Good Bones is an HGTV mother-daughter fixer-upper show filmed in Indianapolis. Mina (daughter) and Karen (mom) are capable, strong, smart, and funny. They buy dilapidated houses, rip them down to the studs, and build them back up into something beautiful. During these last tumultuous weeks, escaping into their world where everything becomes beautiful in less than an hour has been a gift. My only criticisms — and they're real — is that the show is very white, very heteronormative, and on the bougie side. However, that's also a problem with the entire network. That aside, it's solid, constructive, positive-feeling reality TV where people are kind to each other, and I love it. 

For many years, I've had a client in the international education industry. These years with Trump in the White House and now with the global pandemic have put the industry in the spin cycle, and who knows where it'll be when the spinning stops. This article in the NYTimes argues for the humanities, which have been in decline as students need to have jobs when they graduate with their very expensive college degrees and their back-breaking student loans. And for that, they migrate towards majors that will get them jobs: practical degrees, not ones like literature, philosophy, history, or anthropology. 

Neither of my parents graduated from college before they had me; and yet — or maybe because of — my education was extremely important to them. And my father in particular believed in a liberal arts education. I am so grateful that he was willing to pay for a stupidly expensive education where I was able to indulge in my love of reading and English literature. It has been a solid foundation for my career, which has always at its root been about communication in some form or another. 

Our society is in the midst of a bucking bronco of a change — so much of it needed — and my hope is that we can hold on to the things that bring meaning to my life when we stumble out of the rodeo: arts of all formats, plus books, books, and even more books. Also, a deeper understanding of who we are, why we're here, and what we owe to each other. None of which we'll get with a degree in finance or business. 

When you're in the tornado of change, the humanities don't feel essential. But afterwards, when the storm is over, art and history and philosophy and critical thinking are exactly the things that help us learn from what we've experienced and allow us to move forward.