News with Nuance: Dec. 16, 2022

Your Friday dose of News with Nuance: the week's biggest stories, unpacked + more ..

Welcome to News with Nuance. My plan for this post is, every Friday, I will break down some of the week’s top news stories and put them into context, with special attention to the impact of these stories where I live: Middle America; and also an analysis of these stories with historical, political, and spiritual context. This is the kind of work that breaking news journalists often simply don’t have time to do — and I’m hoping it supplies the needed nuance and context that’s often missing from our news cycle, humanizing the people and places behind the headlines.

This week’s News with Nuance is brought to you by nihilism: the idea that sometimes feels like the only respite in a world where so many will lie, cheat, and destroy other peoples’ lives all in pursuit of money, fame, and power. This is the Advent week of Joy, and I’m trying to cling to the joy of the season especially while watching its magic through the eyes of my kids, doing things like making gingerbread houses out of milk cartons — but at the same time joy can feel fleeting in a world where our culture seems to prize deceit; and truth and authenticity can be hard to find.

So we’ll start with a couple of stories that exemplify the power of lies and destruction in our world - and the way that the path to wealth and influence is often paved with the abuse and destruction of other, less-fortunate, peoples’ lives. And then I’ll round things out with a beautiful little video that has helped temper my nihilism this week, from the Netflix show focused on Orthodox Judaism, Shtisel.