Alissa Quart

Feed: "blog"
By: Alissa Quart on Friday, January 23, 2026

When reality felt broken, I turned to Tarot cards Alissa Quart's mom was sick and her job kept her tethered to a nonstop news cycle. "The pain and desperation I felt when I asked for a reading is part of why I think Tarot cards, spells, energy work a...

Essay: I see Tarot, much like New Year’s resolutions, as part of something I call "wish culture," writes Alissa Quart.

When reality felt broken, I turned to Tarot cards Alissa Quart's mom was sick and her job kept her tethered to a nonstop news cycle. "The pain and desperation I felt when I asked for a reading is part of why I think Tarot cards, spells, energy work a...

www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

I am a skeptic but I found surprising meaning in Tarot which I call part of wish culture for @wbur.org @cogwbur.bsky.social and @economichardship.bsky.social link in comments! @maiasz.bsky.social

Cancer research costs too much but we have the money to run Venezuela

@fooddatanerd.com

Zohran Mamdani Understands the Precarity of Middle Class American Life “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism,” the newly elected Mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani said, in his invigorating inauguration speech yesterday, …

lithub.com/zohran-mamda...

I wrote for @economichardship.bsky.social @literaryhub.bsky.social about the meaning of @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social and Wilson elections. The precarious middle class: not mere neurotics on their daybeds with @inetoxford.bsky.social @epi.org and others @maiasz.bsky.social

I’m part of the triple-decker sandwich generation. You probably are as well You’ve heard of caregivers in the sandwich generation. In this anti-compassion Trump 2.0 era, it’s more like a triple-decker sandwich. I experienced this first-hand

I’m part of the triple-decker sandwich generation. You probably are as well - Alissa Quart
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Thank you!

@fooddatanerd.com @epi.org @brigidschulte.bsky.social @danilynrutherford.bsky.social @amyhanauer.bsky.social

I’m part of the triple-decker sandwich generation. You probably are as well You’ve heard of caregivers in the sandwich generation. In this anti-compassion Trump 2.0 era, it’s more like a triple-decker sandwich. Alissa Quart has experienced this first-hand

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

I’m part of the triple-decker sandwich generation. You probably are as well You’ve heard of caregivers in the sandwich generation. In this anti-compassion Trump 2.0 era, it’s more like a triple-decker sandwich. Alissa Quart has experienced this first-hand

My latest piece for @theguardian.com on the sandwich generation, of which I am one, and how we became the triple sandwich generation in Trump 2.0 www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i... @jillgrinberglit.bsky.social @economichardship.bsky.social @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social link in comments

An investor called $140,000 the new poverty line. Experts disagreed but said he had a point. Michael Green’s tally of the costs of raising a family in the U.S. today is going viral, even if some economists scoff at his math.

🥗 This is the urgent reality that @alissaquart.bsky.social’s incredible books woke me up to, and it’s the reality we all must confront to progress as a nqtion, a people, a community. One where all of us can survive and thrive, and we leave NOBODY behind!

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

I have not seen ANYONE mention that as a factor in the election. You have to be certified shit for brains if you don't think the labor market matters to people.

And the issue is not just getting a job. It's getting a decent job. The plunge in job switching means many fewer people feel they can leave a job they don't like.

I wrote about my late friend and brilliant poet Cole for @poetrysociety.org She was really one of a kind. Also about bygone literary scenes and nature as mutual aid @maiasz.bsky.social @poetrydaily.bsky.social @poetrysociety.org.uk @poetshouse.bsky.social @pw.org

poetrysociety.org/poems-essays...

'From barely affordable to unaffordable': What does it mean to be middle class? Many people are feeling squeezed in today’s economy, with the prospect of affording college and a house, as well as saving for retirement, feeling further out of reach. But is the middle class actuall...

whyy.org/episodes/eco...

Great to be on WHYY for an hour (!) talking about the squeezed middle class in the Trump 2.0 era (federal worker lay offs, defunding of PBS, med research etcetera). Plus: jokes & Bourdieu... @whyy.org @economichardship.bsky.social @jillgrinberglit.bsky.social @deniseoswald.bsky.social

Right. Zohran explicitly links his economic populism w/his attack on Trump's authoritarian abuses, which also hurt working people. Some commentators are trying to only elevate the former, to push Dems away from taking on Trump frontally, but they're (deliberately?) missing the real innovation here:

Meme from the Simpsons, Moe (labeled Francis Fukuyama) throws Barney (labeled History) out of the bar, only for us to see in the third panel Barney standing behind Moe inside the bar

It is, or should be, possible to craft a two-week journalism education program around Florida’s theme parks, given their impact on the state’s economy, environment, and politics. But an online brochure from the University of Georgia’s journalism program doesn’t generate a lot of confidence that its May course will give students much more than a totally awesome time. This “Introduction to Travel Journalism” class, the school promises, “will challenge you to look at theme park tourism and food writing through a journalistic lens.” To do that, these budding journalists will spend nine nights at Disney World and six at Universal Orlando—with the school promising access to seven theme parks, “resort amenities, including pools,” and, perhaps most important, “beverage coolers.” Moms and dads will be reassured to know that the $3,000-ish fee for the class also includes not just the parks but also “hotels and shopping/dining/entertainment districts which will serve as our classroom,” and that “this course will combine academic rigor with experiential and hands-on learning.” For their toil, these undergrad and grad students will earn three credit hours.

You can't really call yourself a reporter til you've gone on a 2-week school trip (called "Introduction to Travel Journalism") to Orlando that includes tickets to 7 theme parks, and "beverage coolers."

www.cjr.org/laurels-and-...

Justice Dept. Official Pushes Prosecutors to Investigate George Soros’s Foundation

George Soros has done as much as anyone to strengthen democratic freedoms in the United States—democratic freedoms that are important to the right as well as the left. It’s those freedoms that are the real target of this outrageous attack. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/u...

Yes! And we'd love any coverage too. You just have to RSVP journalism.columbia.edu/events

I know you do. Maybe we need you to write something about this while you are in the hospital...

Excited about next week’s nearly daylong @economichardship.bsky.social event at @columbiajournalism.bsky.social starring @jeffsharlet.bsky.social , @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social , @lizafeatherstone.bsky.social Ray Suarez and others!

It is the dystopian safety net, as @alissaquart.bsky.social has written. But necessary so often. Thank you Leran! 💕

I loathe that we need GoFundMe campaigns for this type of thing, but Randy is a real one. Kind, dedicated, smart, funny, and deeply a good person. If you have a few dollars or well wishes please send them his way

Randy, I can't believe this...so sorry

If you, like me, are the parent of a neuro-atypical child dreading this autism press conference, please remember: These are the people hurting our kids. Not us. They are the ones stigmatizing and pathologizing them. They are the ones peddling untested science. And we should be very, very angry.