I'm still getting requests about why I left World. One-stop shopping: Here are 3 pieces to which I'll direct those interested. God is merciful: All 8 of us who left have found productive work.
I don’t know how long comments are allowed to be, but this might be a long one.
I used to be April Payton, now Parviz. Your family gave me my beloved parakeet when I was in 4th grade. I had him till I was 18 and loved him very much. Thanks for that gift. I still miss him often 💛
Anyway, it was thrilling to organically discover your articles on my Substack feed this morning. I just finished reading part two and part three.
I became a mother in 2018 and pretty quickly decided to stop engaging with almost all news and journalism completely. My trust was that my husband would inform me of anything important I needed to be up to date on. Which I believe he has.
It felt like every time I tried to engage with the news, no matter where I tried to find it, it was just extreme gossip and/or working to inflict fear and dread on people. It didn’t seem like authentic information, so I decided it wasn’t healthy for me as a young mother to be engaging with it.
Recently I have wished that I could find some sources that I trusted so I could participate more lovingly and thoroughly in the history that I’m a part of. But I haven’t done a huge amount of homework yet to find those sources. I used to love This American Life, but stopped listening to it in 2020. I haven’t tried it again recently, so I don’t know what it’s like now.
I wonder if you have any recommendations for honest, loving, and balanced news sources for a young mother who needs to have a lot of emotional capacity to love the young children throwing tantrums in her home.
On a separate note, I wonder if you listen to the podcast Hidden Brain at all? I don’t know if the podcast itself would be of interest to you, but I’m currently in the middle of an episode called “When I Feel What You Feel.” The host, Shankar Vedantam, is interviewing a psychologist named Amit Goldenberg. Amit studies collective emotions. At 28:17 he begins talking about how crowds (or social media) exacerbate collective emotions and how people are likely to follow more extreme opinions leading to intense degrees of polarization between groups.
It sounds like you’re already familiar with this sad human “phenomenon” both personally and from your knowledge of history. Still, I thought I’d let you know about the podcast in case the psychological studies behind it are of interest to you.
P.S. I’m very glad to learn about the term “common grace.” Perhaps I’ve heard it before and just haven’t mentally filed it well. I’m a devout LCMS Lutheran now, so you know we’re all about grace. But I stumbled on my own version of common grace a few years ago, and it felt foreign within the LCMS setting. I might go and read that Systemic Theology. It sounds very interesting, and maybe the sort of thing I need to hear right now.
I work for a nonprofit community arts center that is affiliated with my church, but it is a secular organization. I need to think about common grace a lot, and I’m glad to now have an official term in my mind for it.
P.P.S. I’m sure if my parents knew I was messaging you right now, they would be happy to know it and they would say hello. They both still speak of you and your family fondly from time to time.
SmartHer News is a great resource for news. She relentlessly strives to be nonpartisan, fact-based instead of fear-based, and to give quick, concise news, so as not to monopolize your time & attention. She is an experienced journalist who also has small children, so she really gets that need.
World still seems to be doing excellent work. I continue believe they are missing the vaccine story as more and more evidence comes out about how deadly it is and the huge upsurge in deaths of 18-45 year-olds after the introductions of the vaxes.
Hey Mr. Olasky : )
I don’t know how long comments are allowed to be, but this might be a long one.
I used to be April Payton, now Parviz. Your family gave me my beloved parakeet when I was in 4th grade. I had him till I was 18 and loved him very much. Thanks for that gift. I still miss him often 💛
Anyway, it was thrilling to organically discover your articles on my Substack feed this morning. I just finished reading part two and part three.
I became a mother in 2018 and pretty quickly decided to stop engaging with almost all news and journalism completely. My trust was that my husband would inform me of anything important I needed to be up to date on. Which I believe he has.
It felt like every time I tried to engage with the news, no matter where I tried to find it, it was just extreme gossip and/or working to inflict fear and dread on people. It didn’t seem like authentic information, so I decided it wasn’t healthy for me as a young mother to be engaging with it.
Recently I have wished that I could find some sources that I trusted so I could participate more lovingly and thoroughly in the history that I’m a part of. But I haven’t done a huge amount of homework yet to find those sources. I used to love This American Life, but stopped listening to it in 2020. I haven’t tried it again recently, so I don’t know what it’s like now.
I wonder if you have any recommendations for honest, loving, and balanced news sources for a young mother who needs to have a lot of emotional capacity to love the young children throwing tantrums in her home.
On a separate note, I wonder if you listen to the podcast Hidden Brain at all? I don’t know if the podcast itself would be of interest to you, but I’m currently in the middle of an episode called “When I Feel What You Feel.” The host, Shankar Vedantam, is interviewing a psychologist named Amit Goldenberg. Amit studies collective emotions. At 28:17 he begins talking about how crowds (or social media) exacerbate collective emotions and how people are likely to follow more extreme opinions leading to intense degrees of polarization between groups.
It sounds like you’re already familiar with this sad human “phenomenon” both personally and from your knowledge of history. Still, I thought I’d let you know about the podcast in case the psychological studies behind it are of interest to you.
P.S. I’m very glad to learn about the term “common grace.” Perhaps I’ve heard it before and just haven’t mentally filed it well. I’m a devout LCMS Lutheran now, so you know we’re all about grace. But I stumbled on my own version of common grace a few years ago, and it felt foreign within the LCMS setting. I might go and read that Systemic Theology. It sounds very interesting, and maybe the sort of thing I need to hear right now.
I work for a nonprofit community arts center that is affiliated with my church, but it is a secular organization. I need to think about common grace a lot, and I’m glad to now have an official term in my mind for it.
P.P.S. I’m sure if my parents knew I was messaging you right now, they would be happy to know it and they would say hello. They both still speak of you and your family fondly from time to time.
SmartHer News is a great resource for news. She relentlessly strives to be nonpartisan, fact-based instead of fear-based, and to give quick, concise news, so as not to monopolize your time & attention. She is an experienced journalist who also has small children, so she really gets that need.
World still seems to be doing excellent work. I continue believe they are missing the vaccine story as more and more evidence comes out about how deadly it is and the huge upsurge in deaths of 18-45 year-olds after the introductions of the vaxes.
I'm so grateful for you and your integrity.
How can Christianity save these people’s souls in the afterlife it it seems to lead them into fear and anxiety in this one?
Your faithfulness to the truth has eternal value!
You made the point clear and very well, Marvin. Thank you.