All posts tagged: Conor Friedersdorf

The long odds of this year’s Super Bowl location

The long odds of this year’s Super Bowl location

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. For years, the NFL balked at even a whiff of gambling—and kept Las Vegas at a distance as a result. But as the league has become more open to gambling, it has also embraced the city synonymous with it. First, here are four new stories from The Atlantic: In the Shadow of the Strip People are betting on just about anything these days. But something few would have bet on even a decade ago? That the Super Bowl would be held in Las Vegas. The NFL’s decision to hold the game in the city is an about-face for a league that, for decades, shunned even the faintest association with gambling. The league, and especially its influential longtime commissioner Pete Rozelle, was fixated on the risks of compromising the league’s integrity and reputation. “No one does, or could, dispute the …

Readers share the state of their local journalism

Readers share the state of their local journalism

Published by skeptic

“It is painful to watch as our once-proud newspaper has become a shell nearly devoid of meaningful content,” one reader says. Homer Sykes / Alamy January 31, 2024, 6:05 PM ET Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Last week, I asked readers, “What is the state of local journalism where you live, and how does it affect your community?” Replies have been edited for length and clarity. Ralph, who didn’t say where he lived, shared a concern that I heard from readers all over the country: It is painful to watch as our once-proud newspaper has become a shell nearly devoid of meaningful content. I keep hoping the local-news business will hit bottom and begin a long, slow climb back, but I don’t see any sign of that yet. I wonder when people will begin to feel a need for local news and be willing to pay for …

Why the media shouldn’t write Nikki Haley off

Why the media shouldn’t write Nikki Haley off

Published by skeptic

Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Layoffs of 115 newsroom staffers at The Los Angeles Times are the latest blow to the ailing news industry. What is the state of local journalism where you live, and how does it affect your community? Send your responses to [email protected] or simply reply to this email. Conversations of Note In New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation Republican primary, Donald Trump, the former president, beat Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations. Now many in the press are presuming a Trump vs. Biden rematch. But I’ll proceed writing as though Haley could win, though it may strike some as unsavvy—because she could win, much as an underdog team could come back from a bad first quarter. In sports, play-by-play commentators often have strong instincts about the likeliest outcome, but no one wants or expects them to focus their real-time …

Readers on the morality of pornography

Readers on the morality of pornography

Published by skeptic

“I regard pornography as the fast food of sex: A little bit here and there won’t hurt anyone, but it’s not something to consume regularly,” one reader argues. Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Millennium Images / Gallery Stock January 23, 2024, 3:14 PM ET Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Last week I asked readers, “Is pornography immoral?” H. regards most pornography as unhealthy, but not immoral: I found my life to be significantly improved after I stopped masturbating to pornography. I am living a healthy, productive life now and am in my first long-term relationship. I regard pornography as the fast food of sex: A little bit here and there won’t hurt anyone, but it’s not something to consume regularly. So while I don’t regard pornography as immoral, do I regard porn as moral? Would I encourage the average person to actively produce or consume it? No. …

Is pornography immoral? – The Atlantic

Is pornography immoral? – The Atlantic

Published by skeptic

Plus: Malaise among Americans Millennium Images / Gallery Stock January 19, 2024, 12:19 PM ET Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Is pornography immoral? Last week, I wrote an article arguing that the University of Wisconsin should not have fired Joe Gow, the longtime chancellor of its La Crosse campus, for making pornography with his wife. I took no position on the morality of pornography. Rather, I pointed out that Americans are divided about porn––a 2023 Gallup poll found that 58 percent of Americans believe it is wrong, while 39 percent believe that it is morally acceptable––and argued that diverse societies are better off agreeing that one is judged at work only for what one does at work than constantly arguing about which off-the-clock behaviors are bad enough to justify termination. Today, I want to solicit your viewpoints on pornography itself, specifically legal porn (given the near consensus …

Readers share their most misunderstood views

Readers share their most misunderstood views

Published by Sam

Voting age, atheism, abortion, language education, and more Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Coneyl Jay / Getty January 17, 2024, 3:41 PM ET Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Last week, I asked readers, “What is a belief or position you hold that you feel to be misunderstood or misrepresented by many people who disagree with you?” Replies have been edited for length and clarity. R. writes: I believe in fiscal responsibility and that the government has a responsibility to do its work at the lowest possible cost. Many who disagree with me believe that I therefore do not believe in a need to offer support to those who are physically, mentally, or financially needy. M. believes that no person should be allowed to serve in elected office if they are over 80, and that just as citizens age into voting at 18, they should age out of …

The uncanny experience of year-end roundups

The uncanny experience of year-end roundups

Published by skeptic

Features such as Spotify Wrapped confirm that you’re the main character of your internet. Matteo Giuseppe Pani; Source: Getty December 22, 2023, 5:43 PM ET This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Why are “year in review” roundups so pleasing to users? First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic: The Mundanities of a Private Life Every December, sites and services that spend the year hoovering up personal information spit out a summary of users’ activity. Call it the year-end quantification-industrial complex. The trend isn’t new: As early as 2014, the exercise-tracking app Strava was releasing a Year in Sport feature, and Seamless was summarizing food deliveries. But especially since Spotify hit word-of-mouth marketing gold with its shareable Spotify Wrapped feature, companies of all kinds have been delivering year-end nuggets of data to their users, whether personalized or in aggregate. These summations appear on services …

How teens spend their free time

How teens spend their free time

Published by skeptic

“I’ll take my kid playing PlayStation all night over getting drunk and driving around, that’s for sure,” one reader says. Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Archive Photos / Getty. December 22, 2023, 10:35 AM ET Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Question of the Week Since you’ve gamely indulged my inquiries all year, it’s only fair that I give you a chance to ask me anything––pose a question about any issue under the sun, any article I’ve written or argument I’ve made, or any subject at all that you’d like to see me think through. When I answer, space will be limited, so keep your questions short enough for me to reprint them as prompts. Send your responses to [email protected] or simply reply to this email. Conversations of Note In a bygone newsletter, I asked, “How much time did you spend with peers in adolescence, and what effect …

Airlines have an accountability problem

Airlines have an accountability problem

Published by skeptic

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Southwest Airlines was just ordered to pay a whopping fine for last year’s holiday breakdown. The penalty is a step toward accountability, but it tackles only a slice of the industry’s broader problems. First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic: A Step Toward Accountability The lines at the airport were cataclysmic. Travelers with haunted looks behind their eyes stretched out on jackets and backpacks. During one of the busiest travel weeks of the year, Southwest Airlines was in shambles. If you were lucky enough to not be affected by the chaos, here’s a reminder of what happened: Around this week last year, Southwest’s system crumbled under a triple whammy of bad weather, an archaic scheduling system, and communication failures. Nearly 17,000 flights were canceled, and 2 million people’s trips were disrupted, scrambling Christmas plans for families around …