In this Lavin Weekly, Yascha Mounk warns of the populist rise in Europe; Angie Thomas interviewed for PBS; Derek Thompson asks why the U.S. doesn’t have warning systems in place for natural disasters; and Esther Perel explains all the different ways we can be dumped in the digital age.
1. “It would be a mistake to assume that the AfD’s rise will prove to be short-lived.”
“Today, the Islamophobic, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party [took] over 13 percent of the vote and established itself as the country’s third biggest party,” says Yascha Mounk in Slate this week. The professor, author and political theorist documents the disturbing rise of far-right populism across the globe.
2. “I wanted to take things that are made political, and I wanted them to feel personal.”
This week, PBS profiled Angie Thomas, author The Hate U Give, the young adult novel that’s swept the New York Times’ bestseller list, and is now a finalist for the National Book Award and a Kirkus Prize. “I think that some of the greatest work that’s being done right now in our society is through young adult books,” she says.
3. “We’re at a period right now where people don’t want to act to prevent catastrophes until they happen.”
The deadly earthquake in Mexico this week could have been even worse without the country’s early warning system. Why doesn’t the U.S. have one? Atlantic Senior Editor Derek Thompson asks on CBS News. “Even as we’re seeing the benefits of these early warning systems all over the world, the Trump budget for 2017 actually zeros out further development of the West Coast early warning system.”
4. “Most of history, happiness belonged to the afterlife. You suffered on earth. For god sake’s when did people start seeking bliss on earth!?”
Ghosting, simmering, icing: author, couples therapist, and consultant on the show The Affair, Esther Perel explains all the different ways you can be dumped in the digital age on WNYC’s Note to Self. “People are bringing consumer mentality to relationships,” she said. “And are caught by the paradox of choice: we relish the freedom of so much choice, but we’re gripped by the tyranny of the self-doubt and uncertainty that comes with it. How do I know that you’re the one? That there’s not a better one?”
To book a speaker like Yascha Mounk, Derek Thompson, Angie Thomas, or Esther Perel for your next public speaking engagement, contact The Lavin Agency, their exclusive, premiere speakers’ bureau.
