Advice for Those Who Are a Mystery to Themselves
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Welcome to The Daily’s Sunday culture edition, featuring our newest advice column, “Dear James,” from James Parker.
Are you something of a mystery to yourself?
Do you suffer from existential panic, spiritual fatigue, libidinal tangles, and compulsive idiocy? Are your moods beyond your control? Is every straw, for you, the last straw? Do you suspect, from time to time, that the world around you might be an enormous hallucination? Do you forget people’s names and then worry about it terribly? Do you weep at bad movies but find yourself unaccountably numb in the face of genuine sadness? Is stress wrecking your complexion, your joints, your digestive system? Do you experience a surge of pristine chaotic energy at precisely the moment that you should be falling asleep? Are you doing much too much of this, and not nearly enough of that?
If so, “Dear James” might be for you.
Below are the latest editions, which tackle issues as varied as post-graduation anxiety and an addiction to wellness podcasts.
If you’re looking for advice, drop a note to dearjames@theatlantic.com. Sign up here to receive this column weekly.
The Reading List
I See Every Tiny Problem as a Social Injustice
I’m totally exhausted with myself.
By James Parker
I’m utterly lost.
By James Parker
So is meditation. And push-ups. And breathing.
By James Parker
Here are three Sunday reads from The Atlantic:
- The elite college students who can’t read books
- Remember that DNA you gave 23andMe?
- The rise of the right-wing tattletale
The Week Ahead
- Saturday Night, a comedy film about the 90 minutes of preparation before the October 1975 debut of Saturday Night Live (in theaters everywhere Friday)
- Season 4 of Abbott Elementary, a sitcom about a group of Philadelphia public-school teachers (streaming Wednesday on Hulu)
- Our Evenings, a novel by Alan Hollinghurst about the son of a Burmese man and a British dressmaker who gets a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school (out Tuesday)
Essay
Revenge of the Office
By Rose Horowitch
Last month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that the company’s more than 350,000 corporate employees must return to the office five days a week come January. In a memo, Jassy explained that he wants teams to be “joined at the hip” as they try to out-innovate other companies.
His employees don’t seem happy about it. The Amazon announcement was met with white-collar America’s version of a protest—a petition, angry LinkedIn posts, tense debates on Slack—and experts predict that some top talent will leave for companies with more flexible policies. Since May 2023, Amazon has allowed corporate employees to work from home two days a week by default. But to Jassy, 15 months of hybrid work only demonstrated the superiority of full-time in-office collaboration.
More in Culture
- The playwright in the age of AI
- Gisèle Pelicot and the most unthinkable, ordinary crime
- Your individuality doesn’t matter. Industry knows why.
- Lost bullied its unlikeliest hero.
- Kris Kristofferson was country music’s philosopher king.
- Game Change knew exactly what was coming.
- What’s the appeal of indie rock’s new golden boy?
- More evidence that celebrities just don’t like you
Catch Up on The Atlantic
- Did Donald Trump notice J. D. Vance’s strangest answer?
- The Christian radicals are coming.
- An alarming new trend in hurricane deaths
Photo Album
Check out these photos of the week from around the world, showing a woman walking in the rain, devastating floods in Nepal and the United States, early Christmas celebrations in Venezuela, and more.
P.S.
Take a look at James Parker’s latest TikTok video about his column and why he wants to hear what’s ailing, torturing, and nagging readers.
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