The Present Age Weekly Recap: July 8, 2022 — Plus, today only, get 20% off an annual subscription

We good? We good.

Jul 8, 2022

Welcome to the weekly recap. In this post, I’ll be linking to my work from the week, sharing some stories from others I thought were interesting, and providing a few casual thoughts on [gestures at everything]. If you’d like to receive this weekly email ONLY, please go to your account page and under “Email notifications” uncheck every box except “TPA Weekly Recap.” If you don’t want to receive the weekly recap, leave all boxes except “TPA Weekly Recap” checked.

Today (July 8, 2022) only: Get 20% off an annual subscription to The Present Age

Last week, I offered up a big discount on annual plans, but kept it going through today, July 8. Get an annual subscription for ~~$60~~ $48 by using this link:

Get 20% off for 1 year

That’ll be the last discount offered for a while, so if you’re on the fence, now is a great time to subscribe. Paid subscribers get access to all TPA posts and can participate in the comment sections of articles (and I try to respond as much as I can). Plus, hey, I could really use the additional subscriptions!

From me this week: the word “woman” and outrage bait

On Tuesday, I published a somewhat lengthy piece about why the nonsense arguments people make where they claim that places are trying to “ban” the word “woman” are misleading and wrong.

The Present Age

Nobody is trying to ban the word "woman."

Alright, I know that I’ve written a lot about trans issues lately, and I know that it’s cost me at least one paid subscriber (yes, I read the unsubscribe notes and really do appreciate all feedback). Unfortunately, media attacks on trans people continue, so I’m going to have at least a few more trans-related pieces coming out…

7 months ago · 58 likes · 24 comments · Parker Molloy

And on Thursday, I published a shorter piece about outrage bait.

The Present Age

Generating outrage bait? Super easy! Barely an inconvenience!

I’ve written a lot about how frustrated I get when I see articles built entirely around a handful of tweets. These stories are often framed with headlines like, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is Deemed ‘Racist'“ (The National Review, 2018, made up entirely out of 4 tweets that were clearly joking about how during the dinner scene, Franklin, a Black chara…

7 months ago · 28 likes · 3 comments · Parker Molloy

What I’ve been reading this week from others:

Don Moynihan has a great piece over at his Can We Still Govern? newsletter about how Republicans’ decision to lean into hard-right “culture war” issues have been making life impossible for teachers just trying to do their jobs.

Can We Still Govern?

GOP populism is hurting the teaching profession

We are living in a populist era that frames public officials as corrupt elites. The effects of the ensuing hostility to the capacity of public institutions to function feels like a big missed story of our time, one whose consequences will be felt for years if not decades…

7 months ago · 1 like · Don Moynihan

Tom Scocca has a piece over at Indignity about NYT columnist Pamela Paul (who wrote one of the pieces arguing that the word “woman” is being erased) that is definitely worth a read.

INDIGNITY

Indignity Vol. 2, No. 56: Who cares what Pamela Paul thinks?

The Making of a Times Columnist RECENTLY INSTALLED NEW York Times opinion columnist Pamela Paul finally succeeded in getting people's attention over the weekend. "The Far Right and Far Left Agree on One Thing: Women Don’t Count," the headline on her column…

7 months ago · 17 likes · 3 comments · Tom Scocca

At her Men Yell At Me newsletter, Lyz Lenz has another piece on the inclusive language topic.

Men Yell at Me

Using Inclusive Language Doesn't Erase Women

This is the mid-week issue of Men Yell at Me a newsletter about politics and personhood in the Midwest. Subscribing to this newsletter helps me do the work I do and supports independent media in the Midwest…

7 months ago · 66 likes · 51 comments · lyz

Jessica Valenti has started an Abortion, Every Day podcast over at her Substack, for paid subscribers:

All in Her Head by Jessica Valenti

Abortion, Every Day (7.5.22)

Listen now (12 min) | Here’s the third installment (I don’t know that I can really call them episodes) of Abortion, Every Day. Lots of ranting in this one, and some pretty horrifying stories. I’m talking about the various ways that people across the country are being denied care—some of which have absolutely nothing to do with abortion—and how it’s becoming very clear…

7 months ago · 29 likes · 15 comments · Jessica Valenti

And I really appreciated this edition of Brad Esposito’s Very Fine Day about money in media.

Very Fine Day

There's plenty of money in media – just not for you.

Reading this edition of VFD will make you cool, hip, and on-trend! In the tech world, engineers make a lot of money. It’s kind of the point. Yes, we’re at some apex of building and growing and money that doesn’t necessarily need to make sense, but it’s Boom Town to be an engineer, and it has been for decades…

7 months ago · 4 likes · brad esposito

That’s it for this week! One final reminder that the offer to get 20% off annual plans ends today, July 8, 2022, so if you’re looking for a deal, now’s a great time!