海角大神

2023
August
03
Thursday

Monitor Daily Podcast

August 03, 2023
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Linda Feldmann
Washington Bureau Chief

When I tell people a generation younger that I went to the 鈥淏arbie鈥 movie, the response is often, 鈥淲hy?!鈥澛

To which I respond, 鈥淲hy not?鈥 What better way to escape the Washington heat 鈥撀燼nd politics 鈥撀爋n a Sunday afternoon in July than with a live-action fantasy about an iconically kitschy, mass-produced doll? Plus, I wanted a good laugh.

But I soon discovered there was more to the film than a frothy pink romp through Barbie Land (and beyond) and many jokes at the expense of poor Ken. 鈥淏arbie鈥 the movie 鈥撀reviewed here聽by the Monitor 鈥 is really an invitation to think about how we raise our children, and about expectations.聽

It also invites introspection about our own childhoods. I remember, as a kid in the 1960s, playing with Barbies at friends鈥 houses but not having Barbies of my own. So, as I often do, I tested my memory in a call to Mom. And indeed, I was right. We were a Barbie-free household.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really believe in Barbies,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 just thought they were a little bit much 鈥 the body shape, then all the clothes.鈥

My own daughter, now well into adulthood, had lots of Barbies: six, to be precise, recently discovered in varying degrees of disarray in a box in the basement. I didn鈥檛 buy them; Barbies just had a habit of walking in the door. Ultimately, I don鈥檛 think all those Barbies shaped my daughter鈥檚 worldview in any meaningful way.聽

Barbies are hardly 鈥渇eminist icons,鈥 no matter how hard Mattel marketed President Barbie or Astrophysicist Barbie. But I also don鈥檛 see them as necessarily damaging to young psyches. Sometimes a doll is just a doll.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Loren Elliott/Reuters
Ernesto Hernandez carries a water cooler to set up a hydration station while enduring high temperatures near Winters, California, July 13, 2023.

Record-breaking heat this summer has raised risks for millions of American workers in hot conditions. This is helping to spur a rethink of how the country manages extreme heat and labor.

SOURCE:

Natural Resources Defense Council

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Jacob Turcotte/Staff
Scott Peterson/Getty Images/海角大神
A Ukrainian sapper who gave the name Pavlo instructs soldiers on various land mines used by Russian forces, as the 128th brigade of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces pauses from its front-line duties to refresh its trench-storming and anti-mine tactics, in southern Ukraine, July 31, 2023.

In the best of circumstances 鈥 without the burden of enemy artillery and airstrikes聽鈥 advancing through minefields is time-consuming for armies. As Ukraine struggles to expel Russia, it hopes not to exhaust its allies鈥 patience.

Places where Americans of good will listen to one another respectfully about tough issues can be hard to find. In deeply 海角大神 Tennessee, people are turning to churches to host civil debates on gun safety.

Patterns

Tracing global connections

Israel鈥檚 massive protests center on efforts to rein in the influence of the country鈥檚 judiciary. But driving them is a profound struggle between sharply competing views of the country鈥檚 core values.

Commentary

Florida鈥檚 slavery curriculum has caused controversy for appearing to suggest slavery had benefits. But pro-slavery ideas continue to hide in plain sight, and will continue until the commitment to a common humanity is stronger.


The Monitor's View

AP
Music students from Kyiv National University play the bandura, a Ukrainian folk instrument, at a shopping mall in the capital Kyiv, July 14.

When Ukraine鈥檚 military launched its big counteroffensive in June, it was aimed at entrenched Russian forces. Yet just as critical to Ukraine鈥檚 independence is another campaign started last year. It is aimed at challenging one of Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 premises for the war: that Ukraine lacks the cultural identity to be an independent state.

Russian forces have destroyed many icons of Ukrainian heritage 鈥 religious sites, opera houses, libraries, monuments, and museums. But Ukrainians have also rallied to embrace their pluralistic and rich culture with a newfound national dignity.

鈥淧utin appears not to have grasped that hitting Ukraine鈥檚 culture would instead fuel its vitality,鈥 Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, wrote in Time after visiting the country.聽

Ukraine鈥檚 initial response was to 鈥渄e-Russify鈥 much of its Russian and Soviet past. Many Russian speakers have learned Ukrainian. Soviet-era public symbols have been torn down. On July 28, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law moving the Christmas holiday to Dec. 25 from Jan. 7, the day the Russian Orthodox Church observes it. An explanation of the law cites Ukrainians鈥 鈥渞elentless, successful struggle for their identity鈥 and 鈥渢he desire of all Ukrainians to live their lives with their own traditions, holidays.鈥

People also have emphasized qualities that mark Ukrainian life. Concerts and shows by Ukrainian artists are often sold out. Petty bribery has dropped as Ukrainians demand honesty in government. A fashion brand now touts the slogan 鈥淏ravery Is Ukraine鈥檚 Brand.鈥 With foreign help, Ukraine鈥檚 museums have moved their collections to safe places while ensuring the artworks are available to inspire people.

鈥淭he strength of聽Ukraine鈥檚 resistance has depended less on the military assistance provided by NATO members than on the Ukrainian people鈥檚 insistence on their own agency and destiny,鈥 wrote Yuriy Gorodnichenko, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and Ilona Sologoub, editor of VoxUkraine, for Project Syndicate.

Ukraine鈥檚 spirit of independence shines not only in its military efforts but also in its cultural revival. Or, as journalist James Meek wrote in the London Review of Books, 鈥淥ne 鈥媜f the most striking things about Kyiv this summer is the freedom with which people are imagining, and in some cases already making, their own future.鈥


A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

We can find healing by prayerfully trusting and praising our all-good God.


Viewfinder

Tingshu Wang/Reuters
A man uses a front loader to evacuate people from an area flooded by record rainfall from Typhoon Doksuri, in the city of Zhuozhou, China, Aug. 3, 2023. The city has been hit particularly hard, and hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from the region. Meanwhile, Beijing saw its worst flooding in at least 140 years 鈥 29.3 inches between July 29 and Aug. 2, according to the Beijing Meteorological Bureau.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris and Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thank you for spending time with the Monitor today. Please come back tomorrow when we ask: Have Israel鈥檚 political crisis and deep social divisions made it weaker? On the Lebanese border, Hezbollah is probing, and tensions are rising.

More issues

2023
August
03
Thursday

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