In this episode, Niki, Natalia, and Neil discuss the history of gratitude.
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Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:
- Thanksgiving is upon us, but gratitude is a virtue celebrated in American culture all year long. Natalia and Niki referred to Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Bright-Sided: Why Positive Thinking Is Undermining America, and Natalia drew on this piece to argue why a historical perspective is illuminating, if counterintuitive, on this question. All three hosts referenced the critique of gratitude as a therapeutic practice articulated in this Baffler article.
In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:
- Natalia shared about the new co-working space in Saks Fifth Avenue, profiled in this New York Times piece by Ginia Bellafante.
- Neil discussed Ben Smith’s New York Times article, “His Reasons For Opposing Trump Were Biblical. Now A Top Christian Editor Is Out.”
- Niki recommended Paul Farhi’s Washington Post article, “How Obituaries Got a Jolt of New Life in the Internet Era.”
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