80% of Gen Z Believes in Astrology. The Headlines Mocking Them For It Missed Why.
Call it gullibility if you want. Or you could ask what happens to a generation's sense of control when the job market does what this one did.
STORIES FROM THE EDGE
The Last Generation to Remember Boredom
Messages to Humans
Boredom was never empty. It was where the thinking happened.
There is a specific kind of silence that no longer reliably occurs: the unfilled fifteen minutes. Waiting for a bus, standing in a line, sitting at a red light, lying in bed before sleep arrives. These intervals
Crossing a Crumbling Bridge: The Middle Class in Freefall
Hanging By a Thread: What Happened to Normal?
As the cost of everything rises and the promise of stability disappears, most of us are just trying not to fall. The rope bridge we’re all on is fraying — and some people are still trying to do handstands in the middle of it.
Stop Calling Me Ma’am: The Global Spread of a Backhanded Compliment
Somewhere between Texas and a call center 10,000 miles away, “ma’am” went from cowboy courtesy to a polite way of telling a woman she’s old, irrelevant, or both. How did this linguistic fossil get smuggled into the global script of customer service — and why do we just nod and accept it?
His name was Scott
One very cold Toronto winter, I noticed a tent sagging into the snow. Inside was Scott — 50 years old, kind-eyed, and holding on with quiet pride. He offered me the only thing he had to give: his help. Months later, he was gone.