The Top 5: From a "rich inner life" to lip-reading on TikTok
Welcome to the latest edition of the Top 5 articles we’ve read this week. Each week, we read dozens of articles in the hope we find essays and reporting that speak to big ideas, trends, future looks, and incredible human stories. We hope you enjoy these articles, and do always let us know if you have a suggestion or a recommendation!
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Finally, Michael is in Indianapolis and Atlanta this week for speaking engagements, and would love to see you at these events if you can attend.
Now…
The Top 5 articles for your week:
“Schools vs. Screens” (Maclean’s)
Because Luc Rinaldi reports how country-wide bans in Canadian schools of cellphone usage are not going well due to a lack of standardization of rules. With many districts, states and even nations pursuing restrictions on cellphone usage in schools, this article explores the difficulties of implementation.
“How One Woman Became the Scapegoat for America’s Reading Crisis” (The Atlantic)
Because Helen Lewis explores the legacy of Lucy Calkins, the writer of the “Units of Study” curriculum that was used for decades to teach kids how to read. It has now been panned by educators and scholars.
“The Therapist in the Machine” (The Baffler)
Because Jess McAllen examines the rise in AI therapy — and its problems.
AI therapy works best when you discuss predictable life events, like, “My boyfriend and I broke up.” A break-up! The bots have trained their whole lives for this. AI mirrors traditional mental health treatment in that more generic problems are still prioritized over complex mental health needs — until someone gets to the point of inpatient hospitalization, at least, and by then they’ve already suffered considerable distress. AI is meant to fill treatment gaps, whether their causes are financial, geographic, or societal. But the very people who fall into these gaps are the ones who tend to need more complex care, which AI cannot provide.
“Rich Inner Life” (Substack)
Because Samuel James over at Digital Liturgies contributes a perspective that sits at the intersection of current debates on “main character syndrome,” the crisis of men, mental illness, and gentle parenting.
“The Lip-Reading Hotshot of Celebrity Gossip” (NYT Magazine)
Because Jody Rosen looks at how one viral TikToker has taken covering pop culture to a new level.
Jackie G seems like a nice person; if her posts can feel vaguely sinister, it’s because they are such symptoms of the times, products of an algorithmic economy that encourages us to do whatever it takes, to seek any hustle available, to power the churn of content. As you watch her videos, dark questions steal up on you. Is it quaint to imagine that we can speak unobserved words? Are we all destined to be tea, poured out for public consumption?