Your Back-to-School Reading List

As we put our stylish white jeans back into the closet and brace ourselves for the chilly weather ahead, it seems only right to look back, with more than a bit of nostalgia, at the relatively carefree summer days—and the smart stories they brought us. Whether you’re interested in tech policy, food, or the never-ending White House drama, these five New America summer stories will surely offer some food for thought during your rainy afternoons. Dive into a nuanced examination of the online incel community and what it reveals about toxic masculinity offline, find out why technology may not be the solution to improving our foster care system, and learn what David Foster Wallace can teach us about Netflix originals that double as advertisements. Class is in session—so read up.

Rhode Island’s Unconventional Approach to Foster Care

By Marina Stone Martin

Rhode Island long struggled to find enough homes, especially enough of the right homes, for children in foster care. But in recent years, its approach to foster care has begun to improve—and it’s become an example of the fact that, sometimes, technology isn’t the silver bullet we make it out to be.

What We Already Know About Incels

By Chloe Safier

Too often in broader conversations about incels and sexual violence, we don’t think enough about the dynamics among men that stoke misogynist behavior. In other words, how much of this behavior is virulent theater—men performing a collectively informed toxic masculinity for one other?

The Deeper Risks of the Trump-Fox Love Affair

By Silvio Waisbord

A free, independent press is supposed to help keep citizens free—and safe—from the corrosive tendencies of autocrats. But what happens if the press likes the autocrat?

The Power of the Local Push for Produce

By Jennifer Oldham

A program in Colorado that allows federal food aid recipients to double the amount they spend on locally-grown produce is transforming impoverished families’ eating habits.

David Foster Wallace Considers Netflix

By Samuel X. Brase

There’s a particular sensation that comes from realizing that something you enjoy—like Netflix’s Like Father—is actually more of an advertisement. But what is that sensation, exactly? More than 20 years ago, David Foster Wallace published an essay about a cruise trip that may help to explain things.