Thick Descriptions with Tressie McMillan Cottom

Why do we summarize things into ‘tweet length versions’? It requires the flattening of nuance and personality and information that we need to talk about complicated things. Whether it’s the 280 characters of a tweet or a clickbait headline, we’re trafficking in hollowed out means of communicating that lack space for depth and complexity. While society is in a crucial moment of trying to figure out how to communicate with folks from different backgrounds about their own identities, we aren’t going to get anywhere talking in ‘tweet length versions’. What we need are ‘thick descriptions’, which Tressie McMillan Cottom is a purveyor of. Whether it be rage, gender, or for profit colleges, McMillan Cottom is able to guide you to the deepest part of any topic and mine for meaning when you get there. Email us at [email protected] Tweet using #WITHpod Read more at nbcnews.com/whyisthishappening RELATED READING: Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom Lower Ed by Tressie McMillan Cottom RELATED EPISODES: The Personal is Political with Brittney Cooper (May 15) Political Tribalism with Amy Chua (June 12) Futureface with Alex Wagner (released July 17) School Segregation in 2018 with Nikole Hannah-Jones (July 31)