Parents are being asked to inform on teachers who teach “objectionable” material.
This might be the information age, but there have never been more questions about who can get what information, and from where.
Here’s a group of stories from this week.
Spotify chooses Joe Rogan after Neil Young’s ultimatum
Earlier this month, a group of scientists and health professionals asked Spotify to label a Joe Rogan podcast as misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines. This week, Neil Young, in a now-deleted post on his website, told the streaming service it could either stream his music or Rogan’s podcast.
“We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to covid-19 since the start of the pandemic,” Spotify said in a statement to the Washington Post. “We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”
The streamer is the exclusive platform for Rogan after a 2020 deal worth $100 million.
At a time when other artists like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen are cashing in on the rights to their music, Young is using his to push against misinformation.
“I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue,” she said in a statement posted on her website.
Holocaust novel ‘Maus’ pulled from one school district
The book, which is excellent, tells difficult truths about the Holocaust by transforming Nazis into cats and Jews into mice.
Among the things board members found objectionable: strong language — the word “damn” — and a single, small image of nudity, in which author Art Spiegelman portrays his mother after she cut her wrists in a bathtub.
“Being in the schools, educators and stuff we don’t need to enable or somewhat promote this stuff,” said McMinn County School Board member Tony Allman, according to minutes of a January 10 school board meeting. “It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy.”
The public support for “Maus” was evident when the book sold out on Amazon after outcry about the school board decision.
A trend in the classroom
While the immediate effect is a burst of support for “Maus,” the Tennessee school board decision is not a one-off.
Pulling “Maus” from curriculums is in line with some US states moving to restrict how schools teach lessons about gender.
Informing on teachers
Controversy over how to teach about sex and gender has tracked alongside uproars over how to teach about race and a history of slavery.
Critical race theory is not an official curriculum taught in US schools but has still become the cause celebre on the right.
Newly inaugurated Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin — a Republican who is fighting school districts that have refused to comply with his executive order against mandatory masking in the classroom — has set up an email tip line for parents to inform on teachers who they feel are acting “objectionably” and teaching “divisive” material.
Parents and students are essentially encouraged to report on teachers to the state. The implication is that teachers can’t be trusted.
Streaming a podcast for profit is not the same as teaching a language arts or history class. But this week, the simple act of playing a song or reading a book feels like a political statement.
