On my blog, I usually like to cover beauty, fashion, and health related topics, but this week I wanted to do something a little different. These articles, videos, and podcasts really caught my attention because they explore social issues that are so relevant right now. 

The Great Hack

To be honest, I’m not a huge documentary watcher. I came across this documentary because one of the subjects of the documentary, David Carroll, came to my university to talk about data privacy and the documentary. The documentary follows the journey of Carroll, an everyday Facebook user, trying to get his data from the mass tech company, Cambridge Analytica.

Through several whistleblowers in the documentary, we learn that the British company, Cambridge Analytica, has influenced several elections around the globe including the 2016 American election, Brexit, and elections in other countries including Kenya and Malaysia using data from Facebook. The company claimed to have 5,000 data points on every American voter. If that’s not terrifying, I don’t know what is. 

I think this documentary is relevant to everyone who uses technology. We put so much information on the internet about ourselves and unfortunately, there isn’t adequate government action in the United States to protect ourselves from becoming data points in a massive tech company’s game. 

When David Carroll came to my university, he talked a lot about how he believed that data rights should be considered human rights. A memorable quote from his discussion was “There is not a guardian for our privacy. We have to fight for it”. As technology users, we shouldn’t have to have computer coding knowledge just to protect our data.

S-Town Podcast

I was addicted to S-Town after a single episode. The first episode features a man calling from a small town in Alabama who believes that a murder has been covered up in his town. The show has a dark plot twist that moves away from a covered up murder to explore the life and hardships of a truly brilliant and unique man, John B McLemore.

This podcast was such a fascinating story and a look into what small town life is like in rural Alabama for a man who doesn’t fit into the world around him. I really enjoy investigative journalism podcasts because they dive so deep into topics and they’re not afraid to ask the difficult questions. If you enjoyed Serial, you’ll love S-Town. 

Hasan Learns What It’s Like To Grow Up Desi In 2019

If you haven’t seen Hasan Minhaj’s show, Patriot Act, on Netflix yet, it is certainly a must watch. On the show Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj covers a variety of social issues and breaks them down in an easily understood manner. He’s extremely effective at delivering quality information in a comedic way.

Aside from his show, he’s released some mini videos on Youtube. In this video, Minhaj talks to desi (South Asian people born/raised in the United States) teenagers about their life in high school. I liked this video because it highlighted how diverse the American experience is. There is no single American culture, but several cultures living and existing in the same country.

I also think the public school system can be a weird place to navigate as a kid because you’re with so many different kinds of kids. As a latina, I had a very different experience than kids of other races in my school. I liked this video because it explored this topic in a very lighthearted manner and highlighted the Desi American experience.  

Where Can Teachers Afford the Rent?

This brief article from The New York Times describes how much of a teacher’s salary goes towards their rent in America’s largest metropolitan areas. One memorable data point from the article was in San Jose, California, paying rent would require 108% of a teacher’s salary in a single income household.

I’ve been a tutor for about 3 years now. I spend about 4 hours a week tutoring kids and I’ve learned what a difficult job teaching is. I can’t imagine how hard it is to teach kids full time. Teachers deserve higher wages to support themselves. Teachers ensure a bright future for future generations and they deserve to be paid for it.

Living With Yourself

Living With Yourself is show about a regular guy (played by Paul Rudd) who feels like he’s failing at his job and in his marriage. He decides to go to a spa that ends up cloning him into a “better” version of himself without his knowledge. As with all dystopian ideas, it doesn’t go quite right because there are now two versions of himself. 

As a fan of science fiction and dystopian novels, I found this show super thought provoking. Through this story, we can question the future of science and what makes us enjoy and excel in our lives. The episodes are about 20-25 minutes each which gives the show an intentionally disjointed feel. It kind of reminds me of Homecoming (on Amazon Prime) because of the short, dark episodes. 

Have you read, watched, or listened to any of these? I also really want to know if you guys liked this kind of post! It is definitely different from what I’ve been doing on my blog and I would love to know your thoughts in the comments.