mom being investigated by child-protective services. The second time, you’re the case worker doing the investigation. Keep reading and you’ll meet the real mom, the real case worker, the real judge, and the real foster mom. You’ll root for and against each one of them along the way.

Tony C, here riding in the back seat, belongs to loyal subscriber (and first-year principal!) Clare.

Yes, Smartphones Are Destroying a Generation, But Not of Kids

(12 mins) Alexandra Samuel writes a brilliant response to Jean Twenge’s Atlantic article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” Ms. Samuel first looks at the data (tons of graphs!) and concludes that today’s teenagers aren’t more depressed than they used to be. Then she identifies the real reason that teenagers’ habits have changed: It’s their parents’ fault. Young people spend a lot of time on their phones because adults spend a lot of time on their phones. Why? Ms. Samuel writes, “You know what smartphones and social media are really great at? Tuning out your children.” Thank you to loyal subscriber Samantha for sending me this article.

America: On the Brink of Ratpocalypse

(7 mins) Please do not read this article if you dislike rodents. It’s a punch in the gut. Warmer winters (#101) mean more rat sex, which has led to a mass increase in rats, especially in cities. Fun Fact #1: Rat-related calls to Orkin Pest Control rose 174% in San Francisco between 2013 and 2015. Fun Fact #2: In ideal conditions, two rats can become 482 million rats in three years. Here’s the trouble: Climate change is moving us quickly toward ideal conditions for rats. (Note: #60 had an opposing view, suggesting we’re close to eradicating rats. Whom do we believe?)

Podcast Update: There was no episode last Sunday, but The Highlighter Podcast will be back this Sunday night at 9:10 with Tim, who is the new principal at James Lick Middle School in San Francisco. Please listen in on your Monday morning commute!

You’ve come to the end of another fine issue of The Highlighter. Before we part, a few things: (1) Do you like the new reading time estimates? I do. Don’t let “55 mins” scare you off! (2) Give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on today’s issue, and if you like, write me a sentence or two! (3) Let’s please welcome new subscribers Rebecca, Michelle, Nancy Jo, Jennifer, William, and an anonymous reader. Keep pestering your friends to subscribe to the newsletter! They’ll thank you in due time. Have a wonderful week, and see you back here next Thursday at 9:10 am.

#106: This Is America

Good morning, and welcome to The Highlighter #106. Today’s issue focuses on Charlottesville. In an interview this week, Bryan Stevenson emphasized that we have not yet confronted our country’s narrative of white supremacy and our tragic history of racial inequality. We must. I am hopeful that the pieces in today’s issue of The Highlighter will spark reflection and conversation.

Charlottesville: Race and Terror

I believe in the power of words. But sometimes we need images to feel the full emotional impact of what is happening in our country. In this video for VICE News Tonight, correspondent Elle Reeve followed white supremacists last weekend in Charlottesville. Featured is self-identified fascist Christopher Cantwell. This is a disturbing, terrifying video that I urge all of us to watch. (22 mins)

Historical Amnesia About Slavery Is a Tool of White Supremacy

After Dylann Roof killed nine people in Charleston two years ago, the Confederate flag was removed from the South Carolina state capitol. Since last weekend’s Unite the Right rally, dozens of Confederate monuments have been toppled. According to Mychal Denzel Smith, however, our country forgets quickly. We may revile slavery, but we do not revile its defenders. That is why, Mr. Smith argues, Virginia celebrated Lee-Jackson-King Day from 1983 to 2000, honoring Martin Luther King alongside Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. (5 mins)

Pismo Beach, California

Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy

According to this detailed report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are 1,503 monuments, statues, schools, holidays, and places that are named after Confederate leaders. There are 53 schools named after Robert E. Lee. The Confederate flag flies in six states. There are nine Confederate holidays. These symbols are not neutral markers of history. These symbols are not curated in a museum. They are in public spaces. (21 mins)

Equality, Justice and the First Amendment

As Google and GoDaddy ban The Daily Stormer, and as SoundCloud bans Richard Spencer, we may wonder why the American Civil Liberties Union still supports rallies like Unite the Right. In fact, the ACLU has a long history of defending Neo-Nazi groups and their right to assemble. This open letter by ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero does a good job explaining the organization’s stance. I would love to hear your views on free speech, hate speech, and what kinds of speech should be protected under the Constitution. (7 mins)

Podcast Update: Did you miss last Sunday’s episode with teacher and librarian Michele Godwin? I hope not! (If you did, don’t worry. It’s still available.) Michele and I talked about smartphones and her limitless hope for young people. If you like the podcast, share it with your friends and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Google Play. (Guests are booked through November!)

That’s it for today’s issue of The Highlighter. I hope you found an article (or video) that pushed your thinking. Feel free to let me know your thoughts below. Also, let’s please welcome new subscribers Wendy, Kelli, Haroon, and Yoon! Have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you back here next Thursday at 9:10 am with another set of great articles.

#105: The Village Where Girls Turn Into Boys

Hello and welcome to The Highlighter #105! Today’s issue is titled, The Revenge of The New York Times and The Atlantic Monthly. No matter how much I try to avoid highlighting articles from these esteemed publications — preferring rather to feature pieces from a wide variety of sources — they just keep churning out excellent stuff that warrants our attention.

First up is a poignant and informative article about growing up intersex in the Dominican Republic — my pick of the week. After that there are two articles — one about cell phones, the other about the diet industry — that offer a clear-eyed appraisal of our society today. Then please enjoy a photo break. You all deserve it! Rounding out today’s issue are two articles for teachers and others who care about education. Please enjoy!

The Village Where Girls Turn Into Boys

There is a place in the Dominican Republic where being intersex is normal, where 1 out of 90 people is born with sexual anatomy falling somewhere along a spectrum of biologically male and female. Unlike in the United States, where doctors diagnose intersex babies with a “disorder of sexual development” and most parents opt for surgery, the situation is different in Las Salinas. There, babies born with 5-alpha-reductase deficiency — who are genetically male but sometimes appear female — are generally raised as girls but switch to living as young men as they reach puberty, without much fuss. Author Sarah A. Topol compares sentiments in Las Salinas with those here: “While many of us are quick to endorse inclusivity as a bedrock principle, our society is still rigid when it comes to the construction of gender. We struggle with difference. The first question when a baby is born tends to be: Is everyone healthy? The second is: Is it a boy or a girl?” Thank you to loyal subscriber Jonathan for sharing this article. It’s a great one.

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

The headline is clickbaity, sure, but the article itself is solid and worth your time. Author Jean Twenge explains why today’s teenagers hang out less, have less sex, drive less, get pregnant less, smoke less, and are less happy. It’s because they’ve spent most of their lives safely in their bedrooms on their phones keeping up on their Snapstreaks and Instagram stories. As a result, members of Generation Z are significantly different from Millennials. They’re more lonely and more sleep deprived, and there’s little to no way to wrest them away from their iPhones.

Losing It in the Anti-Dieting Age

The weight-loss industry is quickly gaining steam as a popular topic in The Highlighter. In last week’s issue, I highlighted an article about a Weight Watchers cruise. Now comes a full-blown magazine article about Weight Watchers and its attempts to stay relevant in our anti-dieting age. Being thin is out; being healthy is in. Calling someone fat is not OK; calling yourself fat is. What is a weight-loss company to do when it knows how weight loss works but can’t tell its customers the truth?

Hope, the daughter of loyal subscriber Anne, snuggles with her doggy companion, Tucker.

Why Kids Can’t Write

Here’s a good back-to-school article for all you teachers out there. We know that many young people struggle with writing (and with reading, and with Math, among other things). The question is, What should we do about it? Dana Goldstein (#88), author of The Teacher Wars, describes the current debate on writing instruction: explicit instruction (the Hochman Method), or a process approach focusing on voice (National Writing Project). Ms. Goldstein does not make a recommendation (she’s a reporter), but she summarizes both sides succinctly.

Cal State will no longer require placement exams and remedial classes for freshmen

This is the biggest deal in California secondary education since the state exit examination was suspended last year. Up until a few days ago, nearly 40 percent of students entering the Cal State University system had to take and pass remedial Math and English classes, often without support, that did not offer credit. This requirement, many opponents said, trapped students in a cycle of failure that explained the university system’s dismal graduation rate. (Just 19 percent of students graduate in four years.) No longer.

Podcast Update: I loved this week’s episode with loyal subscriber Angelina! A data guru, Angelina did not disappoint. She grabbed hold of a bar graph in last week’s article on homeless youth in Seattle and didn’t let go! It was wonderful to hear Angelina’s voice about how using data in education is a way for us to get closer, not farther away, from our work with students. If you like the podcast, share it with your friends and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Google Play. Also, if you want to be a guest on the show, by all means, sign yourself up! I’d be happy to have you.

You’ve reached the end of this week’s edition. Aren’t you sad? Try not to be. Instead, tell your friends about The Highlighter! Also, let’s please welcome new subscribers Jetta, Erica, Scott, and Gia. Have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you back here next Thursday at 9:10 am with another set of great articles.

#104: “Slavery Didn’t End in 1865. It Evolved.”

Hello and welcome to The Highlighter #104! Today’s issue falls early in my birthday month, that prime eight-plus-percent portion of the year when the peaches are plentiful. If you also have an August birthday, let me know; we have to stick together.

I’m proud of this week’s articles, three of which come from publications not previously highlighted in the newsletter. We begin with a piece on Brooklyn Museum’s new exhibit on the history of lynching in the United States, prepared in collaboration with the Equal Justice Initiative. The second piece, an exposé involving Seattle high school football coaches, student-athletes, district officials, and federal laws geared to protect homeless students, is my pick of the week.

Don’t get so engrossed in your reading, though, to miss this week’s pet photo. It’s a winner. (Keep sending your submissions!) Closing out today’s issue are two excellent articles about industries going in opposite directions. First there’s the burgeoning newspaper industry, as detailed in a piece about the New York Times and the Washington Post. Then there’s the floundering weight-loss industry, as revealed in a piece about Weight Watchers and its recent push to attract Millennials. Enjoy this issue!

“Slavery Didn’t End in 1865. It Evolved”

By now, loyal subscribers to The Highlighter know that I have massive respect for Bryan Stevenson (#9, #28, #32, #54, #93), founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy. (If you haven’t read it yet, please do!) Now Mr. Stevenson is teaming up with the Brooklyn Museum on its current exhibit, “The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America,” which runs through Sept. 3. If you don’t live in New York or can’t get there soon, check out this article for a description of the exhibit, or visit “Lynching in America,” the disturbing and important online resource that includes audio, video, and interactive maps.

Homeless students drawn to Seattle schools by sports are often cast aside when the season’s over

Homeless students deserve unencumbered access to a high-quality education and extracurricular activities. This principle is guaranteed through the hard work of educators (including some loyal subscribers to this newsletter!) and via the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which provides, for instance, that homeless students may enroll in a new school without proof of residency, and that homeless students do not have to maintain a 2.0 grade point average in order to participate in sports. This article uncovers a possible scandal in Seattle, where competing high school football coaches (many of them African American) may be encouraging student-athletes (also many of them African American) to claim homeless status in order to sidestep district policies and to gain an advantage over their opponents. It’s an intriguing story that raises issues of race plus a ton of questions, including, “What’s the line between supporting young people and exploiting them?” Credit goes to loyal subscriber Ben for this submission — thank you!

In Zeneize, my family’s Italian dialect from Genoa, “sampinghe” means paws. My dad, who spoke the language, loved animals, particularly those with good sampinghe. Here is Delia, who belongs to loyal subscriber Allison, showing off her sampinghe.

Is The New York Times vs. The Washington Post vs. Trump the Last Great Newspaper War?

I grew up reading the San Francisco Chronicle every morning, and the most important thing I did in high school was work for my school newspaper. That’s why I liked this article so much. It does an excellent job comparing the coverage of the New York Times and the Washington Post over the last several months. (There’s been a lot of news!) Don’t read this article thinking you’ll get some secret dirt between Times editor Dean Baquet and Post editor Marty Baron. You won’t. As media critic Leah Finnegan notes in her snarky weekly newsletter, there’s no actual war between the papers. (After all, they’re both by and for old people, she writes.) That doesn’t matter to me. What’s important is that there’s a resurgence happening in journalism, and that’s great for our country.

Weight Watchers Cruise: What It’s Like to Diet on Vacation

With “diet” fast becoming a four-letter word (“It’s not about dieting! It’s about health!”), what are you supposed to do if you want to shave off a few pounds? According to Weight Watchers, there’s no better answer than packing your bags and shoving off on a week-long Caribbean cruise—along with 600 fellow fitness fanatics who like you seek to attain their goal weight cooped up aboard a massive ship. This delightful first-person piece follows author Leah Prinzivalli and her battles with the bountiful buffet and the program’s weight loss coaches, who ask typical coachy questions like, “What are you noticing?” and my favorite, “How does that make you feel?”

Podcast Update: I loved this week’s episode with loyal subscriber Erin! We talked about teaching, immigration, and This American Life’s recent episode, “Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville,” which I highlighted last week. The podcast’s popularity continues to pick up, so if you’re interested, check it out on Apple Podcasts or Google Play. Also, feel free to let me know your thoughts about the podcast so far. If you want to be a guest on the show, by all means, sign yourself up! I’d be happy to have you.

Giveaway Update: Drum roll, please! Who gets the three-month digital subscription to either the New York Times or the Washington Post? Loyal subscriber Trisha, that’s who! Congratulations, Trisha. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Be sure to keep reading The Highlighter newsletter and listening to The Highlighter podcast for upcoming giveaways. They will be lucrative.

Is it the end? Unfortunately, it is. But don’t you worry — The Highlighter will be back next week on Thursday at 9:10 am. Until then, let’s please welcome new subscribers Salem, Rebecca, Kiera, David, Pietro, and Randy. Let’s keep this momentum going strong, loyal subscribers, by spreading the word about this newsletter. Also, if you feel moved, vote this issue thumbs-up or thumbs-down below. Have a wonderful week!

#103: The New Jane Crow

Welcome to The Highlighter #103! Pretty soon it’s August, which means my birthday bonanza, which is very important, but while it’s still July, let’s make sure you have some solid articles to read and podcasts to listen to. Today’s issue focuses on how our unwillingness to get to know others makes it harder for us to understand ourselves. The first article centers on how our government institutions, mirroring white middle-class values, view poor women of color as ineffective parents who put their children in danger. The second article pushes us to consider more broadly our viewpoints of teenage girls as they grow up and develop their voice. After that, please take in a dramatic action photograph, then enjoy an outstanding podcast episode about immigration and the consequences of our ignorance, followed by a convincing piece that encourages us to treat prisoners as humans rather than as monsters. Also, check out the bottom of the digest for a podcast update and another giveaway!

The New Jane Crow: Foster Care as Punishment for Women of Color

If you’re a white middle-class mom and you lose your child in the supermarket for a few minutes, it’s scary and upsetting, but you don’t have Child Protective Services taking away your kid. Not so, according to this article, if you’re a poor African American mom. An advocate in Brooklyn says, “There’s this judgment that these mothers don’t have the ability to make decisions about their kids, and in that, society both infantilizes them and holds them to superhuman standards.” This article makes clear how mainstream white institutions treat people of color differently from white people — in what reporter Stephanie Clifford calls a case of “Jane Crow.”

Teen Zine Queens

In case you’ve missed them, you can now rest easy: Zines are back. Once popular in the 1990s, zines skipped most Millennials to find their footing again with Generation Z. They no longer carry the same anti-mainstream political message as they once did, but they still focus on issues of identity, and they’re still run mostly by teenage girls. This piece by Britta Lokting will introduce you to today’s leaders in zine making, plus you’ll find out how zines have evolved since Tumblr took away much of their glory in 2007.

Chewy and Ketchum rescue a stick from Titus Lake in Idaho. The retrievers belong to loyal subscribers Alicia, Eric, and Jacqueline. Submit your pet photos for publication in an upcoming issue!

Our Fear and Loathing of The Other: How We Feel About Immigration

This week’s This American Life is outstanding. Brian Reed, of S-Town fame (#87, #88), travels to Homer, Alaska, a town with no immigration problem that is debating a resolution on immigration. He meets Ben Tyrer, a janitor who dislikes conflict and shuns political vitriol. As a result, Mr. Tyrer vows to make up his mind on the measure using reading, research, and reason. Unfortunately, no matter how much he scours the Internet and considers various publications to seek the facts about immigration, Mr. Tyrer realizes the truth is nebulous, whereas hate is crystal clear. (The second story is also excellent.)

Want to Improve Our Prisons? Make Them More Like Norway’s

A few years ago, if you wanted to reform education, you’d look to Norway for advice. Everyone loved Norway: “Look at what they’re doing in Norway!” people would say. “Everyone loves school, and the test scores are through the roof!” The Norway fad has subsided among educators, but it seems as if now it’s the It Thing among correctional officers. After decades of promoting punishment, jails are considering kinder, gentler approaches. Even though there still isn’t enough money for real rehabilitation, at least prisons can be less dehumanizing along the way.

Podcast Update: If you haven’t listened to The Highlighter podcast, you’re missing out! This week’s episode, an interview with loyal subscriber Marni Spitz, got deep, with a discussion about how good intentions to promote educational equity can sometimes backfire. The podcast is getting popular (200 listeners already), so subscribe before it’s too late. And if you’re feeling particularly generous, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, so we all become rich and famous.

This Week’s Giveaway: Speaking of famous, aren’t you jealous that loyal subscriber Erin won the first giveaway and is spending time reading her hardcover copy of Blood at the Root? Never fear, another giveaway is here! This time, the prize is a three-month digital subscription to either the New York Times or the Washington Post. To enter, press R and let me know what you like most about the digest and what your ideas are to expand the digest’s readership. I’ll announce the winner next Thursday!

And that’s that! I hope you enjoyed today’s issue of The Highlighter. Let’s welcome new subscriber Eila! Also, please send me your feedback on today’s issue by clicking thumbs-up or thumbs-down below. It’s not hard at all! See you back next Thursday at 9:10 am. Have a great last few days of July!

#102: Las Matadoras

It’s 9:10 am, and you know what that means: The Highlighter #102 is here! Today’s issue is robust and chock full of goodies: 4 articles, 2 photos, 1 photo essay, 1 podcast episode, 1 giveaway, and 1 exciting update on the new podcast. Let’s dig in!

The first two pieces this week are about young people doing the opposite of what’s expected of them. In “Las Matadoras,” female bullfighters find they’re gaining popularity at the same time they’re facing longstanding exclusion. In “The Teenage Whaler’s Tale,” a boy from Alaska kills a bowhead whale, bringing him fame in his village and scorn everywhere else.

Be sure to check out the second pair of articles, too. They focus on Latinx youth fighting for a high-quality, inclusive education. “Youth From Every Corner” tells the story of a swanky private school that prides itself on diversity but doesn’t meet its promises. “Arizona Banned Mexican American Studies” tells the story of a conservative state that destroyed a popular elective program and how students are now in court, fighting back.

Today’s issue ends with a scintillating podcast interview between Reveal host Al Letson (#67) and Roger Stone — who live in the same country, worlds apart — and with an excellent piece by a writer from Florida who brings the eccentric state to life. Please enjoy today’s issue and let me know what you think!

Las Matadoras

Don’t worry: No bulls were killed in this beautiful photo essay featuring matadoras in South Texas. In the United States, killing bulls is illegal, so bullfighters grab a flower from the bull’s back to symbolize a clean kill. For Lupita Lopez and Karla Santoyo, bullfighting is the “ballet of life.” Despite gains that women have made in the sport, “it’s still a world of men,” Ms. Santoyo says. Take a look at the captions as well as the photos, where you’ll learn how a novillera earns her traje de luces. (This is the first photo essay in The Highlighter since Issue #21.)

The Teenage Whaler’s Tale

In April, 16-year-old Chris Apassingok, who lives with his family in the Siberian Yupik village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island on the northwest edge of Alaska, caught a 57-foot, 50-ton bowhead whale and instantly became a hero in his community. Whale meat is prized, especially given that Alaskan Natives have hunted bowheads for more than 2,000 years, and given that most people in Gambell live below the poverty level and pay $11 for a bag of Doritos. But not everyone is happy. Facebook has made our world smaller, and after word got out about Chris’s kill, death threats followed. Now Chris doesn’t know how to feel.

Loyal subscriber Erin (here with her students) has won The Highligher’s first giveaway! Congratulations, Erin, on beating out the other 12 contestants (via a random number generator). You’ll be receiving your copy of Blood at the Root in the mail today. Loyal subscribers, look out for the next giveaway in next Thursday’s issue!

Youth From Every Quarter

A fancy private boarding school on the East Coast wants to diversify its student body, so it admits Ana, a bright young Latina woman, who is low-income and from rural Oregon, to its summer program. Ana has trouble fitting in socially with all the rich white kids and struggles in her Pre-Calculus class. When a teacher advocates for Ana, there is no flexibility, no plan. Even though the elite school has recruited “youth from every quarter” in order to pursue equity, it does not follow through, choosing to let Ana fail rather than offering her the support that her more privileged classmates receive.

Arizona Banned Mexican American Studies. Now the Case Is Back in Court.

Back in 2010, Arizona banned ethnic studies classes that focused on the experiences of Latinx people in the United States. The reason? They were encouraging revolution and teaching the core value of community over individualism. The ban also prevented students from reading more than 90 books, including Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Now attorneys are in court trying to reinstate the curriculum, arguing that the law violates students’ 1st and 14th amendment rights.

Bacon, who belongs to loyal subscriber Nick, gets his second appearance (see #80) in The Highlighter. If you feel jealous that your pet has not yet been included, please send me a photo!

Al Letson Interviews Roger Stone

A few issues ago, I told myself that I would no longer highlight podcasts because, well, this digest focuses on words over sounds. But then I listened to this brilliant 21-minute interview of Roger Stone by Al Letson on Reveal, and I’ve changed my mind, at least for the moment. There are fireworks in this interview, as Mr. Stone and Mr. Letson go back and forth about racism and whether there is objective truth. Mr. Stone says that racism is a thing of the past. He also says that truth is in the “eye of the beholder.” Usually overly magnanimous, Mr. Letson makes sure not to let his guest off the hook.

The Problem With Writing About Florida

Kristen Arnett has lived in Orlando all her life, which means she writes about frogs and lizards and Disney World and spiders and strip clubs and sinkholes. It also means that she can disparage her home, but you’d better not. Ms. Arnett writes:

Orlando is wet, sticky, violent. It’s the place where you learn the contours of your body through sweaty shorts and tank tops. It’s a damp, cold bathing suit pulled down around your ankles while you pee in a friend’s bathroom at a pool party.

This is a brilliant essay about a place where life and death get packed on top of each other, where boys dare you to open your mouth wide so they can throw a frog inside.

Big Podcast Update: The Highlighter Podcast is performing better than expected, with 82 listeners last week and 79 in its first episode. This past Monday, I really enjoyed chatting with loyal subscriber, artist, and art teacher Heidi, the podcast’s first-ever guest. Heidi asked me great questions about how I select articles and put the digest together. You can listen to the episode here! Thank you, Heidi! For now, the podcast will come out weekly on Mondays. We’ll focus on getting to know our digest community and talking about articles we like. If you’d like to be on an upcoming show, let me know. Also, subscribe on Apple Podcasts and leave a review!

Wow, that was a lot! Thank you for reading this week’s edition of The Highlighter — hope you liked it. As always, please let me know what you thought. Also, let’s please welcome new subscribers Brian and Jonathan. Loyal subscribers, keep getting the word out about the digest, so that our community can grow, and see you next Thursday at 9:10 am!

#101: Our Uninhabitable Earth

Welcome everyone to The Highlighter #101! We are well into the middle of summer, and I’m back from a mini-vacation that helped me escape my foggy and chilly city. Last week was a huge one for the digest — 12 people became new subscribers! Let’s welcome Pam, Greg, Danielle, Kate, Gail, Nicole, Sandy, Michele, Nancy, Katherine, Carah, and B.R. I hope you like what you read!

This week, there’s a little bit for everyone: mass extinctions, therapy animals, rugged individualism, and orange harvests. All four articles push our thinking on topics we think we know about. The first piece, which focuses on climate change, makes the case that our end of days may occur earlier than we’ve imagined. The second piece, which centers on the ascendancy of therapy animals, raises questions about their impact. Then comes the photo break (a beautiful vista!), after which please enjoy an article that will challenge what you thought you knew about American history. Coming up last is another article about oranges, because there’s no way you can read too many articles about oranges. Please enjoy The Highlighter and have a great week!

When Will Climate Change Make the Earth Too Hot For Humans?

Al Gore warned us more than ten years ago in An Inconvenient Truth. We weren’t listening. Record heat last month (129 degrees in Pakistan!) didn’t faze us. Even yesterday’s news — that a 1 trillion ton iceberg broke off Antarctica — didn’t stop us in our tracks. Maybe the reason for our indifference is that we like our gadgets too much, our air travel, our cheeseburgers, our air conditioning. Either that or we feel powerless. That kind of mentality, writes David Wallace-Wells in this very scary article, will only hasten our doom. If we do not get serious, climate change will cause a mass extinction before the end of this century that will kill off more than 95 percent of life on our planet. (Happy Summer!)

Therapy animals are everywhere. Proof that they help is not.

OK, Animal Lovers, promise not to unsubscribe because I’ve highlighted this article, which suggests that it’s possible that therapy animals are not, in fact, providing therapy. The jury is still out about whether interacting with animals results in lower stress and anxiety. Some studies suggest a moderate positive effect, but there’s nothing yet that concludes causation over correlation. But even if science says no to comfort animals, what’s the problem of letting them inside grocery stores, restaurants, movie theaters, concert halls, museums, airplanes? (For all you naysayers out there, you’ll love this article from 2014.)

Though hiking is not my strength (because it involves walking uphill, which is strenuous), almost always you get a beautiful view. Here’s one from Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, Kenwood, California.

Now it’s time to announce the first-ever giveaway at The Highlighter! Be very excited. As many of you know, this digest began two years ago, with its first issue reaching exactly two people. Since then, I’ve highlighted more than 400 articles, and the digest’s readership has grown, thanks to the recommendations of loyal subscribers like you. To celebrate you, I’m giving away one of my favorite books to one lucky subscriber. The winner gets their choice of Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson; Evicted, by Matthew Desmond, or Blood at the Root, by Patrick Phillips. To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is to offer your feedback on today’s issue by clicking on the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icon on the bottom of today’s issue. (There’s no penalty for choosing thumbs-down.) The last day you can enter is next Tuesday, and I’ll announce the winner in next Thursday’s issue. Good luck!

At Walden, Thoreau Wasn’t Alone With Nature

We learned in high school that Henry David Thoreau went to Walden Pond to get away from the bustle of city life, to live deliberately in nature. Perhaps he was the 19th-century version of Marie Kondo? “Do not trouble yourself much to get new things,” he wrote. “Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.” This image of Thoreau — spartan and austere — has driven for 200 years our American construct of gritty, rugged individualism. Except this image is not true. Thoreau wasn’t alone at Walden. There was his neighbor Brister Freeman, a former slave who fought in the Revolutionary War. There was his neighbor Hugh Coyle, a poor Irish ditchdigger, new to the country, and as a result, an outcast. And of course, before Thoreau arrived, hundreds Native Americans lived at Walden Pond before they were killed or pushed away. When we believe that Thoreau lived alone in the woods, we cling to a myth that discredits the more nuanced reality of the American story.

Inside the Dangerous Life of an Orange

Last week I unveiled my fascination with oranges. This article — about the orange harvest in California — is less gloomy but not exactly hopeful. We learn that each tree holds 1,100 oranges, that they’re picked by hand 16 at a time by men climbing up and down ladders, earning not by the hour but by the bin, that they’re processed by women earning minimum wage, that they’re classified “choice” or “premium,” the former sold in American stores and ones without blemishes shipped to Asia, that rising labor costs are encouraging orange growers to invest in technology that will eliminate jobs, all to make sure that the oranges we buy remain as cheap as they are sweet and juicy. (Also noteworthy: This piece is written in the first-person plural — as in, from the point of view of the oranges themselves.)

You’ve done it! Thank you for making your way through another issue of The Highlighter. Before you go, I need to tell you more about The Highlighter Podcast. You can listen to this week’s episode here (please do!), where I talk a little about my favorite article this week. Starting in a few days, the podcast will move to being broadcast on Mondays, and I’ll begin interviewing loyal subscribers about your favorite articles. Let me know (by replying to this message) if you want to be on the show! Also, feel free to subscribe to the podcast so it becomes enormous.

Have a great week, and I’ll see you next Thursday at 9:10 am!

#100: White America Is Happy With Segregated Schools

Hello and welcome to The Highlighter #100! This is a major milestone. For most of my life, I’ve been the slow-and-steady type. Instead of meeting goals quickly, they’ve developed over time. Run a marathon? Yes, it’s happened, but only after a year of running around the lake. Play the piano? Did that for 10 years, and then played my first full-length recital. The Kindle Classroom Project? It’s almost six years old and just getting started. The Highlighter is very similar: I haven’t missed a week in more than a year, and it’s building, and though I still don’t quite know where it’s going, it’s a good thing regardless. Thank you for being loyal subscribers, for opening up and reading the digest week after week, and for following this endeavor on its way to becoming absolutely gigantic.

This week’s articles are eclectic — even more than usual. The first piece is an essay by an accomplished teacher, who argues that our country’s educational system will not improve until white people stop segregating themselves from public schools. The second piece is an alarming and unsettling account of Boko Haram’s kidnapping and brainwashing of four boys in Nigeria. Then there’s the photo break, after which please enjoy two engrossing pieces about things you likely know nothing about: the impending extinction of Florida oranges and the hurtful impact of Empty Nose Syndrome.

One last thing: The Highlighter is expanding and becoming a (very short, very listenable) podcast! Every week (or month, or however often it comes out), I’ll interview a loyal subscriber, and we’ll chat about their favorite article from that week’s edition. Please check out my 1-minute trailer. (Yes, it’s just me talking.) Let me know what you think and if you’d like to be on the show (which will be on iTunes soon).

Much of White America Is Perfectly Happy With Segregated Schools

Social studies teacher Nate Bowling, a 2016 national Teacher of the Year finalist, writes that too much attention in education reform goes to spats about charter schools and the Common Core. What we should be talking about, Mr. Bowling argues, is how white people segregate themselves from public schools. Where white people go, money goes, and good teachers go, and until that system changes, there will be no lasting improvement to the life chances of poor African American and Latino kids. Related: Check out Malcolm Gladwell’s 31-minute podcast about what you didn’t know about Brown v. Board of Education. It’s outstanding.

Trained to Kill: How Four Boy Soldiers Survived Boko Haram

Boko Haram means, “Western education is sinful.” Before reading this harrowing article by Sarah A. Topol, I didn’t even know this basic fact. Ms. Topol tells the story of the abduction of Kolomi, Fannami, Mustapha, and Zanna — four boys from Baga, a fishing village in Nigeria. The boys get transferred to a Boko Haram training center, where they learn how to shoot guns, ingest drugs, hurl bombs, and go on operations. The only way to survive is to obey orders and to forget who you are. The details are graphic and disturbing.

Preparing Kindles for students is no joke. Here’s Joel hard at work at the Summer Kindle Party a couple Saturdays ago.

After Oranges

There’s a bit of a fruit theme at The Highlighter (see #86 as an example). One of my money-making schemes is to open up an orange store — that is to say, a store that sells only oranges, preferably for high prices. (My plan is to harvest the oranges from the tree outside the house my mom grew up in.) This article gives me hope that I will succeed. Author Wyatt Williams is convincing in his suggestion that the worldwide supply of oranges will plummet after the Florida crop all dies off from disease. Even if you’re not interested in the orange business, you’ll like all the orange-related tidbits in this piece, including the fact that oranges are green.

Is Empty Nose Syndrome Real? And If Not, Why Are People Killing Themselves Over It?

Brett Helling had sinus surgery to improve his breathing, and instead of feeling better, he felt like he was drowning all the time. Like many people with Empty Nose Syndrome, Brett begged his doctor for help, to no avail. After all, his airway was clear, so what was the problem? It turns out that a small number of people who have turbinate reduction surgery end up with ENS, but most doctors associate the condition with depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or other mental health issues.

And that’s that! One hundred issues of The Highlighter are in the books. Here’s to one hundred more! While we’re cheering, let’s please welcome new subscriber Carol. Loyal subscribers, keep getting the word out there and encouraging curious readers to give this digest a try. Stay tuned for next week, when I reveal The Highlighter’s first contest and prize. (You’ll like it.) Until then, have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next Thursday at 9:10 am.