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Child-caring Dads in Japan

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Child-caring Dads in Japan

Quartz, 2019, 7:40… Japan is tackling gender inequality with a "hunky dads" campaign. Japan’s workforce is shrinking and aging. To keep its economy growing, it needs more of its citizens to work, which means getting more women into the workplace. Nearly half of Japanese women quit their jobs after the birth of their first child. To get mothers back to work, Japan’s government has focused on encouraging men to more fully share household responsibilities. The government started a campaign called the “ikumen” project.

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Pregnant Women & Sports

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Pregnant Women & Sports

The New York Times, 2019, 5:29… Being a mother and a champion was a crazy dream. But it didn’t have to be. Olympic runner Alysia Montano had accomplished all her dreams but one: being a mom. When she finally went for it, she faced her biggest challenge yet — her sponsors. When Montano approached her sponsor to announce her pregnancy, they told her that they would just pause her contract. She famously ran a national championship and eight months pregnant to prove that pregnant women could compete. Now, she’s speaking out so that no one has to suffer like she did.

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Foodies, Culture, and Gastrodiplomacy

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Foodies, Culture, and Gastrodiplomacy

Quartz, 2019, 7:53… Thai restaurants are abundant and popular in many parts of the world. This has a lot to do with the Thai government actively promoting Thai food overseas for more than a decade. The strategy has been so successful that it inspired a new trend in foreign policy: gastrodiplomacy. And food isn’t just a diplomatic tool for governments. There’s a new kind of gastrodiplomacy on the rise, one that’s led by people who have left their governments behind. Quartz News went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the refugee capital of America, to visit a 25-year-old gastrodiplomat who fled war in Somalia, rebuilt his life, and connects neighbors through his mouthwatering Somali samosas.

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Satanism

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Satanism

Inside Edition, 2019, 5:17… Are they evil or just misunderstood? The documentary "Hail Satan?" explores those questions while following the rise of the Satanic Temple. Director Penny Lane says the creation of the film took her on a spiritual and educational journey. A goal of her film was to debunk myths and misconceptions about this religion. "Modern Satanism is an atheistic religion," Lane says. "There's no sort of belief in supernatural deities at the core." InsideEdition.com's Mara Montalbano has more.

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Race, Ethnicity, and DNA

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Race, Ethnicity, and DNA

Vox, 2019, 7:24… At-home DNA ancestry tests have become hugely popular in recent years. More than 26 million have taken one of these tests. If their marketing is to be believed, they can help you learn where your DNA comes from, and even where your ancestors lived. But the information that can be inferred from your DNA is actually much more limited than testing companies are letting on. And that has lead consumers to misinterpret their results — which is having negative consequences.

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Sexual Double Standards & Employment

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Sexual Double Standards & Employment

Vice News, 2019, 6:49… Lauren Miranda, a former math teacher at Bellport Middle School, was fired after a topless selfie sent to her boyfriend in 2016 — got into the hands of students. It’s a private matter that has thrust her onto a public platform where she refuses to be shamed. Lauren’s situation isn’t unique. According to a 2016 study, roughly 10.4 million Americans have had their nude photos posted without their permission. Now, she’s speaking out about the double standard of sexualizing the female body.

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Moral Panics & Music

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Moral Panics & Music

Vox, 2019, 20:50… While the PMRC’s involvement was allegedly sparked by some raunchy lyrics from Prince’s 1984 album Purple Rain, the debate over rock lyrics had been infiltrating American culture and politics for a decade. The driving force behind that debate was the rise of heavy metal, a genre that saw explosive popularity with the launch of MTV in 1981, and the growing influence of the religious right, who saw rock music as a powerful threat to Christianity.

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Fox News & The False Consciousness

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Fox News & The False Consciousness

Vox, 2019, 8:37… Carlson’s show is meant to distract Fox News viewers from Republican economics, channeling their frustration and anger at groups that don’t deserve it. That kind of misdirection produces what Marxist theorists call “false consciousness”: when workers are tricked into accepting their own exploitation.

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Beneficent Polluters

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Beneficent Polluters

PBS Newshour, 2019, 9:51… UC Berkeley sociologist Arlie Hochschild traveled to Louisiana, the second-poorest state, to explore why its neediest populations simultaneously rely on federal aid and reject the concept of “big government.” As Paul Solman reports, the author and professor discovered many residents feel betrayed by their state's government for failing to protect them from toxic pollution that risks their health.

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The Happiest Country In The World

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The Happiest Country In The World

Vice News, 2019, 4:36… Finland has been declared the happiest country in the world for the second year in a row. On Wednesday, the United Nations released its annual World Happiness Report and confirmed the Nordic country as the reigning champion of joy. But in many ways, the land of frigid temperatures and dark winter days seems like the most unlikely of choices.

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How AI Could Reinforce Biases In The Criminal Justice System

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How AI Could Reinforce Biases In The Criminal Justice System

CNBC, 2019, 8:33… Increasingly, algorithms and machine learning are being implemented at various touch points throughout the criminal justice system, from deciding where to deploy police officers to aiding in bail and sentencing decisions. The question is, will this tech make the system more fair for minorities and low-income residents, or will it simply amplify our human biases?

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Homogenized Aspiration (Coffee Shops)

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Homogenized Aspiration (Coffee Shops)

Quartz, 2019, 5:02… In coffee shops all over the world, the same set of design elements keep popping up. What is happening? Distinctive design elements—Edison bulbs, reclaimed wood, potted plants, exposed brick—are popping up in coffee shops everywhere. But it isn’t just the design of these spaces that are becoming increasingly uniform…

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Pixar's Purl

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Pixar's Purl

Pixar SparkShorts, 2019, 8:43… Purl, directed by Kristen Lester and produced by Gillian Libbert-Duncan, features an earnest ball of yarn named Purl who gets a job in a fast-paced, high energy, bro-tastic start-up. Yarny hijinks ensue as she tries to fit in, but how far is she willing to go to get the acceptance she yearns for, and in the end, is it worth it?