Radio Atlantic: The Family Unit in a Divided Era

In a society riven by party, class, and generational divides, do families stand a chance? Rebecca Rosen and Adrienne LaFrance join our hosts.

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The family is where the forces that are driving Americans farther apart—political polarization, generational divides, class stratification, Facebook fights—literally hit home. Economic, ideological, and technological shifts pose uncertain consequences for what Daniel Patrick Moynihan called “the basic social unit of American life.” And not even a burgeoning industry of experts can tell parents what to do. “Parents are now more anxious than ever about their children,” writes Paula Fass in The Atlantic, “while disputes about how to raise children the ‘right’ way to meet a darkening future are a commonplace of child-rearing advice.”

On March 20, The Atlantic launched a new section on the family—looking not just at America, but around the world; focusing not just on today, but on yesterday and tomorrow. In this episode, two of the editors steering this coverage, Rebecca Rosen and Adrienne LaFrance, join our hosts to explore how families are faring amid massive change.

Links:

• “Millennials: The Mobile and the Stuck” (Derek Thompson, August 24, 2016)

• “The Perils of 'Sharenting'” (Adrienne LaFrance, October 6, 2016)

• “It's Hard to Go to Church” (Emma Green, August 23, 2016)

• “The Graying of Rural America” (Alana Semuels, June 2016)