 |
|
|
|||||
You can now read every article that has ever appeared in The New Yorkerfrom as early as February 1925with the click of a button. For the publications centennial anniversary, its editorial team has spent months painstakingly scanning, digitizing, and organizing every single issue it’s ever published, or more than half a million individual pages. Each issue is artfully arranged in a chronological display under a purpose-built archive section of the website; but the content has also been incorporated into The New Yorkers search algorithm so that readers can come across it organically. As the future of magazine journalism remains uncertain, a look back through this carefully archived material demonstrates the importance of preserving print media for the future. Digitizing a century-old archive The process of digitizing The New Yorkers full catalog actually started back in 2005. That year, explains Nicholas Henriquez, the publications director of editorial infrastructure, Random House published The Complete New Yorker, a book that came with DVD-ROMs (now retro tech) containing scanned pages from all the pre-digital issues. Then, in early 2024, Henriquezs team started to convert those scans into digital text. To start, this meant consulting with The New Yorker library, where the magazines physical archives are stored, to re-scan several hundreds of pages that required another pass for a number of reasonsincluding damage, a poor initial scan, or a corrupted file. Some of the older issues, from the first five years or so, were basically untouched, Henriquez says. I had to use a letter opener to open the pages to scan some of them. After the team had a complete collection of files, they then began the painstaking process of formatting and styling them for the web. There were the predictable challenges of making old magazine articles work online. Each needed a workable headline, description, and image. Bylines in particular were tricky, Henriquez says, as many early writers would use pseudonyms or humorous one-off pen namesor, in some cases, fail to sign their name at all. Thats part of the value of having, as The New Yorker does, a team of technologists who are part of the editorial staff: We can build these databases and apps and scripts, and we can also look at something in that database like Ogden de Sade and know, okay, thats Ogden Nash, and its funny, and we should figure out a nice way to keep that joke online, Henriquez says. There were many instances where our technological approach was informed by this deep understanding of the magazines history and its cultural context. Unearthing a treasure trove of early journalism Over the course of this process, Henriquez unearthed stories that he never could have expected. He came across a short, unsigned book review from 1935 of a memoir by a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, and says he had to triple-check that we didnt have bad data somewhere, because that review was published in March of 1935, just two years after Hitler became chancellor. I didnt realize those stories were out there that early, much less being translated into English and published in America. On a lighter note, he also found a piece about going to the Newark airport at the dawn of commercial aviation in 1933, and a 1947 article thats one of the first examples of TV criticism ever published by The New Yorker. Along the way, he says, he rediscovered what makes magazine writing special. In a newspaper, most stories have the same framing: This happened, Henriquez explains. “But a magazine article can do something different: It can be told in a different tense or in a different wayThis could happen, This happened to this person. Examples of this distinct genre of analysis include a 1969 article, a few months before the moon landing, that lays out how it will happen, step-by-step; or a pre-Sputnik piece about American scientists trying to launch the first satellite; or a 1961 feature on the rollout of desegregation, as witnessed by author Katharine T. Kinkead and a group of Black college students driving around Durham, North Carolina. Henriquez says: These kinds of things, I think, make magazine journalism essential and unique.
Category:
E-Commerce
More than 20% of Americans will be diagnosed with mental illness in their lifetimes. They will, that is, experience conditions that influence the way they think, feel, and actand that may initially seem incompatible with the demands of work. Our new research suggests that what people living with chronic mental illnesses need most to succeed at work is for their managers to be flexible and trust them. This includes the freedom to adjust their schedules and workloads to make their jobs more compatible with their efforts to manage and treat their symptoms. For that to happen, managers need to trust that these workers are committed to their jobs and their employers. Were management professors who reviewed hundreds of blog and Reddit posts and conducted in-depth interviews with 59 people. And those are the most significant findings from our peer-reviewed study, published in the October 2025 issue of the Academy of Management Journal. Scouring Reddit posts and conducting interviews We gathered our data from three sources: anonymous blog posts from 171 people, Reddit posts from 781 people, and in-depth interviews with 59 workers employed in a variety of jobs across multiple industries. All these people worked while dealing with chronic mental illness, such as major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and bipolar disorder. The blog posts were maintained by a nonprofit concerned with the experiences of individuals living with mental illness. We focused on posts tagged work. To identify relevant data on Reddit, we searched using a combination of the word work with several terms associated with mental illness. Additionally, we restricted our data collection to unsolicited narratives published prior to mid-March 2020 to avoid overlap with the employment changes that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because this data was gathered from the internet, we couldnt obtain details about participants gender, age, profession, or education. We also recruited people to interview through social media postings, advertising in a public universitys alumni listserv, and contacting an organization that focuses on mens mental health. We also made requests of those wed already interviewed to see whether they had recommendations for other people to possibly interview. The interviews took place in 2020 and 2021. Speaking with people from all walks of working life About 37% of the people we interviewed identified as women, and their average age was 41.5 years. Approximately 80% of them identified as Caucasian, 3.5% Black, 3.5% Hispanic, and less than 2% identified as either Indian, Korean American, mixed race, or Middle Eastern and North African. About 3.5% chose not to answer. They held a variety of jobs, including lawyer, professor, touring musician, consultant, teacher, real estate manager, chief technology officer, salesperson, restaurant server, travel agency manager, graphic designer, tester for manufacturing plant, chemical engineer, and bus driver. Several worked in tech fields. When the employees who we studied were trusted and given flexibility, they became better able to do their jobs while also attending to their well-being. Employees who had lived with their condition for years used what we call personalized disengagement and engagement strategies to manage their symptoms. That refers to the fact that people with mental illness respond best to different coping strategies depending on their own preferences and symptoms, instead of using generic techniques they learned from self-help resources or peers. Examples of personalized disengagement strategies ranged from leaving workspaces to meditate to taking a walk to finding a quiet space to cry. Engagement strategies included immersing more deeply into work and having conversations with co-workers. These coping strategies will sound familiar to most people, including those without any chronic mental health conditions. But workplaces dont always give employees, regardless of their disability status, the flexibility and self-determination necessary to enact their strategies. In fact, a recent survey by Mind Share Partners found that nearly half of employees didnt even feel like they could disconnect from their jobs after working hours or while on vacation. Many employees also told us that they benefited from trust and flexibility in the period after they were diagnosed, when they needed to explore different therapies and treatment techniques. When managers allow for flexibility, trust workers to do what they need to do to address their symptoms, and convey their compassion, employees with chronic mental illness are more likely to keep their jobs and get their work done. Affecting most employers Mental illnesses became more prevalent in the aftermath of COVID-19, especially among adolescents and young adults. So, if youre an employer, chances are that our research is relevant to your workforce. Depression, a common mental illness, had an estimated cost of US$1 trillion annually in lost productivity in 2019, the World Health Organization has estimated. People with anxiety and mood disorders, including bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, may periodically have symptoms that interfere with their ability to do their jobs. And while doing those jobs, they risk being stigmatized by co-workers who may know little about mental illness or be judgmental about people with those chronic conditions. That adds further stress beyond what others would experience at work. Employee assistance programs could be falling short In response, many employers offer benefits to help employees cope with mental and emotional problems, such as employee assistance programs, mental-wellness app subscriptions, and stigma-reduction efforts. These one-size-fits-all initiatives can help improve functioning for those with occasional or short-term emotional problems, and they can help improve leaders ability to respond to employees distress, which s crucial. But as a whole, they are not enough to solve the problem. Employee assistance programs, which nearly all big companies offer, have not proved systematically helpful to workers in achieving their goals. One study found that they reduced employees absences but did not reduce their work-related distress. Another study even found that workers who used these programs became more inclined to leave their jobs. Not missing out on peak performers Contrary to stereotypes, people with chronic anxiety and depression, such as those we studied, are generally as capable of success in the workplace as anyone else in the right context. Extremely high performers, such as the late actor Carrie Fisher and the Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, are two such examples of people with a mental illness who were top achievers in their field. If you were a manager, wouldnt you want people of this caliber working for you? If so, then its important to create the right conditions, which many employers fail to do despite their best efforts. Needing more mental health support Companies will face increasing pressure to support those with mental illness and other mental health challenges. Monsters 2024 State of the Graduate Report found that Gen Z employees (people born between 1996 and 2010 and are currently in their teens and 20s) are increasingly prioritizing support for mental health at work, with 92% of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed wanting a job where they are comfortable discussing their mental health at work. This trend suggests that employers wishing to attract top entry-level talent will need to effectively support mental health, highlighting the importance of continuing to research this issue. Sherry Thatcher is a Regal Distinguished Professor of management and entrepreneurship at the University of Tennessee. Emily Rosado-Solomon is an assistant professor of management at Babson College. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Category:
E-Commerce
Mad Max mode may sound like something out of a video game, but it is a real-life setting for cars currently plying Americas streets. And it poses genuine danger. In an homage to the main character from George Millers dystopian 1979 film and its sequels, originally portrayed by current Trump supporter Mel Gibson, Tesla created Mad Max mode as an option for vehicles equipped with its Full-Self Driving (FSD) system. The Mad Max icon is a mustachioed smiley face wearing a cowboy hat, bearing less of a resemblance to the films titular vigilante than to Tesla CEO Elon Musks brother, Kimbal. (Warner Bros., which released the films, has not filed suit.) Despite its name, FSD does not enable the car to drive itself. Rather, it is an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), capable of changing lanes, making turns, and adjusting speed as long as a human driver remains alert and ready to take over. Other automakers, such as Ford and GM, also offer ADAS systems. Mad Max mode is starkly different from other FSD settings like Sloth and Chill. Teslas using it will roll through stop signs and blast past other vehicles on the road. One driver posted a YouTube video showing his Mad Max-enabled Tesla hitting 82 mph while whizzing by a 65 mph speed limit sign. A social media user wryly suggested that Mad Max should just immediately write you a ticket when you turn it on. Tesla made Mad Max mode available briefly in 2018 and then reintroduced it in October. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration quickly announced a safety investigation; the agency declined to give an update on its status. Musks company is not the only one programming its vehicles to treat traffic laws as suggestions rather than requirements. Waymos robotaxis (which, unlike ADAS such as Tesla FSD, do not require anyone in the front seat) have been spotted in San Francisco blocking bike lanes and edging into crosswalks where children are walking. In a recent Wall Street Journal story titled Waymos Self-Driving Cars Are Suddenly Behaving Like New York Cabbies, a Waymo senior director of product management confirmed that the company has programmed its cars to be more aggressive. He said that recent adjustments are making its robotaxis confidently assertive. Welcome to our brave new computer-powered future, where companies will determine which road rules are obeyed and which are ignored. We might not like what they decide. Mad Max, unleashed Traffic laws occupy a curious niche in the U.S., where most drivers break them regularly and without consequences. There is this built-in acknowledgment that going 5 miles per hour over the limit is okay, says Reilly Brennan, a partner at Trucks Venture Capital, a transportation-focused investment firm. In other parts of our life, that wouldnt be acceptable, like going 5% over in accounting or when a doctor performs some kind of task. Indeed, many otherwise law-abiding drivers occasionally change lanes without using a turn signal or double park while grabbing coffee, knowing that these behaviors are technically illegal, but believing they are unlikely to result in a crash or fine. Driving more than 25 mph over the speed limit is a different story. Most people avoid doing so unless, say, rushing a child to the hospital, given the risk of getting into a crash or receiving a pricey ticket. But unlike humans, robotaxis and ADAS can violate traffic laws regardless of situational context. Youve taken away the agency of the person to decide whether its reasonable to break the law at that time, says Phil Koopman, professor emeritus of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, who has studied autonomous driving extensively. Furthermore, companies like Tesla and Waymo may be shielded from the consequences of both minor and major traffic violations. The driver of a Tesla running FSD, for instance, is expected to remain alert and ready to take over, and the company claims that the drivernot Teslais liable for mishaps or collisions. You have a company deciding to break the law, but the driver is being held responsible and suffering the consequences, Koopman says. Last August, a Florida jury rejected Teslas attempts to pin crash responsibility on drivers alone, awarding $243 million to the family of a person struck and killed by a Tesla runing Autopilot, the companys less advanced ADAS. Tesla is appealing. Producers of fully autonomous software shoulder more responsibility for their vehicles actions than car companies offering ADAS. Still, accountability isnt a given for them, either. State law in California and Georgia currently does not allow police to ticket vehicles without a driver, though California will close that loophole next year. (A Waymo spokesperson said the company supported Californias change). Everyones a road warrior now Without liability for traffic law violations, companies may program their vehicles to take more risks. Tesla likely launched Mad Max mode to appeal to the companys hardcore customers, says author and podcaster Edward Niedermeyer, who has written a book about the companys history and is currently writing a follow-up. Tesla has a baseline incentive to release all kinds of weird, quirky, unique software updates that cost them almost nothing and fuel their online fan base, he says. Mad Max mode is an example of that, and it happens to also reflect the companys casual attitude toward public safety. Waymos robotaxis do not behave nearly as aggressively as Teslas running Mad Max. But the company faces an incentive to turn its assertiveness dial up a bit, if only to match the expectations of its paying passengers, who have become accustomed to violating traffic laws when they themselves sit behind the wheel. Driving like your grandmotheras writer Malcolm Gladwell described his Waymo passenger experience in 2021isnt exactly a juicy marketing line. Consumers think that these systems should drive the way they drive, Brennan says. Some circumstances clearly call for rule-breaking, such as moving across a double yellow line to navigate around a moving van that is being unloaded. What weve learned through more than a hundred million real-world miles is that appropriate assertiveness is crucial for safety and traffic flow, says a Waymo spokesperson. But other situations are trickier, such as dropping someone off in a crosswalk or bike lane when no parking spot is available. These behaviors may be common practice among human drivers, but they can endanger other road users and certainly inconvenience them. Last year, Waymo received 589 tickets for illegal parking in San Francisco. But the public may have limited patience for computer-powered cars that bend traffic rules or cause collisions. Researchers have found that people are more tolerant of risk in activities they can control (like driving) than those they cannot (like robotaxis). Case in point: A recent outcry erupted in San Francisco after Waymo vehicles ran over a cat and dog. Of course, countless American pets are killed by human drivers, including the estimated 100,000 dogs who die annually after being placed in truck beds. These tensions will not dissipate anytime soon, given how furiously makers of ADAS and autonomous vehicles are working to win over customers. Brennan envisions a future where riders might choose from varying levels of robotaxi assertiveness. Right now, there is just one Waymo setting, he says. But in a few years, there may be three or four settings, and one of them is almost exactly like the way that you want to drive. For that to happen, humans will have to grow accustomed to self-driven cars zooming past speed limits and playing chicken with pedestrians in crosswalks. Companies are designing their autonomous systems to reflect how humans drive, for better and for worse.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||