New & Noteworthy

This week’s Clippings includes: Jonathan Rauch wrote in The Atlantic on how Trump’s administration embraces “patrimonialism,” a loyalty-based governing style that breeds corruption. Karyn Vilbig explained in The Conversation how improved views of Black Americans from 2012 to 2020 drove increased support for social welfare programs. The ASA and AFT sued over a federal directive banning race considerations in education, with ASA President Adia Harvey Wingfield warning it harms research and public understanding. Meanwhile, Gallup reports 9.3% of U.S. adults now identify as LGBTQ+, with Jessie Ford telling The New York Times that younger generations see sexuality as a spectrum.

Our new Discovery, Gendered Division of Labor Among the Elite by Daniel Cueto-Villalobos, covers new research by Dr. Jill Yavorsky finding that traditional gender roles remain dominant among the super-rich, shaping broader cultural norms.

From the Archives

Fans have taken to the internet to mourn the deaths of actors Michelle Trachtenberg and Gene Hackman this week. This 2016 piece by Amber Joy Powell explores how the public mourns the death of celebrities, including with online tributes.

A child in Texas died of measles a couple days ago, the first U.S. death from the disease in 10 years. This follows an outbreak of measles in rural communities in West Texas, where rates of opting out of vaccines are high. This piece from 2015, written during a measles outbreak in southern California by Caty Taborda, covers research on the politicization and distrust surrounding vaccines and vaccine refusals.

The imprisoned leader of a Kurdish militant group has urged its members to lay down their arms, potentially putting an end to the organization’s decades-long war with the Turkish government in which 40,000 people have died. Back in 2017, the Kurdish Region of Iraq held an independence referendum. At that time, Dr. John Kendall wrote for the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies about the history of Kurdish nationalism.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts

• The Winter 2025 issue is available for viewing, covering some soc takes on Trump’s second term, corporations and conservation, VA privatization, and much more!

Council on Contemporary Families

• A must read opinion reprint from Newsweek by Kirsten Stade, arguing Trump’s expanded Global Gag Rule is the extreme end of a widespread pronatalist ideology that pressures women into childbearing for political and economic gain.