A Theory (on Bullshit Jobs)
With help from readers who wrote to him about their workplace experiences, anthropologist David Graeber develops a taxonomy of bullshit jobs.
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Dispatches
64 posts
News and notes from Pacific Standard staff and contributors.
Letter From Nairobi, Kenya: Watching Kenya’s Deadly Elections Unfold
The night before the election results were announced, opposition leader Raila Odinga was in the lead. But when Kenyans woke up the next morning, the election had unexpectedly flipped in favor of incumbent president Mwai Kibaki.
Dispatches: What You Need to Know About Polarizing Political Divides
News and notes from Pacific Standard staff and contributors.
Don’t Take Personality Tests Personally
Rigorous study of the Fisher Temperament Inventory is still in its infancy—much like our understanding of the relationship between neurobiology and personality to begin with.
Letter From Mancos, Colorado: Seeking Sanctuary in Trump Country
Even under the hardline policies of President Donald Trump—which resulted in a 25 percent increase in deportation arrests from 2016 to 2017—ICE officers largely avoid churches, mosques, and synagogues.
Inside the Theater of Complicity
In SupremacyLand, visitors are forced to examine how they respond to overt expressions of racial bigotry.
Dispatches: What It’s Like to Report on Your Parents’ Former Union
News and notes from Pacific Standard staff and contributors.
Air Pollution Linked to Delinquent Behavior Among Children
Underprivileged kids growing up in congested cities must overcome many handicaps; this study suggests one of them is the very air they breathe.
Field Notes: A Scene From Pyarpur, India
Pyarpur, India: In Jharkhand, one of the poorest states in India, gangs recruit young boys for work as robbers across the country.
Field Notes: A Controlled Avalanche in Southern Switzerland
Arbaz, Switzerland: A controlled avalanche, started with dynamite, slides down a mountain in the Swiss canton of Valais.