Why We Wrote This
Who reports the news? People. And at 海角大神, we believe that it鈥檚 our job to report each story with a sense of shared humanity. Through conversations with our reporters and editors, we explain the qualities behind our reporting that affect how we approach the news. Behind today鈥檚 headlines we find respect, resilience, dignity, agency, and hope. 鈥淲hy We Wrote This鈥� shows how. The Monitor is an award-winning, nonpartisan news organization with bureaus around the globe. Visit CSMonitor.com/whywewrotethis to learn more.
Writer鈥檚 Read: A Different Border Tale
Pressure from the South on the U.S. southern border is real. But over the past decade, more and more people from Mexico and beyond 鈥� people who had initially pictured their futures in the United States 鈥� have by choice or circumstances ended up instead building successful lives in Mexico. 鈥淚 just finally felt wanted,鈥� one source told Mexico City-based writer Whitney Eulich, who describes her reporting, from Tijuana and Mexico City, at the top of this episode. Our special-format show also includes full-story audio, voiced by the writer.
#MeToo, French Edition
A notoriously slow legal system, within a culture that has let auteurs become demigods, gave rise to what one French film star鈥檚 agent apologetically called 鈥渁 sacred monster.鈥� Paris-based writer Colette Davidson wrote about a slow shift in trust 鈥� from transgressors to accusers 鈥� that may finally bring some accountability in a nation wrestling with sexual abuse scandals involving some of its cinema icons. Hosted by Clay Collins.
A Narrative Missed by the News
Partisan side-taking is real. But it isn鈥檛 the whole story. When you get way beyond the Beltway and filter out the manufactured distrust that鈥檚 cultivated by those on the extremes, you can often find public thought moving in the same direction on important issues. And you can find data to support that movement. Marshall Ingwerson, a special contributor and former editor of the Monitor, explored a counternarrative. In this episode, he joins guest host Gail Chaddock to discuss.
Writer鈥檚 Read: Trust and the Texas Grid
When the Monitor began planning a series focused on trust, Texas-based writer Henry Gass immediately thought of 鈥渢he freeze.鈥� Three years after a winter storm devastated the state鈥檚 unique power grid, experts say the grid has become more reliable, more weatherized. There hasn鈥檛 been a repeat of the widespread outages. But 鈥渋t鈥檚 deep in the Texan psyche now to worry about the grid,鈥� a source told Henry. Rebuilding trust will take time and work. For this experimental, alternative-format episode of our weekly podcast, we go host-free 鈥� letting the writer set up the story he reported before reading the story in full.
Finding the Soul of Harlem
Ahead of a major museum retrospective on the thriving Harlem of the 1920s and its often overlooked artists, the Monitor鈥檚 cultural commentator toured that upper Manhattan neighborhood to get a better sense of the Harlem of today. He found an neighborhood that venerates its historical heroes while nurturing new ones. He found pride and purpose. Ken Makin joins host Clay Collins to talk about the staggering power of being there 鈥� and about the many ways Harlem draws from its past to shape its future.
Artificial Intelligence, Real Learning
AI and education might appear destined to be in conflict. Generative chat and video set up as tempting cheats, ones that might be somewhat transparent for now but that are rapidly gaining in sophistication. Education writer Jackie Valley spoke with host Clay Collins about schools that are countering fear of misuse by incorporating forms of AI in responsible ways that also deepen learners鈥� engagement and joy.
Introducing 鈥楻ebuilding Trust鈥�
News always answers the 鈥渨hat.鈥� That鈥檚 important. But a news organization built to elevate humanity also has a mandate to go much deeper, to look at what鈥檚 really driving the news. Monitor Editor Mark Sappenfield joins host Clay Collins to talk about a current Monitor focus on trust, and about how serially focusing on universal values that need attention 鈥� as well as on global news 鈥� can help make the Monitor an indispensable beacon on the media landscape.
Nordic Norm? The 鈥楯ust Enough鈥� Life
Sweden is, of course, more complex than the Utopian collective that some have long considered it to be. That鈥檚 not to say that its societal emphasis on better living doesn鈥檛 persist. Writer Erika Page reported from around Sweden on the aspirational concept of 鈥渓agom鈥� 鈥� essentially, a life kept in balance. She tells host Clay Collins about the reporting, and what it showed about a Scandinavian concept that reflects a universal yearning.
Understanding Evangelicals
American politics tends to meet with broad-brush depictions. That has colored perceptions of Evangelical 海角大神s as always being in lock step with right-wing Republican views. But while there are clear overlaps, that鈥檚 not the whole story. Harry Bruinius, a religion and culture writer for the Monitor, joins guest host Gail Chaddock to talk about his recent piece on post-Evangelicals 鈥� including MAGA followers鈥� relationship to the movement and what that could bode for 2024 and beyond.
Life at the Hub of War Coverage
What鈥檚 work life like at the center of conflict coverage? It鈥檚 highly collaborative, by necessity. It calls for attention to more than the reportable news points that map a war鈥檚 course. It means keeping humanity at the center of the story. Ken Kaplan, the Monitor鈥檚 Mideast and diplomacy editor 鈥� and a close observer of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for nearly four decades 鈥� talks with host Clay Collins about life with little sleep, about logistics, and about helping to enforce 鈥渢he Monitor difference鈥� on stories that have every news outlet鈥檚 attention.