Three Beautiful Things 02-04-2023: Income Taxes Filed, An Afternoon Reading *The New Yorker*, Grilled Sandwiches and Tomato Soup and Democracy

1. Our taxes aren't complicated. Getting the forms filled out and filed isn't that big of a deal. That said, I like getting this task done as soon as possible and today I wrapped up the process. 

2. This afternoon, I plunged into the latest issue of The New Yorker. Jelani Cobb wrote this week's lead editorial, reflecting on the current status of African American studies, with emphasis on developments in Florida. From a piece by Alec MacGillis, I learned more about ways cities like Baltimore and Chicago and Louisville have been and are today involving people who are not police officers (many are former criminals) to try to curb violent crime, largely by interrupting potential perpetrators before they retaliate or protect turf or act out their rage or despair and shoot someone. The success of these efforts, as one might expect, is uneven for any number of reasons. Last, I read Louis Menand's essay on the gradual erosion of our country's trust in the press (and in television news) over the last 55-60 years. Menand's piece is a review essay. He draws upon seven different books, some recently published, others published around fifty years ago, to examine the history of journalism and the difficulties of objectivity. I made a list of the seven books and am going to see which ones I can secure through the library and which ones I might purchase.

3. Debbie and I enjoyed a delicious dinner. I once again used the Great Harvest bread Debbie picked up on Thursday and made us each a grilled havarti cheese and bacon sandwich accompanied by a bowl of tomato soup.

Debbie had listened to the podcast on Watergate, season 1 of Slow Burn, but hadn't watched the television documentary series of the same material. We watched the first two episodes.

It riveted me again, especially after reading Menand's essay in The New Yorker and having the questions he raised and the assertions he made about the role of journalism in a democracy. Taken together, his essay, entitled, "When American Lost Faith in the News" and the episodes of Slow Burn underscore the vulnerability of democracy and raise thorny questions about the role of journalism when the ideals of democracy are attacked and being undermined.