Weekly Roundup
Reading, watching, & listening list
Rethinking the Social Media Hysteria
For FAIR’s Substack, Chris Ferguson critically examines the evidence linking youth mental health struggles to social media.
Some scholars now believe genetic predispositions—like higher neuroticism—may explain both increased screen use and elevated distress. In other words, the screens may not be causing the problems; they may simply be where kids with pre-existing issues spend time.
It’s true that some self-reported survey data has shown worsening mental health trends. But pinning this on screen time requires an evidentiary leap. Other plausible culprits—family breakdown, income inequality, increased ideological polarization, and educational politicization—have stronger empirical footing.
Beyond DEI: Why AI's Identity-Blind Revolution Makes Us All Equal(ly) Replaceable
For The Bigger Picture, FAIR Executive Director Monica Harris writes about AI and what it will mean for all of us in the very near future.
The coming challenges will force us to confront our shared humanity outside of our economic roles. Because AI doesn't care if we're Black, white, male, female, gay, straight, cis, or trans. When it efficiently does the job better than ALL humans, those identity categories lose their socio-economic significance.
We’ll be forced to build a society based on something other than productive capacity. We'll have to find worth in our humanity, not our utility. And isn’t that what we've been arguing for all along? That people have inherent value beyond their demographic identity or economic output?
Harvard Derangement Syndrome
For the New York Times, Steven Pinker paints a comprehensive picture of Harvard’s strengths and weaknesses in the wake of President Trump’s attacks on the university.
How to achieve an optimal diversity of viewpoints in a university is a difficult problem and an obsession of our council. Of course, not every viewpoint should be represented. The universe of ideas is infinite, and many of them are not worthy of serious attention, such as astrology, flat earthism, and Holocaust denial. The demand of the Trump administration to audit Harvard’s programs for diversity and jawbone a “critical mass” of government-approved contrarians into the noncompliant ones would be poisonous both to the university and to democracy. The biology department could be forced to hire creationists, the medical school vaccine skeptics and the history department denialists of the 2020 election. Harvard had no choice but to reject the ultimatum, becoming an unlikely folk hero in the process.
Thomas Chatterton Williams: Rejecting the Black-White Binary | THE INVISIBLE MEN
In this episode of the Invisible Men, Ian and Nique engage in a conversation with author Thomas Chatterton Williams about race, identity, and the complexities of navigating a mixed-race background. Williams shares his personal experiences growing up with a black father and a white mother, exploring how these dynamics shaped his understanding of race and class. The discussion delves into the psychological impacts of racism, the challenges of racial authenticity, and the importance of unlearning societal stereotypes. Williams emphasizes the need to reject the black-white binary and highlights misconceptions that exist between races, advocating for a more nuanced understanding of identity that transcends simplistic categorizations.
How Wokeness Destroyed an Education Miracle
For Commentary Magazine, FAIR Advisor Robert Pondiscio writes about where we want wrong in education reform.
Yes, it was imperfect. Yes, it could feel rigid, even stifling in the hands of less-capable teachers. But the structure of no-excuses charter schools wasn’t the problem—it was the point. Kids in chaotic neighborhoods and failing schools didn’t need more freedom; they needed guardrails. They needed adults who believed in them and cared about them enough to demand more of them.
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