In this week’s issue:
And So Jedidiah Brown Gave All of Himself to the City He Loved, by Ben Austin
On American Identity, the Election, and Family Members Who Support Trump, by Nicole Chung
How Fake News Turned a Small Town Upside Down, by Caitlin Dickerson
Long Live the Group Chat, by Aaron Edwards
Here’s The Highlighter #113. Like what you see? Subscribe!
Ever since I read “Our School” (#78) last year in the Orion Magazine, I’ve been a big fan of writer Lauren Markham. (Seriously, if you’re an educator, you have to read that article.)
One year later, I featured Ms. Markham’s latest piece, “The Girl Gangs of El Salvador,” in The Highlighter #110. Shortly afterward, I learned that Ms. Markham has a new book out this month, entitled The Far Away Brothers. That’s a lot of good things all at once, I thought, and decided to see if Ms. Markham would like to be on the podcast.
She did!
On this week’s episode, Ms. Markham and I talk about her article, her book, and her work at Oakland International High School in Oakland. There she works to provide services to newly arrived immigrant youth. Just earlier this week, Ms. Markham was also published in The New York Times. Even better: The Times loves her book. (I recommend it, too!)
Ms. Markham is very quickly becoming a big star, so I’m really grateful she generously gave her time to come on the show to talk with The Highlighter community. (We deserve the best!)
Please take a listen! And feel free to share this post with your friends.
Do you like what you’re hearing? There’s more over at the Podcast page. Or better yet: Subscribe to The Highlighter Podcast on iTunes | Google | Pocket Casts | Anchor | RSS
Aletheia and Jessica
The Inaugural Highlighter Happy Hour was a resounding success! More than 20 loyal subscribers secured tickets and convened at Room 389 in Oakland for the festivities.
We met new people, chatted a little about the articles, and devised next steps to ensure that The Highlighter explodes in popularity and continues to take the country by storm.
Subscribers wanted to talk most about the first two articles in The Highlighter #112. Though formal discussion was not a part of tonight’s proceedings, several people said that they would appreciate moving in that direction. “I came with my highlighter,” loyal subscriber Alex said.
One controversy we debated was whether Thursday is the best evening for the event, given that the newsletter comes out at 9:10 am the same day. Does that give us enough time to peruse and annotate the articles? one loyal subscriber asked. Several suggestions were considered, the most popular being “working from home.” It was unanimous that we should meet up again!
Another big moment came when MJ, The Highlighter’s Most Popular Dog (featured in issues #81 and #108), made his appearance. He spent much of the evening recovering from an incident in which he ate the greater part of his owners’ dinner.
The Highlighter community is strong, and it’s filled with thoughtful people who like to read, talk about important issues, and do good things in the world. I’m looking forward to having another meet-up soon — maybe next month?
If you want to join us at the next Highlighter Happy Hour, please subscribe to the newsletter at highlighter.cc/subscribe. You’ll be happy you did. Thank you!
In this week’s issue:
The College Try, by Ashley Powers
How The Bankruptcy System is Failing Black Americans, by Paul Kiel
How Big Business Got Brazil Hooked on Junk Food, by Andrew Jacobs
Keepers of the Secrets, by James Somers
Here’s The Highlighter #112. Like what you see? Subscribe!
Ardent fans of The Highlighter have been clamoring for alignment.
They ask, desperately, Why do I have to go one place for the newsletter and then another place for the podcast? It’s too confusing! Can’t things be simple?
Yes, things can be simple. And now, yes, they are!
Starting now, everything is calm and peaceful and smooth. Please enjoy!
+ Website: www.highlighter.cc
+ Newsletter: www.highlighter.cc/newsletter
+ Podcast: www.highlighter.cc/podcast
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Now that everything is in alignment, you know what you need to do, right? You feel compelled to follow all Highlighter-related accounts and tell all your friends and family to do the same.
Thank you!
It was a joy to have Professor of Education Anthony Johnston on the show today. Tony is a close friend of mine, and we taught together (a few years back) in San Francisco. Now he’s a professor at the University of Saint Joseph in Connecticut.
In our spirited conversation, Tony wanted to talk about all the articles (he’s very prepared) in The HIghlighter #111, but we limited it to three. We began chatting about fireflies, then moved to the piece on Black masculinity by Wilbert L. Cooper, and ended our discussion on the subject of Advanced placement classes. Please take a listen!
If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe to The Highlighter Podcast!
Subscribe to The Highlighter Podcast on iTunes | Google | Pocket Casts | Anchor | RSS
Summer in the Heartsick Mountains, by Ellie Shechet
I Was Forced to Fight, Now I’m Learning to Cry, by Wilbert L. Cooper
This Tiny Country Feeds the World, by Frank Viviano
Who Benefits From the Expansion of A.P. Classes? by Alina Tugend
Here’s The Highlighter #111. Like what you see? Subscribe.
Tony C, who belongs to loyal subscriber Clare, is extremely happy that The Highlighter now has its own website. The Highlighter started out as a weekly newsletter. Then it expanded to include a podcast. But a newsletter and a podcast just wasn’t enough. The Highlighter needed a website, and the website is now here. As loyal subscriber Joel says, Multiple modalities are moving! Please write a comment to let me know what you think of The Highlighter’s latest fanciness.
Welcome to The Highlighter #111! I think that you’re going to appreciate this week’s articles. The first two pieces can’t possibly be more different — one focuses on fireflies, while the other focuses on patriarchal machismo. But read them together because they both explore the consequences of growing up. After a photo break, spend time marveling at the wonders of Dutch farming, then round off your reading by considering whether Advanced Placement is helping urban students of color. Please enjoy!
Summer in the Heartsick Mountains
Ellie Shechet returns to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where she grew up, after last year’s wildfire (#95), to find out what’s happened to the Smoky Mountain Synchronous Firefly, whose population has plummeted in recent years. “You start noticing things in a different way when you know you’re going to lose ’em,” a firefly expert tells her. This brilliant piece is about the magic of fireflies, their association with childhood, their importance across various cultures. It’s also about how humans have brought the Photinus carolinus to the brink of extinction. Mostly, though, this is a reflection on growing up and leaving your hometown — and losing as much as you have gained. (22 mins)
I Was Forced to Fight, Now I’m Learning to Cry
Black boys are not allowed to express their emotions because doing so makes them sissies. In this excellent essay, Wilbert L. Cooper recounts his journey growing up, noting that his family and community celebrated swagger and fight over emotional depth. Connecting with the writings of bell hooks and James Baldwin, Mr. Cooper admits that only recently has he moved through patriarchal machismo and toxic masculinity. His epiphany came when he visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture and approached the casket of Emmett Till. Thank you to loyal subscriber Heidi for sending me this article. (19 mins)
City Arts and Technology High School, San Francisco
This Tiny Country Feeds the World
Finland knows education; the Netherlands knows food. Only the United States, at 270 times the size, makes more food than Holland. They’re the world’s top exporter of potatoes and onions and a global leader in tomatoes. How do the Dutch do it? A few reasons: building tons of greenhouses, reducing the need for water, creating self-sustaining ecosystems, and being passionate about data. Farming in the Netherlands is revolutionary, and it had better be. By 2050, 10 billion people will live on Earth, which means we’ll have to grow as much food over the next 40 years as in the past 8,000. Thanks go to loyal subscriber Jamie for submitting this excellent article. (23 mins)
Who Benefits From the Expansion of Advanced Placement Classes?
The year I taught AP English Literature in San Francisco, my students were wonderful. We became a strong learning community, and I pushed them hard. At the end of the year, four of my students passed the exam, out of a class of 23. The results were devastating to me. But this article by Alina Tugend explains why my students’ results were not outside the norm. Urban schools, in order to offer greater access to challenging curriculum, have expanded their Advanced Placement programs. But there has been less emphasis in supporting students to bridge longstanding skill gaps. Meanwhile, the College Board does very little except collect millions of dollars. (22 mins)
This Week’s Podcast: If you haven’t yet checked out the podcast, this week’s episode is the one to try, especially if you care about American history. Loyal subscriber Clare Green interviews Columbia history professor Eric Foner about Confederate monuments, the teaching of history, and historiography. It’s a great conversation! The Highlighter Podcast comes out on Sunday night and is meant to supercharge your Monday commute. Tell your friends and subscribe on iTunes! On the show this week is Anthony Johnston, professor of education at the University of Saint Joseph.
Thank you for reading Issue #111 of The Highlighter! Please let me know what you thought (thumbs are below). Please welcome new subscribers Linda, Gerry, and Amanda. Let’s keep growing The Highlighter community and making it even stronger. Have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you again next Thursday at 9:10 am.
Hi there and welcome to The Highlighter #110! A few readers told me last week’s issue was all doom and gloom, so this week is equal parts disturbing and affirming. Up first is a distressing article about femicide in El Salvador and how young women are joining gangs for safety. Then comes a feel-good piece about a New Deal program involving librarians, books, and horses. Rounding out the first half is a dispiriting article about how Arizona’s school voucher program is destroying public schools. The photo of the week features a loyal subscriber’s plant (rather than a loyal subscriber’s pet). After the break, read a clear-eyed op-ed on Confederate monuments and their place in history, followed by an easy-to-read explanation of a complicated mathematical proof. Please enjoy!
Women in El Salvador are raped and murdered at an alarming rate. To protect themselves from violence, more and more young women are joining gangs. This article by Lauren Markham (#78) follows Elena and her journey in and out of a gang. Along the way, learn about the history of Salvadoran gangs and why they’re so powerful. If you enjoy Ms. Markham’s direct prose, check out her new book, The Far Away Brothers, which chronicles Salvadoran twins who migrate to the Bay Area. (30 mins)
The Women Who Rode Miles on Horseback to Deliver Library Books
Librarians are amazing. Before bookmobiles became popular in the 1950s, there was the Pack Horse Library initiative. As part of a New Deal program, 1,000 women delivered donated books and magazines on horseback to poor people in remote areas of Appalachia. The women rode more than 100 miles a week, no matter the weather, sometimes preferring mules. What would these resourceful librarians think of the Kindle Classroom Project? (5 mins)
In Arizona, you can send your child to any public school in the state. If you don’t like any of them, you can take a voucher and enroll your kid in any private school — even religious ones. And because oversight is weak, you can get away spending the voucher on video games, stuffed animals, snow globes, and abortions. In this article, Alexandria Neason paints a bleak picture of public education’s future, explaining the difference between “school choice” (not bad) and “school privatization” (bad). Watch out, educators: This is a tough one to read. (32 mins)
A recent article in the Washington Post suggests that Millennials are substituting plants for children (and perhaps pets). Here’s loyal subscriber Niki’s plant, Sideshow Bob. Niki is great and is the guest on this week’s episode of The Highlighter Podcast: j.mp/hipod.
Confederate Statues and ‘Our’ History
In this succinct essay, Columbia history professor Eric Foner emphasizes that history “is what the present chooses to remember about the past,” that “forgetting is as essential to public understandings of history as remembering.” For those reasons, Confederate monuments should not remain standing simply because they currently exist in public places. Rather than representing markers of a neutral history, Prof. Foner suggests, they’re symbols of who had the power to decide what we remember. If you like this piece, check out The Highlighter Podcast next Monday at 9:10 am, when loyal subscriber Clare will interview Prof. Foner. It’ll be very good! (5 mins)
Mathematicians Measure Infinities, Find They’re Equal
Start counting by ones and keep going. That’s infinity. Now start counting by twos. The second version of infinity (just even numbers) is smaller than the first version, right? Nope. They’re both infinite, and more important, they’re both the same “amount” of infinite — according to a new proof by mathematicians Maryanthe Malliaris and Saharon Shelah. Hope you like The Highlighter’s first math-based article! (To my credit, I participated in my elementary school’s Math Bowl, along with loyal subscriber Millie.) (11 mins)
This Week’s Podcast: Another first for the podcast this week! I traveled to loyal subscriber Niki’s home and recorded the episode in her living room studio. (She served a delicious plate of crackers, cheese, and fruit.) Niki works in education at the San Francisco Unified School District, and we talked about “The Resegregation of Jefferson County,” by Nikole Hannah-Jones. Thank you, Niki, for your thoughtful conversation! Please tell your friends about the podcast, subscribe, and leave rave reviews over at iTunes. (Loyal subscribers Jamie and Angelina have already done so!)
That’s it for Issue #110 of The Highlighter. Hope you enjoyed the articles! Please let me know what you thought (thumbs are below). This week, nine people signed up; let’s welcome Patrick, Carli, Erin, Ray’Von, Maya, Molly, Krystal, Jimmy, and Jenifer! Let’s keep growing The Highlighter community and making it even stronger. Have a wonderful week, and I’ll see you again next Thursday at 9:10 am.
