“Addiction memoirs tend to be stories of recovery, of battling demons and emerging stronger on the other side. But nicotine is different, and so is Nicotine,” Sophie Gilbert writes. “It’s a truth universally repeated that as a drug, nicotine is more addictive than heroin or cocaine, but it’s considerably less mind-altering.” For more on the addictive (and transcendent) properties of cigarettes, read Gilbert’s review On Writing, Smoking, and the Habit of Transcendence
(Kenishirotie / photomelon / Fotolia / Paul Spella / The Atlantic)
The president-elect’s choice of a long-time business partner to oversee his infrastructure program sets a dangerous precedent. For an extensive guide to Trump’s conflicts of interest, read our guide: Trump’s Interests vs. America’s.
One interesting dynamic that arose from the Inside Jobs project is how complex and varying one’s career path can be. Unsurprisingly, out of 100 interviews with American workers, each one offered a unique perspective on how life experiences can inform and shape one’s career, not the other way around.
Read this interview with Tucker Larson, who was pursuing a degree in environmental engineering when he decided to take a break from school and work as a butcher.
And here’s a note from one of our readers who, like Tucker, followed life’s twists and turns into a career that was different than the one he anticipated he would be in:
After many years in corporate America, I just…couldn’t anymore. I left to pursue a career in distilling (that’s a story in and of itself), but ultimately didn’t continue in that field.
Currently, I make a living serving/bartending and freelance writing. While the stress is different than my corporate job, it’s still there: will I make enough this week? Will I get sick and miss work because of the constant contact with glasses and utensils? (that happened just recently—I worked 2 days in two weeks as a result). I’m lucky to have a little bit of savings from my previous jobs—but that’s also my retirement, so I can’t exactly spend that freely.
In addition to the 100+ interviews with American workers (which can be found here), we’d also like to highlight the work experience from some of our readers.
From Inside Jobs, learn how Juyoung Kang, the lead mixologist at Emeril Lagasse’s Delmonico Steakhouse, creates new drinks and about how the beverage industry has changed over her 17-year career.
One of our readers, who is also a bartender, shares a very different perspective on the service industry:
Currently, I make a living serving/bartending and freelance writing. While the stress is different than my corporate job, it’s still there: will I make enough this week? Will I get sick and miss work because of the constant contact with glasses and utensils? (that happened just recently—I worked 2 days in two weeks as a result). I’m lucky to have a little bit of savings from my previous jobs—but that’s also my retirement, so I can’t exactly spend that freely.
One other angle to this I’ve recently discovered: I’ve seen the look on a customer’s face that says, “"What are you doing waiting tables at your age?”“ It’s a pretty unmistakable look. That has an emotional toll of its own - while mine is a conscious choice to be in the service industry (at least for now), for some it’s not. We’ve become a judgemental society, and it often shows in this industry.”
While there is often emphasis on the parent-child relationship when analyzing incarcerated populations, incarceration also affects a separate number of children who have been isolated from another profound relationship: children with siblings in jail or prison.
Here is a six-part series about young people with siblings in prison: pt I, II, III, IV,V,VI.
Whenever using a technology makes people unhappy, the question is always: Is it the technology’s fault, or is it ours? Is Twitter terrible, or is it just a platform terrible people have taken advantage of? Are dating apps exhausting because of some fundamental problem with the apps, or just because dating is always frustrating and disappointing?
“We Are Not Alone” is presented by the female-led media company The Front and directed by filmmaker Jodi Wille. It tells the story of the Unarius Academy of Science and its founder Ruth E. Norman—known as “Archangel Uriel” to her students.