Jul 07 Watch 2:55 How social media ‘likes’ create a conversation of connection By PBS NewsHour You might think linguistics professor Deborah Tannen would lament the effects of social media on how we communicate. Instead, she sees how it fills an essential need for connection, and the ways we've adapted the tools of "liking" and "tagging"… Continue watching
Jun 30 Watch 3:15 My daughter escaped being a scary health statistic. Here’s what I learned. By PBS NewsHour When Elizabeth Silver's daughter was 6 weeks old, she suffered a serious stroke and spent weeks in the NICU. Confronted with damning statistics, Silver began to see the numbers as one version of a story, with room for interpretation. The… Continue watching
Jun 16 Watch 3:12 I ignored advice and followed my boyfriend to a new city after college. Here’s why By PBS NewsHour Caroline Kitchener grew up hearing that strong women don't need to rely on a partner to have a happy and successful life. But after graduating college, her values clashed with real life: She decided to move to a new city… Continue watching
May 26 Watch 3:03 What it’s like to be a veteran of a war that never ends By PBS NewsHour Sometimes author Brian Castner asks himself, “How many tours would have been enough to know, deep down in my bones, that I had done my part?” After three tours, Castner got home from Iraq a decade ago. But the war… Continue watching
May 19 Watch 3:35 To Richard Ford, writing a memoir is to utter what must not be erased By PBS NewsHour Richard Ford's parents were ordinary people, "all but un-noticeable to the world's disinterested eye." But the acclaimed writer still decided to write a memoir of their lives because, to him, being their son felt like a privilege. And more simply,… Continue watching
May 05 Watch How refusing to listen to other voices can harm us all By PBS NewsHour As an African-American female scientist and president of Trinity College, Joanne Berger-Sweeney says she’s heard and been the target of a lot of hurtful talk. Yet, as colleges and universities are criticized for seeming to stifle speech and thought, she… Continue watching
Apr 28 Watch 3:12 A self-made success? Let’s kill that myth By PBS NewsHour One of the core tenants of the American Dream is the belief that individuals from all walks of life can make it big. Millionaire tech entrepreneur Jason Ford has done just that, but believes he and other successful people end… Continue watching
Apr 21 Watch 2:55 Why your smartphone is irresistible (and why it’s worth trying to resist) By PBS NewsHour Many of us have psychological itches that need scratching, says Adam Alter. When he was a Ph.D. student, that compulsion took the form of an online slot machine game, which soothed his feelings of isolation. Today we seem to be… Continue watching
Apr 14 Watch 3:10 The problem with thinking you know more than the experts By PBS NewsHour More and more, people don't care about expert views. That's according to Tom Nichols, author of "The Death of Expertise," who says Americans have become insufferable know-it-alls, locked in constant conflict and debate with others over topics they actually know… Continue watching
Apr 07 Watch 3:13 What makes me different from today’s Syrian refugees? Just fate and timing By PBS NewsHour As a Syrian-American journalist who has covered Syria’s refugee crisis, Alia Malek understands where they are coming from and where they’re going. The circumstances today are so different from when her parents left Damascus, yet it could have been her… Continue watching