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4 weeks ago | 
newamerica.org | Haley Swenson
My friend texts me, worried that her husband—a federal worker—might lose his job. Even if he keeps it, he’ll have to begin commuting to an office he’s never set foot in, throwing their child care into disarray. I commiserate. My wife and I still haven’t found a solid, affordable child care option; our son is two.
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2 months ago | 
newamerica.org | Haley Swenson
Stephanie LeBlanc-Godfrey self-identifies as a nerd. She’s felt pulled toward numbers, analytics, and experimentation her whole life. She loved math and science growing up and studied electrical engineering in college. In her first job as an engineer, however, she felt isolated. She was the only young Black woman in her work world, and her colleagues all seemed to be in different life stages.
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2 months ago | 
newamerica.org | Haley Swenson |Stephanie LeBlanc-Godfrey
Have you ever been asked to help a child with math homework, and then immediately panicked when you looked at the page? You aren’t alone. Today, homework help, like most childcare activities, falls more on women’s shoulders than on men’s. The latest data from the American Time Use Survey suggests women in households with children under 18 spend about four times as much of their day helping kids with homework than do men. But it does not need to be this way.
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Jan 24, 2025 | 
thepersistent.com | Haley Swenson |Francesca Donner |Ruchika Malhotra
💛The Persistent is available as a newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. This week, the CNN journalist Christina Macfarlane asked the World Cup rugby star Ilona Maher how she overcomes her imposter syndrome. If you don’t know Maher, you should. She’s not only a brilliant athlete who helped Team USA win its first Rugby medal in 100 years at last year’s Summer Olympics, she’s also an outspoken feminist who constantly challenges gender and body norms on social media.
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Jan 23, 2025 | 
thepersistent.com | Haley Swenson |Francesca Donner
As millions of eyes were turned toward Monday’s inauguration of Donald Trump, another well-heeled event was getting underway a few thousand miles away. This week marks the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum—a gathering of billionaires, hosted in the Swiss Alps—known affectionately as “Davos,” the town where it all takes place.
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Jan 23, 2025 | 
thepersistent.com | Haley Swenson |Francesca Donner
AI — 10 min read 💛The Persistent is available as a newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. When my now wife and I moved in together in 2019, I was pretty smug about my lesbian lifestyle. We were two women with good incomes, who knew how to handle our business, keep a tidy house, and communicate about everything from our deepest feelings to the tedium of household life. Five years later, I am not as smug. We have a house and a busy 1-year-old to care for.
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Jan 22, 2025 | 
thepersistent.com | Francesca Donner |Holly Baxter |Haley Swenson
šThe Persistent is available as a newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox. My wife and I share the load of parenting and housework, but having a toddler and engaging in paid work has pushed us beyond our capacity. I started forgetting tasks on my to-do list and dropping the ball on appointments and other important life business. After talking with dozens of fellow parents and a few thoughtful AI experts, I realized that AI could be as useful in the home as it could be at work.
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Nov 11, 2024 | 
slate.com | Haley Swenson
In the new thriller Heretic, from A Quiet Place directors Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, Hugh Grant plays the conniving Mr. Reed, a man who poses as a religious seeker eager to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS church, or Mormon church, colloquially) in order to lure two young women into his house.
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Sep 18, 2024 | 
slate.com | Haley Swenson
Skip to the content Provides Plenty of Fodder for Audiences Faith-based In May 2022, Utah-based TikTok influencer Taylor Frankie Paul announced to her followers that her marriage was ending after she and her husband had taken part in “soft swinging” with their group of friends. “No one was innocent,” she said.
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Aug 15, 2024 | 
createsend.com | Haley Swenson
The Presidential Candidates on Work, Care, and FamilyBetter Life Lab Resources to Help You Navigate the Final Campaign MonthsBy Haley Swenson, Better Life Lab Research and Reporting FellowWe are now just over two months away from the 2024 U.S. presidential election. As the campaign season heats up, U.S. families face the monumental twin challenges of steep price increases in housing, child care, and groceries, and nonexistent or crumbling public infrastructure for workers and caregivers.
