Backsliding by Meghan O’Gieblyn

This is a beautifully written essay. Meghan O’Gieblyn addresses her own struggles with candor and vulnerability. She writes about the ways in which her greatest challenges do and don’t define her, approaching the subject with equal parts raw emotion and philosophical consideration. I don’t really want to add much commentary beyond that. Her work speaks for itself. This piece is published by Harper’s.

America’s Loneliness Trap by Nick Keppler

Writing for Slate, Nick Keppler frames this article with the mainstream media’s constant clucking about so-called male loneliness epidemic. Looking at the actual statistics reveals that it is nonsense to see modern solitude as some gender-specific problem. That premise is just another toxic trait of a patriarchal society that treats unfortunate happenings that touch everyone as alarming only when men — typically white men — are afflicted. The demographic within society that is genuinely dealing with loneliness is poor people. Of course, there will be no barrage of think pieces or political commentary about helping them.

How Trump is Making the U.S. the Money Laundering Capital of the World by Edith Olmsted

It’s difficult to keep up with all of the transgressions of the Republicans currently in power, but it’s important to try. Writing for The New Republic, Edith Olmsted details the recent moves to effectively end all enforcement against fiscal chicanery that allows for all manner of criminal activity under the guise of legitimate business. The amoral rich individuals in power are doing everything they can to ensure that laws no longer apply to them.