#project2020 thisamericanlife

[aimhighacademy]

What’s good in Arts & Culture: Diverse responses to adverse circumstances

This American Life just aired a radio story, by Channa Joffe-Walt, that compares the high school experiences of very different students who faced very different sets of advantages, disadvantages, and pressures. The piece, called “Three Miles” (embedded below) tells us a lot of what we already know about how different people respond to differently to adversity. The piece leaves us with a lot of what we already feel about those around us who face adversity – both hope and fear. 

What's new however, is how ordinary the story makes its protagonists sound. Many of us have known people who are victims of circumstance, of injustice, of an unequal society. Many of us have also know people who triumph in the face of adversity – people who persevere, despite a deck that is stacked against them like some impenetrable border fence. Yet, out of an innate resilience or some encounters with great mentors, they succeed. Pretty powerful stuff.

-Matt McCaffrey