‘Pacific Standard,’ November/December 2015

The future of work issue: World-famous scientists, CEOs, academics, and journalists on what to fear—and what to celebrate—in the new labor economy. Plus: Confessions of a for-profit college inspector.

FEATURES

Confessions of a For-Profit College Inspector
Young, broke, and desperate, I worked at the heart of an emerging nationwide scandal in higher education. Here’s what I saw.
By Michael Fitzgerald

The Pilot Program
How can the rural poor be brought into the digital economy?
By Maria Konnikova

Making the Case for a Good-Enough Diploma
Common Core and big business have combined to make the lot of the upwardly mobile high school dropout even more dire.
By Daniel J. McGraw

Sidebar: Could You Pass the New GED Test?
In 2014, the GED Testing Service rolled out a new assessment meant to measure not just high school equivalency but also career- and college-readiness skills. The questions below are designed to be very similar to those you might find on a GED exam today.
By Pacific Standard Staff

The Next Economy
A selection of excerpts from our Web series about the future of work and workers.

PROSPECTOR

Copping to It
Can a former police officer effect greater reforms from outside the force?
By John Lingan

The Cow Tipping Point
Is America ready for a post-cow economy? What boutique farms—and petri dishes—mean for the future of agriculture.
By Jared Keller

Journalism’s New Reality
Immersive journalism uses virtual reality to insert viewers directly into the story—potentially revolutionizing how reporters and activists do their work.
By Rachel Nuwer

The Perfect Swarm
How the epic quest to find protein revealed a surprising link between climate change and obesity.
By Peter Andrey Smith

ESSAYS

Western Cattlemen Square Off Against 60,000 Mustangs
Can wild horses co-exist with ranchers and their grazing cows?
By James McWilliams

On Pivoting: How We Talk About Labor
Euphemisms offer important comfort in a recession. They also tend to exclude the people hit hardest.
By Elizabeth Greenspan

BOOK REVIEWS

Breaking Out of Inequality’s Rhetorical Trap
In his new book, economist Anthony B. Atkinson shatters the conventional wisdom that economic inequality is a natural result of free markets and argues that it is, instead, a willful political choice we should stop making.
By Mike Konczal

History From Behind the Green Line
A military historian and former Israeli soldier argues that Israel’s occupation of disputed territories is among the cruelest in history.
By Matthew H. Ellis

The Social Justice League
Did the age of progressive politics in American comics really end in the 1990s?
By Katie Kilkenny

SHELF HELP

DEPARTMENTS

Research SpotlightLinda Harasim
Learning theorist and professor at Simon Fraser University
By Kate Wheeling

There’s a Name for That: Equality Bias
By Peter C. Baker

Research Gone Wild: Looking Good
By Pacific Standard Staff

Quick Study: In the Words of My Esteemed Opponent…
By Tom Jacobs

SubcultureTranshumanists
Riva Melissa Tez, 26, advisor for investments in artificial intelligence and life-extension
As told to Ted Scheinman

In the Picture: Tots ‘n’ Taters
By Pacific Standard Staff

Quick Study: Are Religious People Healthier?
By Tom Jacobs

Five Studies: Mental Health Courts Are Finding Their Footing
By Maia Szalavitz

Life in the Data: Slow Poison
By Ezekiel Kweku

ETC.

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