The Aftergrad Weekly #11
First Principles, No Hard Feelings, and The Moral Case for Working Less
Welcome to The Aftergrad Weekly, a curated media bundle to keep you informed, inspired, and entertained. Every Tuesday, we share a selection of articles, something to watch, an interesting quote, and links worth consuming.
Happy Tuesday. As this incredibly hot summer comes to a close, we have some exciting news. Our community is growing. We’d like to welcome the 39 aftergrads who recently subscribed to our network of students, recent grads, and industry professionals.
Thanks for joining us. We’re glad to have you here.
As a reminder, The Aftergrad Podcast is currently on a break right now because we just wrapped our second season. We’re currently preparing for Season 3.
— Robert and Victoria
AND I QUOTE
From the think piece First Principles: The Building Blocks of True Knowledge via Farnam Street
“Most of us have no problem thinking about what we want to achieve in life, at least when we’re young. We’re full of big dreams, big ideas, and boundless energy. The problem is that we let others tell us what’s possible, not only when it comes to our dreams but also when it comes to how we go after them. And when we let other people tell us what’s possible or what the best way to do something is, we outsource our thinking to someone else.”
— Shane Parrish (2018)
QUIZ
On the US Economy with Insights from Kiplinger
Check if you got the right answer by scrolling to the bottom of the newsletter where we share some additional insights on this trend.
RECOMMENDED READING
The Moral Case for Working Less by Simone Stolzoff via The Atlantic
Gen Z doesn’t really need a moral case for working less. We just know the desire to clock fewer hours speaks to our spirit. And that’s all that truly matters at the end of the day. In a culture where work consumes so much of our lives, it can be seen as an act of resistance to set boundaries on how much time we dedicate to the pursuit of work and productivity.
For much of human history, the more wealth an individual accumulated, the less time they spent working. But in the past 50 years, a strange trend has occurred: Despite gains in wealth and productivity, many college-educated Americans—and especially college-educated men—have worked more than ever. Instead of trading wealth for leisure, American professionals began to trade leisure for more work.
Read the full article here.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING
No Hard Feelings with Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman
The synopsis:
“On the brink of losing her childhood home, a desperate woman agrees to date a wealthy couple's introverted and awkward 19-year-old son. However, he proves to be more of a challenge than she expected, and time is running out before she loses it all.”
This movie doesn’t disappoint. It’ll have you laughing hysterically, gasping for air as you search for a moment to catch your breath. And it’s unlikely that you’ll find one, aside from a few serious and sentimental moments between the main characters.
LINKS WORTH CONSUMING
For the week of August 14, 2023
🎓 A college degree is worth the cost — and then some
👬 The Longest Relationships of Our Lives
🧩 Cyberfeminism Index is a curated directory facilitated by Mindy Seu. It’s a collection of references that explore the interactions of technology, feminism, and other cultural forces.
🖐🏾 The Great Reshuffle is over. Welcome to the Big Stay
💜 Femmetopia is a speculative imagining of what the future will look like when femininity becomes a valued driving force in the labor market. Designed by futurologist Lydia Caldana and screenwriter Maria Clara Pessoa.
👸🏼 The ‘lazy girl trend’ romanticizes the drudgery of work
🤖 New Gen Z graduates are fluent in AI and ready to join the workforce
💸 Job searching is now a treasure quest
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Until next time,
Your fellow aftergrads, Robert & Victoria
P.S. See below for some additional media we’ve been consuming. And don’t forget to read the brief explainer for the quiz we shared.
The correct answer is B — Topeka, KS; Kalamazoo, MI. According to Business Insider, these two cities ranked in the top 15 most affordable US cities along with cities in Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina. The personal finance company Kiplinger calculated the living expenses for 267 urban areas in the United States using data from the Council for Community and Economic Research. The organization also reported on America’s cheapest places to live as of April 2023, which builds an interesting narrative on nationwide movement trends when analyzed against the US cities with the fastest decline in population from Business Insider.