Introduction John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath about one displaced family, but he was never writing about only one family.The Joads lose land, work, stability, privacy, and certainty. Yet the deeper injury is harder to measure. Again and again, they are forced to ask whether poverty changes what a person is worth, whether protecting one’s … [Read more...] about The Grapes of Wrath Today: 5 Modern Stories About “I” and “We”
human dignity
The Grapes of Wrath Explained: 5 Questions Readers Still Ask
Introduction Few American novels have been praised, attacked, banned, taught, argued over, and reinterpreted as intensely as John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.It is easy to see why.On the surface, the novel follows the Joad family as they leave Oklahoma during the Great Depression and travel west in search of work. Their farm is gone. Their security … [Read more...] about The Grapes of Wrath Explained: 5 Questions Readers Still Ask
The Grapes of Wrath: When Does “Me” Become “We”?
Introduction What happens when a family does everything it was told to do, works hard, stays together, keeps moving, and still cannot find a secure place in the world?John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath begins with one family losing its land, but it gradually asks a much larger question.At first, the Joads think in the language of survival.Our land.Our … [Read more...] about The Grapes of Wrath: When Does “Me” Become “We”?
Before the Names Are Carved: Five Connected Stories
Introduction Before the Names Are Carved is a cycle of five connected short stories inspired by the moral questions raised through our exploration of Han Kang’s Human Acts.Set in Greyhaven, the collection follows people whose identities have been reduced to a risk score, an accusation, archived testimony, an artificial future, or a predicted death. At the … [Read more...] about Before the Names Are Carved: Five Connected Stories
Forty-One Could Live. Nine Had to Die.
Introduction Daniel Rosen is an ordinary hospital maintenance worker in New York City. He fixes broken cooling systems, faulty doors, and whatever else stops working during one of the worst heat emergencies the city has faced.Then Daniel discovers something he cannot repair with tools.Covenant Health has developed a system for deciding where scarce medical … [Read more...] about Forty-One Could Live. Nine Had to Die.
The Empty Chair: A Modern Brothers Karamazov Story
Introduction What if a system built to prevent tragedy identified the wrong person with near-perfect confidence? What happens when a system built to prevent tragedy identifies the wrong person with near-perfect confidence?The Empty Chair is a modern story inspired by the moral questions at the heart of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.Set in New … [Read more...] about The Empty Chair: A Modern Brothers Karamazov Story
Noah Eckstein’s Harvard Graduation Speech: Understand Without Agreeing
Introduction by Nick Sasaki Noah Eckstein’s Harvard graduation speech begins with a line that sounds like the opening of a joke:A Christian, a Muslim, and a Jew walk into a bar.But he is not inventing a joke.He is telling the story of his own family.His Christian grandmother, his Pakistani Muslim grandfather, and his Jewish grandfather were not symbolic … [Read more...] about Noah Eckstein’s Harvard Graduation Speech: Understand Without Agreeing
Protected: 100 Geniuses on Humanity’s Future
What if 100 of history’s greatest minds gathered to decide what kind of world our children should inherit? Introduction by Nick Sasaki There comes a time in the life of a nation when surface strength is no longer enough.Its markets may still move.Its institutions may still function.Its streets may still fill each morning.Its language of success may … [Read more...] about Protected: 100 Geniuses on Humanity’s Future