Forgot to mention!

I realize that the article to which I will be linking in just a few sentences is already taking the internet and podcast discussions by storm, but I want to make sure that I also say a few words about it. I'm talking about the article "Not a Very P.C. Thing to Say" by Jonathan Chait. This article discusses a phenomenon that I frequently find hard to explain to folks who didn't go to a liberal women's college in the Bay Area. It's about the phenomenon of P.C. culture, particularly in academia in the US currently.

Please do read this article if you haven't already, but while you do, keep in mind one important thing: Chait is a white man (he says as much in the article). In addition, I have read several criticisms of the article as well, all mostly focusing on the lack of research into the claims Chait makes, instead covering ground mostly based on anecdotes that illustrate his point. Take all of this with a grain of salt, maybe a tasty grain of salt since it's the first time I've ever heard anything written about the phenomenon. My head has been reeling with arguments for and against the article ever since I read it and I'm about to Skype with a dear, dear friend and fellow Mills graduate tonight to talk about it some more. If you feel particularly flummoxed afterwards and want a little more discussion of it, I also encourage you to listen to a podcast from Slate.com about it. Slate (yes, notoriously liberal-slanted, bear this in mind as well as you listen) offers a great deal of interesting (and free) podcasts and the one to which I regularly listen is called the Political Gabfest. Last week's issue (the podcast title is "The 'Can You Buy a President for $889 Million?' Edition") has the three correspondents discussing three topics - the Koch brothers' enormous financial commitment to the 2016 election, the supreme court facing an upcoming decision on the death penalty as well as Chait's article. You can skip to the end to just hear the latter, but if you feel like giving the podcast a chance, I encourage you to listen to the whole thing. I've linked to the page where you can stream the podcast, or you can find it in iTunes. If you feel like pulling an Emily, put it on while you do the dishes and then forget that you are doing the dishes and stare into space while you listen. :)

If you have any thoughts about it and feel like sharing, please do.