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‘Turning Red’ Is a Good Conversation Starter — and Not Just for Girls
Disney’s newest animated film, “Turning Red,” in which an adolescent girl contends with puberty, cultural expectations and her newfound tendency to turn into a giant red panda when overtaken by emotion, has viewers buzzing. Although critical reviews of the film have been largely positive, some viewers — especially parents — have had a rather different take. Some have been aghast that the movie discusses menstruation; others dislike its exploration of romantic crushes and sexuality; and still others are upset that the main character, 13-year-old Mei Lee, rebels against her parents by repeatedly lying and sneaking out.
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Traffic Stops and Race: Police Conduct May Bend to Local Biases
New research covering tens of millions of U.S. traffic stops found that Black drivers were more likely than White drivers to be stopped by police in regions with a more racially biased White population.
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Americans Are Stuck in Unhealthy Pandemic Habits. Here’s How to Reboot
The early days of lockdown restrictions had a profound effect on people's daily lives. Alcohol sales skyrocketed, physical activity dropped off sharply, and "comfort eating" led to weight gain, too. So, what's happened since March of 2020? After two years of pandemic life, many of these effects persist. The strategies we used to adapt and cope have cemented into habits for many of us. And this is not a surprise to scientists who study behavior change.
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How White Victimhood Fuels Republican Politics
On Nov. 4, 2008, Barack Obama, then a senator from Illinois, was elected the first Black president of the United States. His election was seen as a hopeful moment in America and ushered in lots of think pieces and reporting that his presidency was the start of a new “post-racial” society. At long last — in the eyes of many, at least — there was hope that the racial wounds that have long divided Black and white Americans would heal. That, of course, never happened. Even at the time, certain white voters refused to vote for Obama because of his race, and a rise in hate crimes followed his win.
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Nuclear Anxiety Is Nothing New. Here’s How to Handle It
If you look at the Google trends analysis for the term “nuclear war” over the past 30 days, it’s pretty hard to miss: On Feb. 24th, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, the search term’s popularity soared. Just a few days later, it surged again, when President Vladimir Putin placed Russian nuclear forces on high alert — the first time its government had done so since 1991. And on March 4th, there was another spike, right after Russian forces captured a Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. Alex Wellerstein, a science historian at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, is familiar with such signs of concern about nuclear war.
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Guiding Young People Not to Colleges or Careers — But to Good Lives
Who are you? If you saw this question on a government form, you’d likely respond in a practical fashion, checking boxes about how the world perceives you. Where were you born? What’s your family’s income? What’s your race? Did your parents—even your grandparents—graduate from college? They’re answers that, when it comes to education and work and success, aren’t supposed to matter—but seem to anyway. Who are you? If you saw this question at the top of a page in your diary, though, you might take a different approach, scribbling details about how you perceive yourself. What do you love to do? What scares you? Who matters most to you?
