Our Worst Strength - Audio Edition

As we have allowed ourselves the freedom to skip dinner, snack all day, and fine-tune our ingredient aversions, we have also allowed our foodways to become a moral and aspirational battleground that divides us from others…Individualism has made eating incredibly complicated and community more challenging to assemble in a very simple act: sharing a meal. - p. 312, Our Worst StrengthThis is Chapter 32, the. master summary of all my book’s key points in narrative form. The book is a not solitary argument unpacked tediously over too many pages. It’s a fact-rich, sweeping exploration of how individualism operates in everyday American life, especially the glitches. If you have too many unread books, let me read mine at your convenience…I’m almost done releasing it episodically— just a few more episodes to go! Upgrade that subscription to a paid to access the entire audiobook experience. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jamesrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.comIn modern America, most of us live in a post-family society, no matter how often we call Mom. The structure of our everyday lives, social policies, and many other forces make family a low priority for most Americans. Therefore, we have learned to rely ever more on our friends. Friends help us find our soul mates, job opportunities, emotional comfort, an…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.comAmericans have slowly adapted to a “fun” approach to friendship that maximizes our ability to be noncommittal and minimizes any sense of reciprocal obligation to our friends. Overburdening our spouses and partners has resulted from treating our friends as ‘entertainment.’It takes a lot of work to fight against all of this.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.comThe final chapters in Part Four of Our Worst Strength take us deep into the murky world of dietary intolerances, aspirational diets, and calling a “potluck” to avoid dealing with the B.S. caused by trying to cater to the former. Who could possibly keep track of the latest ingredient aversion in our friendship network? This would require a virtual admin,…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.comIn this episode, loyal listeners will complete Part Three of my tome! I just upgraded my studio to Shure equipment, and you can probably hear the difference. Wow. Every twinge of my larynx is now yours to savor…God help thee.Chapter Fifteen - Modern Recreational WorldsRobert Putnam was right when he chronicled the decline of formal voluntary organizatio…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.comGirls just want to have fun, I hear. My research suggests that almost all Americans just want to have fun. Leisure time is our number one time-consuming activity after work. But we approach this very oddly compared to most other cultures. And the media wants it that way. We “party” as a youth cohort and then slowly watch TV/video content as we age. This…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.comThanks for listening so far! You must be hooked! Wait, you haven’t upgraded? You’re just getting teasers each Wednesday? Such a sad state of affairs. See the green button below. For paid subscribers, please listen!In this episode, I finish Part Two - How it Got Awkward at Work - with chapters on The Great College Divide and Career ZigZag.If you have a …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.comThe final elements of a hyper-individualistic society set readers up to better understand the bulk of the book to come!Chapter Six - Distract Ourselves With Personalized EntertainmentThe distraction of Americans did not begin with smartphones. It began with television. And it began slowly. It took a half-century for Americans to go from viewing TV as a …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.comThis episode covers the next two steps in the recipe for a hyper-individualistic society:* Chapter Two - The Silencing of the Elders - how American society neuters our elders' social impact, freeing us to pursue wildly different lifestyles than our parents. * Chapter Three - Make Privacy Sacred - how American privacy beliefs set us all up for real lonelines…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jamesrichardson.substack.com…the single most important social freedom in the modern world is the freedom to ignore the past.. p. 4 - Our Worst Strength.I'm happy to share the first episode of the audio edition of my new book, which is only available to paid subscribers.The first sixteen minutes of this episode are free for all to sample, and I hope you’ll be enticed to upgrade for…