Things I Like
There are a lot of things I like – the Golden State Warriors, video games, comfortable beds – but one of my favorites is good, in-depth writing about social policy. I don’t why, but I’ve grown to prefer articles like Emily Bazelon’s school integration piece or Hanna Rosin’s Atlantic article about Section 8 to my old favorite long magazine piece: crazy shit by Robert Kaplan. In that vein, everyone should read Dana Goldstein’s quick interview with Douglas McGray about the Bush administration’s sucess in reducing homelessness. Apparently, the administration let their homelessnes czar, Phillip Mangano, just do his job without any political interference. And since he was a smart, dedicated guy who applied empirical and tested techniques to reducing homelessness, he seems to have done a good job. You should also check out McGray’s Atlantic profile of Mangano.
Also, if you want budding commentary on social policy, you can read my posts at Pushback about school integration and marriage.
UPDATE: Might as well pimp my stuff on Pushback a bit more. I have posts on why TI concerts won’t increase the youth vote and how eliminating agricultural subsides won’t affect the eating habits of Americans in a meaningful way. I know I’m not the best judge, but I’d say these posts are better than what you’re seeing here. Maybe that’s cause I won’t to uphold the sterling reputation of the Center For American Progress, or something like that…
