Article Club

Happy Sunday, Article Clubbers! This month, we’re reading, annotating, and discussing “ I Went to Disney World ,” by Graeme Wood, which explores the reopening of “the happiest place on Earth” smack dab in the middle of this summer’s surge of the coronavirus. Besides being hilarious, the piece brings up serious questions as well, like whether Disney as a private corporation might provide better gov...

Hi there, Article Clubbers! This month, we’re reading and discussing “ Going the Distance ,” by journalist  Gordy Megroz . It’s a great article that explores the relationship between marathon runners who break the rules and independent investigators eager to catch them cheating. Last week, I got the chance to talk with Mr. Megroz and ask him some of our questions. He was generous and thoughtful —...

Hi there, Article Clubbers! This month, we’re reading and discussing “Jerry and Marge Go Large,” by writer Jason Fagone . Last week, I got the chance to talk with Mr. Fagone and ask him some of our questions. He was generous and thoughtful — and shared some extra details about Jerry and Marge that are delightful. Please take a listen! Also, there’s good news: If you liked the article as much as I...

Happy Sunday! This month, we’re reading “Jerry and Marge Go Large,” by Jason Fagone, and this week is all about how we’re experiencing the article so far. Don’t be shy! Share your first impressions by leaving a comment. New to Article Club and want to join this month’s discussion?  Read this  to get caught up! To get us started, Article Clubber  Jennifer  generously agreed to share her thoughts on...

Welcome to July! I’m excited to announce that this month’s article is “Jerry and Marge Go Large,” by  Jason Fagone . You’re going to love it! Featured in March 2018 in Issue #133 , “Jerry and Marge Go Large” is an outstanding, rollicking article about a savvy retired couple who legally exploit loopholes in the lottery and go on to win millions of dollars. Here’s my blurb: Jerry and Marge Selbee ar...

Hi there, Article Clubbers! This month, we’re reading and discussing “The Mountain,” by New Yorker writer  Andrew Marantz . Last week, I got the chance to talk with Mr. Marantz and ask him some of our questions. He was generous and thoughtful. Please listen to the conversation by pressing the play button above or by subscribing to  The Highlighter Article Club podcast  on your phone. After listeni...

Happy Tuesday! This month, we’re reading “The Mountain,” by Andrew Marantz, and this week is all about how we’re experiencing the article so far. Don’t be shy! Share your first impressions by leaving a comment. To get us started, Article Clubber  Kati  generously agreed to share her thoughts in today’s podcast episode. Kati is great — and not just because she was once my student! In our conversati...

Welcome to June! I’m excited to announce that this month’s article is “The Mountain,” by Andrew Marantz . Yes, we’re going to tackle white nationalism and the alt-right. Featured last November in Issue #217 , “The Mountain” is a chapter from Mr. Marantz’s excellent book, Antisocial : Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation (2019). Here’s my original blurb...

Happy Sunday and Happy Mother’s Day! This month, we’re reading “Lost in Summerland,” by Barrett Swanson, and this week is all about how we’re experiencing the article so far. Don’t be shy! Share your first impressions in the comments. To get us started, Article Clubber Summer generously agreed to share her thoughts in today’s podcast episode. Summer is great, describing herself as a proud Gemini o...

Welcome to May! I’m excited to announce that this month’s article is “Lost in Summerland,” by Barrett Swanson. You’re going to love it. Appearing first in The Atavist Magazine, the article was featured in Issue #225 of The Highlighter. Here’s my blurb: After recovering from a traumatic brain injury when he was 22, Andy Swanson started hearing things at home: creaky footsteps in the hallway, stray...

The fourth month of Article Club is in the books! We  read and annotated  Peggy Orenstein’s “The Miseducation of the American Boy,”  shared our thoughts ,  listened to Ms. Orenstein answer our questions , and participated in three online discussions. Thank you! Thank you to Kibos, Peter, David, Jonathan, Philippe, Nida, Erik, Steven, Ram, Camille, Hannah, Carina, Summer, Michele, Phillip, Jennifer...

Hi there, Article Clubbers! This month, we’re reading and discussing “The Miseducation of the American Boy,” by bestselling author Peggy Orenstein . Last Tuesday, I got the chance to talk with Ms. Orenstein and ask her some of our questions. She was wonderful and thoughtful. Please listen to the conversation by pressing the play button above or by subscribing to The Highlighter Article Club podcas...

March’s Article Club was a  big success , so let’s build on this momentum! I’m very excited to announce that April’s article will be “ The Miseducation of the American Boy ,” by  Peggy Orenstein , bestselling author of  Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity . You’re going to like it. In the article, which appeared as the cover story in The Atlant...

Hi there!  Two weeks ago , we read (and annotated) CJ Hauser’s “ The Crane Wife .” Last week , we shared our questions and first impressions. This week, I got to talk with Ms. Hauser (all the way from Oaxaca!), and in today’s podcast episode, she generously answers our questions and speaks about some of the themes we’ve been exploring (plus some details about Hunca Munca ). Thank you, Ms. Hauser!...

February’s Article Club was a big success , so let’s build on this momentum! I’m very excited to announce that March’s article will be “ The Crane Wife ,” by  CJ Hauser , author of Family of Origin: A Novel . You’re going to like it. “The Crane Wife” came out last summer and immediately went viral. My friend and Article Clubber Anne texted me and wrote, “This is perfect for The Highlighter.” And i...

We did it! The second month of Article Club is in the books. We  read and annotated  Paul Tough’s “Getting an A,”  shared our thoughts ,  listened to Mr. Tough’s answers to our questions , and participated in discussions, both in-person and online. Thank you to Michele, Jessica, Peter, Summer, Dan, Jim, Kati, Barbara, Janine, Ram, and Carina for joining the discussions today. I’m very grateful. Al...

Hi there!  Two weeks ago , we read (and annotated) Paul Tough’s “Getting an A,” from his book, The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us .  Last week , we shared our questions and first impressions. This Sunday, we’ll gather together to discuss the article (in-person and online). Please sign up! Last Tuesday, I got to talk with Mr. Tough, and in this 30-minute podcast episode , he...

Hi there, Article Clubbers, and welcome to the many new members who joined this week. It’s great to see how quickly we’re growing. This month, we’re discussing Paul Tough’s “Getting an A,” a chapter from his outstanding book, The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us . Last week , we read (and some of us vigorously annotated) the chapter. This week, we’ll begin our discussion by s...

Last month’s Article Club was a big success , so let’s build on this momentum! I’m excited to announce that February’s article will be “Getting an A,” by Paul Tough . You’re going to like it. “Getting an A” is a chapter from Mr. Tough’s new book, “ The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes Or Breaks Us .” It’s a great book that I highly recommend, especially if you’re an educator or parent. “G...

We did it! The inaugural month of Article Club is in the books. We  read and annotated  Jia Tolentino’s “ The Tyranny of the Ideal Woman ,”  shared our thoughts ,  listened to Ms. Tolentino’s answers to our questions , and this past Sunday, participated in discussions, both in-person and online. This is big! Thank you to Carina, Anne, Hannah, Katie, Peter, David, Tony, Vanessa, Ram, Sonya, Kati, J...

Hi there! Two weeks ago , we read (and annotated ) Jia Tolentino’s “The Tyranny of the Ideal Woman.” Last week , we shared our questions and first impressions. Next Sunday, we’ll gather together to discuss the article. (Please sign up! — in person or online ). This week, I got to talk with Jia, and in this 17-minute podcast episode (2-min intro, 15-min interview), she spoke about some of the theme...

At long last, Article Club is here! I’m very happy to announce that our inaugural article will be “ The Tyranny of the Ideal Woman, ” by Jia Tolentino . This article, which appeared in Issue #204 in August, was the most-read piece in The Highlighter last year. It’s very worthy of our deep read and discussion. I look forward to re-reading it and talking about it with you. Are you in? Hope so! If yo...

We’re launching Article Club in a couple weeks (I’m excited!), so it’s a great time to share our ideas about how we want to be in this space. I have three offerings: * Let’s talk about the articles * There’s no need to be performative * Let’s look for connections What are your ideas? How do you want our article club to be? Don’t be shy: Say hi and share your thoughts! This is a public episode. If...

Hi there! I’m excited: Our article club is growing. Just last week, we had 20-30 new sign-ups — welcome! Now it’s time to figure out what we want to get out of this experience. That’s what this week is for. I want to share some of my ideas and get your ideas, too. Please share them in the comments! OK, if the goal of Article Club is to read more, read more closely, reflect deeply on the articles,...

If you’ve been a loyal reader of The Highlighter (and especially if you’re a VIP member!), you know that I’ve been thinking of launching an article club. Good news: It’s here! (Well, sort of: It’s going to start in January.) Article Club is for people who want to… * read more (busy lives, be gone!) * read more closely and reflect on great articles * connect with other thoughtful readers We’ll focu...