The Present Age

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The Present Age Weekly Recap: February 18, 2022
www.readtpa.com
TPA Weekly Recap

The Present Age Weekly Recap: February 18, 2022

Adele, COVID-19, LGBTQ rights, and cancel culture.

Parker Molloy
Feb 18, 2022
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The Present Age Weekly Recap: February 18, 2022
www.readtpa.com

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.

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A three-newsletter week

On Monday, I wrote about my general frustration with the “open everything”/“let it rip” genre of COVID-19 coverage.

The Present Age
Why many of the "open everything" COVID-19 arguments are so dishonest
Hello, dear readers. Happy Monday. Last July, I wrote about how we’ve become a “society of Holiday Inn Express guests,” a reference to the long-running ad campaign from the ‘90s. You know the one. “No, I’m not [surgeon/astrophysicist/etc.], but I did…
Read more
a year ago · 26 likes · 14 comments · Parker Molloy

On Tuesday, I posted transcript of a chat I had on the Politics + Media 101 show. We discussed “cancel culture", Spotify, Joe Rogan, and more. I had a lot of fun doing it, and I think it turned out pretty great.

The Present Age
Discussing "cancel culture" on the "Politics + Media 101" podcast [transcript included]
Hello, once again, dear readers. I recently appeared on the Politics + Media 101 podcast to discuss “cancel culture,” Spotify, Joe Rogan, etc. They just put this out, and you can download it at pretty much any podcast streaming service. It was a good conversation…
Read more
a year ago · 2 likes · Parker Molloy

And then on Wednesday, I wrote about why right-wing media rushed to make it seem as though there was some sort of “trans backlash” to Adele saying she was proud to be a woman. There was no backlash.

The Present Age
Here's why right-wing media invented a story about Adele being called transphobic
Hello, dear readers, I really didn’t want to write about today's topic, but it’s just such a perfect example of something that’s long bothered me that I feel obligated to tackle it. So, without further ado… [inhales] If, like me, you’re an avid consumer of right-wing media outlets, you probably saw a story or two about singer Adele being “slammed” and “attacked” for saying she’s proud to be a woman during this year’s BRIT Awards. Let’s… talk about that…
Read more
a year ago · 11 likes · 8 comments · Parker Molloy

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Posts from others that I want to draw attention to:

Over at his Popular Info Substack, Judd Legum has a great piece about corporations that claim to support LGBTQ rights… while also donating to the politicians behind the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would make it illegal for teachers to facilitate any sort of discussion that has to do with LGBTQ people. (A common defense of the bill is that “kids shouldn’t be learning about gay sex during school, anyway!” but that is a purposeful misrepresentation of what this bill would do.)

Popular Information
Florida politicians behind "Don't Say Gay" bill backed by corporations that claim to support LGBTQ rights
A bill advancing rapidly through the Florida legislature would prohibit many of the state's teachers from discussing "sexual orientation or gender identity" in class. Under the legislation, also known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, parents who believe the prohibition was violated could sue schools for damages. The politicians pushing the bill, a group tha…
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a year ago · 86 likes · 16 comments · Judd Legum, Tesnim Zekeria, and Rebecca Crosby

And on the topic of that bill, Tim Miller has a piece about it over at The Bulwark, which touches on many of the more important aspects of it.

Twitter avatar for @Timodc
Tim Miller @Timodc
I looked into Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill expecting it to be overhyped/DOA and found the opposite. It’s on the fast track, has the support of DeSantis/powerful media figures like @benshapiro, and would put gay teachers + kids like mine in the closet.
thebulwark.comDeSantis, Shapiro & Co. Want To Put My Kid in the ClosetBringing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to schools? The fear is the point.
3:26 PM ∙ Feb 15, 2022
6,345Likes2,993Retweets

And still on that topic, the great Melissa Gira Grant has an article over at The New Republic about the Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBTQ (as well as anti-abortion and anti-secularism). She writes, “So far in 2022, more than a dozen states have introduced anti-trans bills, which if passed would work step by step to exclude trans people from the public sphere. ADF calls all these ‘generational wins.’”

It’s a great piece, and I highly recommend that you click through to read it.

Twitter avatar for @melissagira
Melissa Gira Grant @melissagira
It’s not enough to know who the groups pushing anti-trans laws are, as @herong said to me this week—we have to understand the power they have and the world they want. I tried to map that out here:
newrepublic.comThe Groups Pushing Anti-Trans Laws Want to Divide the LGBTQ MovementThe same people keep pushing bill after bill, developing their strategy as they go.
12:27 PM ∙ Feb 17, 2022
169Likes109Retweets

And finally, Ed Yong has another great COVID-19 piece for The Atlantic. This article addresses something that many of the “Open everything!” type of pieces gloss over: immunocompromised people. “Of course we should protect immunocompromised people!” is nothing more than a “to be sure” type of phrase in many of those articles designed to make the authors sound less ghoulish than they are. Yong actually took the time to talk to immunocompromised individuals. This is a story we haven’t heard nearly enough during the pandemic, and I’m happy to see Yong’s piece getting the attention it deserves.

In the past, immunocompromised people lived with their higher risk of infection, but COVID represents a new threat that, for many, has further jeopardized their ability to be part of the world. From the very start of the pandemic, some commentators have floated the idea “that we can protect the vulnerable and everyone else can go on with their lives,” Seth Trueger, who is on immunosuppressants for an autoimmune complication of cancer, told me. “How’s that supposed to work?” He is an emergency doctor at Northwestern Medicine; he can neither work from home nor protect himself by avoiding public spaces. “How am I supposed to provide for my family or live my life if there’s a pandemic raging?” he said. Contrary to popular misconceptions, most immunocompromised people are neither visibly sick nor secluded. “I know very few people who are immunocompromised and get to live in a bubble,” says Maggie Levantovskaya, a writer and literature professor who has lupus, an autoimmune disorder that can cause debilitating inflammation across the entire body.

Twitter avatar for @edyong209
Ed Yong @edyong209
🚨I wrote about immunocompromised people—what they’ve been through, their frustrations, and their hopes. This is a plea to think about those who don’t get to be done with the pandemic, and to prioritize them as a matter of moral and medical urgency. 1/ theatlantic.com/health/archive…
theatlantic.comThe Millions of People Stuck in Pandemic LimboWhat does society owe immunocompromised people?
3:25 PM ∙ Feb 16, 2022
14,809Likes7,189Retweets

And finally, Meredith Shiner has a personal essay over at Jezebel about being a new mom in a pandemic. She brilliantly articulates the frustration and anger she feels. By the end of it, you’ll feel that, too.

Twitter avatar for @meredithshiner
Meredith Shiner @meredithshiner
I wrote a personal essay for @Jezebel on what it feels like to be a pandemic new mom. I kept reading other pieces hoping to see myself—my rage, my confusion, my isolation, my desire for something better—but didn't. I hope these words mean something to you:
jezebel.comThe Long Haul Symptoms of Being a Covid-Era MomMale pundits urge us to “go back to normal,” but those of us who’ve endured the grief and isolation of new motherhood during the pandemic know better.
5:17 PM ∙ Feb 17, 2022
232Likes79Retweets

That’s it for this week! Please leave any questions, comments, feedback, or recommendations (definitely recommendations) in the comments below. Have a good weekend, everyone!

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This disclaimer was inspired by Ty Burr’s Watch List.

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