What is not ending, however, are the effects of The Great Recession — which we tried to capture by going directly to the source. The country may, as macroeconomic statistics indicate, be experiencing an economic recovery, but just when the bulk of people will feel “recovered,” that is an open question.

I believe it is the psychic effects that will linger longest. As I join the ranks of the unemployed, whom I so assiduously chronicled these last nine months, I have to admit I do not feel mentally prepared. (Even though, unlike millions of others who have found themselves looking for work, I always knew just when this job would end.) Because while dipping into the multitude of blogs that expressed the anxiety of having been laid off or in debt or without work for so long was a little depressing, I also experienced, I must confess, an element of subconscious relief that at least it wasn’t me.

Now, like all those unemployed bloggers out there, I too must cope with the emotional questions that accompany uncertainty about the future. Did we save enough money? How much is pre-school for our toddler going to cost? What about health insurance?

Certainly, these are circumstances that are not as desperate as those experienced by many who have been hammered by the globe-rattling events of the last few years. But that never helps the feelings. It’s been a rough decade since the end of what is often called The American Century: September 11, two stock market crashes, Afghanistan, Iraq, Katrina, a global financial meltdown, and a vicious recession, all occurring amidst a polarized political process that at best seems to be treading water and at worst feels totally incapable of dealing with the severity of mounting systemic failure. Both as a relatively new father and as a citizen, I rarely have a moment these days when that gnawing worry isn’t just below the surface. What next? I think. What next?

Sometimes it helps to remember that recent American generations have had to deal with worse — world wars, Vietnam, a genuine economic depression, and the omnipresent threat of nuclear annihilation.

And sometimes it doesn’t.

I am optimistic about one thing, at least: the power of the Internet to connect people who are in otherwise extremely isolating circumstances. As I have learned on this job, whether it’s through personal blogs, Flickr photos, YouTube videos, Facebook posts, or Twitter feeds, it’s never been easier — or more rewarding — to communicate with those you’ve never met and find out what they’re thinking, feeling, and just… how they are.

In the long run, this can only be a good thing.

Thanks PRX and thanks CPB for the opportunity to work on a highly satisfying and extremely interesting project.

Good luck everyone. See ya on the Web!

-Jon Brooks

1. Geography of a recession (Nov 30, 2009)

This is an animated map of unemployment rates by county, from January 2007 to the present. As the map turns from lighter (more employed) to darker (less), you get a sense of the economy’s deterioration. Click on the map and hit play to see it do its thing.

The complete top-post list, in reverse order:

• 25. Colorado Springs: City of the future? – Anti-tax haven Colorado Springs finds itself in desperate fiscal straits, touching off schadenfreude and defensiveness on the Web.
• 24. Sub-prime the Musical – college student creates series of podcasts on the causes of the credit crisis and, naturally, adds song parodies to illustrate the concepts.
• 23. Friday photo gallery Nov 20, 2009
• 22. The Skyscraper Index – This metric shows that the world’s tallest buildings rise on the eve of economic downturns.
• 22. Chances of passing a health care bill – On March 10, Bush administration economist Keith Hennessey upped the chances of health care’s passage from 10% to 40%.

• 22. Friday photo gallery Oct. 30, 2009
• 21. If persons were treated like corporations – Political cartoon from Kevin Moore’s In Contempt site.
• 20. Rappin’ economics – Rap adaptation of the classic econ textbook “Principles of Economics.”
• 19. Friday photo gallery Oct. 9 2009
• 18. Facebook “likes” by city – 210 million Facebook profiles broken down into which pages users click the “like” button on, organized by city.
• 17. Repaired Things – The blog – collection of pictures of things that have been repaired
• 16. Podcast: Local currency bucks the dollar – cash-strapped communities throughout the U.S. make their own money
• 16. Defriending over health care – Did you defriend anyone on Facebook, or were you defriended, in the midst of the furious health care debate?
• 16. Cards of change – altered business cards uploaded by people who have either been laid off or experienced a change in career situation

• 15. Who are the worst tippers? – Waiters comment on which groups of people are the worst tippers, and no one is spared.
• 14. 100 Motivational Blog Posts for the Unemployed – practical and emotional tips, tools, and resources
• 14. Teabonics – misspellings spotted on Tea Party rally signs
• 13. Facebook connections analyzed – interactive Facebook map with lines drawn between geographical areas that share a lot of friends
• 13. Friday photo gallery Nov 6 2009

• 12. Happy all the time – diary of a McDonald’s Happy Meal purchase, in which the subject of the experiment stays unnaturally fresh for a whole year
• 12. Merry Recession! – Recession-themed Christmas cards

• 11. Living Craigslist – Unemployed college grad travels cross-country using only Craigslist.

• 11. Who’s paying taxes?; Distribution of wealth – charts showing which income levels pay what percentage of taxes in the U.S., and the distribution of net worth and wealth
• 10. The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness – 24-year-old Brianna Karp’s blog about losing her job and falling into homelessness
• 9. Best of Craigslist: Economy version – Craigslist-user nominations of posts that are particularly interesting and humorous also serve as indicators of the rotten economy.
• 8. Pretend Office – Freelancers write pretend email messages about pretend office matters.

• 7. The H&M incident – After a student notices that retailer H&M is dumping unsold garments, a p.r. nightmare for the company unfolds on the web.
• 6. Who are the worst tippers? – another round of waiters commenting on which groups of people they think are the most penurious when it comes to tipping
• 5. Bush tax cuts vs. Obama health care – chart showing the relative impact on the budget of the two Bush tax cuts vs. the Obama health care plan
• 4. Funny unemployment photos – from the blog Unemploymentality
• 3. “Who the hell is John-Boy?” – blog post arguing that the American corporation, dominated by baby-boomer management, is out of touch with the youth culture that drives much of Americans’ spending

• 2. Health care reform explained on the back of a napkin – Simple graphics illustrate a topic that baffled most Americans for an entire year.
• 1. Geography of a recession – animated map of unemployment rates by county, from January 2007 to the present. As the map turns from lighter (more employed) to darker (less), you get a sense of the economy’s deterioration.

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More photos here

Check out this story on PRX, and then, write a review.

I am a Bill Collector, ask me anything.

Extracts:

Question:

I’ve had my share of ER bills and more than a few of them have gone unpaid. When the collection agency starts calling, I tried to politely explain that I just couldn’t pay because I didn’t have any money. I have lost my temper on a few occasions, particularly when a debt collector suggested I take out a loan to pay my unpaid medical bills. So my question is this: how much influence do you have over an individual’s credit rating? At what point does the uncollected bill start to effect my credit rating? If I start ranting and raving at you, do you just press a button that says I defaulted or didn’t pay or something like that?

Reply:

Every time i contact a person i make a note of it on my system. Everytime you tell me something that is worthwhile i note it. If you say you are expecting a tax return or getting an inheritance or mention an available balance. .. Sometimes my company does the credit reporting and sometimes the company does the credit reporting. Every client is different; some request credit reporting at 30 days some request at 110 days and some don’t credit report at all.

Question:

Any crazy stories you wanna share?

Reply:

I did have a gentleman threaten to come to my office and kill me. He then went into great detail as to how he was going to accomplish this. I was just trying to help him prevent litigation; he wasn’t having it.

Response to the reply:

Having worked in collections for a few years, I can safely say that after the first few months, hardly anything gets to you. There was a time when the local economy was really bad and I was getting death threats on a weekly basis and it just made my day. Like covering the phone while laughing my ass off. Same goes for my coworkers. Those that last awhile anyway. I don’t think this makes us bad people, but when subjected to this kind of shit you just become numb. (Some) things got to me though;

First, mothers crying over the phone telling you they can’t afford to feed their children (Seriously how are we supposed to deal with that?)

(Also), people that actually are or do a really good over-the-phone impression of someone possessed. Going all Book of revelations on me is only going to piss me off and sign you up for some extra costly legal letters.

Question:

Is there anything I can do to get out of a bill collecting? Just not answer for so long? Make up a sob story? Anything?

Reply:

You could send a letter to the collection agency stating that you wish them to cease and desist all contact with you. I have heard EVERY sob story and i am pretty much heartless. i don’t care about your personal problem i am just focused on the money. Sounds heartless but its how i pay my bills too!

Question:

I’ve had the same cell phone number for close to 2 years, but the jerk who previously owned the number STILL GIVES IT OUT. I keep getting calls from his creditors, and they won’t believe me when I say I am not him. Is there any way I can actually convince these bill collectors or is there a good way I can burn the jerk who gives out a phone number he lost more than 2 years ago?

Reply:

I would try telling the creditors that they are calling you at work. Once they know its a work number the have to LEGALLY stop calling.

Question:

What does bill collecting entail, besides the obvious?

Reply:

I do searching for new numbers to people who we cannot contact. I advise people who are in debt how to resolve them and give consequences doe non payment.

.

Sept, 2001

“the new housing boom is another rapidly inflating asset bubble financed by the same loose money practices that fuelled the stock market bubble.”

Aug, 2002

“While the short-term effects of a housing bubble appear very beneficial—just as was the case with the stock bubble and the dollar bubble—the long-term effects from its eventual deflation can be extremely harmful, both to the economy as a whole, and to tens of millions of families that will see much of their equity disappear unexpectedly. The economy will lose an important source of demand as housing construction plummets and the wealth effect goes into reverse. This will slow an economy already reeling from the effects of the collapse of the stock bubble of 1999, … Unfortunately, most of the nation’s political and economic leadership remained oblivious to the dangers of the stock market and dollar bubbles until they began to deflate. This failure created the basis for the economic uncertainty the country currently faces … [which] will be aggravated further by the deflation of the housing bubble. This process will prove even more painful if the housing bubble is allowed to expand still further before collapsing.”

2003

“I am very pessimistic. We are heading into something in the world which is worse than what we experienced in 1982. It will be the worst recession since the Second World War.”

“The reckless financial policies of leading western powers in the last two decades make it likely that the next seismic debt crisis will be in America, not Argentina. It can be avoided . . . only by serious efforts to bring regulation and balance to the international economy.”

“There will be a collapse in the credit system in the rich world, led by the United States.”

2. Health care reform explained on the back of a napkin – Simple graphics illustrate a topic that baffled most Americans for an entire year. (Oct 14, 2009)

Original post:

After reading countless articles and opinion pieces on the health care debate, and watching dozens of talking heads slug it out over individual mandates, insurance co-ops, and the public option, we remained thoroughly confused. So we decided the only thing left to do was to turn to the explanatory device of the napkin. This was worked up by leading visual thinker Dan Roam and Dr. C. Anthony Jones.

Click on the forward arrow to advance the slides, or choose Autoplay from the menu.

Previous top-post entries:

• 25. Colorado Springs: City of the future? – Anti-tax haven Colorado Springs finds itself in desperate fiscal straits, touching off schadenfreude and defensiveness on the Web.
• 24. Sub-prime the Musical – college student creates series of podcasts on the causes of the credit crisis and, naturally, adds song parodies to illustrate the concepts.
• 23. Friday photo gallery Nov 20, 2009
• 22. The Skyscraper Index – This metric shows that the world’s tallest buildings rise on the eve of economic downturns.
• 22. Chances of passing a health care bill – On March 10, Bush administration economist Keith Hennessey upped the chances of health care’s passage from 10% to 40%.

• 22. Friday photo gallery Oct. 30, 2009
• 21. If persons were treated like corporations – Political cartoon from Kevin Moore’s In Contempt site.
• 20. Rappin’ economics – Rap adaptation of the classic econ textbook “Principles of Economics.”
• 19. Friday photo gallery Oct. 9 2009
• 18. Facebook “likes” by city – 210 million Facebook profiles broken down into which pages users click the “like” button on, organized by city.
• 17. Repaired Things – The blog – collection of pictures of things that have been repaired
• 16. Podcast: Local currency bucks the dollar – cash-strapped communities throughout the U.S. make their own money
• 16. Defriending over health care – Did you defriend anyone on Facebook, or were you defriended, in the midst of the furious health care debate?
• 16. Cards of change – altered business cards uploaded by people who have either been laid off or experienced a change in career situation

• 15. Who are the worst tippers? – Waiters comment on which groups of people are the worst tippers, and no one is spared.
• 14. 100 Motivational Blog Posts for the Unemployed – practical and emotional tips, tools, and resources
• 14. Teabonics – misspellings spotted on Tea Party rally signs
• 13. Facebook connections analyzed – interactive Facebook map with lines drawn between geographical areas that share a lot of friends
• 13. Friday photo gallery Nov 6 2009

• 12. Happy all the time – diary of a McDonald’s Happy Meal purchase, in which the subject of the experiment stays unnaturally fresh for a whole year
• 12. Merry Recession! – Recession-themed Christmas cards

• 11. Living Craigslist – Unemployed college grad travels cross-country using only Craigslist.

• 11. Who’s paying taxes?; Distribution of wealth – charts showing which income levels pay what percentage of taxes in the U.S., and the distribution of net worth and wealth
• 10. The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness – 24-year-old Brianna Karp’s blog about losing her job and falling into homelessness
• 9. Best of Craigslist: Economy version – Craigslist-user nominations of posts that are particularly interesting and humorous also serve as indicators of the rotten economy.
• 8. Pretend Office – Freelancers write pretend email messages about pretend office matters.

• 7. The H&M incident – After a student notices that retailer H&M is dumping unsold garments, a p.r. nightmare for the company unfolds on the web.
• 6. Who are the worst tippers? – another round of waiters commenting on which groups of people they think are the most penurious when it comes to tipping
• 5. Bush tax cuts vs. Obama health care – chart showing the relative impact on the budget of the two Bush tax cuts vs. the Obama health care plan
• 4. Funny unemployment photos – from the blog Unemploymentality
• 3. “Who the hell is John-Boy?” – blog post arguing that the American corporation, dominated by baby-boomer management, is out of touch with the youth culture that drives much of Americans’ spending

3. “Who the hell is John-Boy?” – blog post arguing that the American corporation, dominated by baby-boomer management, is out of touch with the youth culture that drives much of Americans’ spending (Mar 15, 2010)

Original post:

On Grant McCracken’s blog, which “sits at the intersection of anthropology and economics,” this post argues that the American corporation is out of touch with much of the country’s population.

The John-Boy Problem (Boomer managers out of touch)

Let’s say we are a luxury car company. We’re doing a year-end review of marketing. We’re looking at everything, including person who supplies the “voice over” for our ads.

The room is filled with around 25 people. This room is mostly Boomers with 8 Gen Xers and 4 Gen Yers (aka Millennials).

“I say we stay with John-Boy,” says the most powerful person in the room. There is a pause as other Boomers nod their heads sagely. Richard Thomas has been the voice of the brand for many years.

But Generations X and Y are thinking, “Who the hell is John-Boy?” They don’t say anything. Then the penny drops. “Oh, they must mean that guy Richard Thomas.”

Their confusion is forgivable. Richard Thomas starred in a TV series called The Waltons, a show that ended in 1981. That’s almost thirty years ago. The oldest Generation Xer was 20 in 1981, the youngest was born that year. No member of Generation Y was watching TV in 1981. For Generation Z, Richard Thomas might as well be a Martian.

For half the room, Richard Thomas is just “some guy.” Actually, he’s just “some guy” for half the country. Certainly, it’s true that Boomers buy most of the luxury cars in this country, but this will not last. And in the meantime, we have 3 generations listening to a voice that means nothing to them.

And this is just odd. As these markets mature towards the age and income, the corporation insists in addressing them in a voice they do not recognize.

I believe this problem plays out in the corporate world several times a day. Boomers make choice that work for their culture, for the world they know. And the other half of the room (and the market) is left to wonder, “Who is the hell is John-Boy?”

The John-Boy problem is bigger than it seems. The American corporation is not just bad at youth culture, it’s out of touch with a good deal of the American world. It doesn’t have any real feeling for the ethnic variety of America, the alternative and indie movements, the constant ebb and flow of lifestyle, the churn in the sports world. What is happening in the world of music, film, sports (post arena), art, and social media? For that matter, what is happening in the kitchens of the American heartland? Even this is changing. Even this is mysterious.

The corporation needs to know. It’s not enough to bring in the cool hunters and trend consultants. These people have no vested interests. Frankly, they disdain the corporation for being clueless. No, the corporation need its own internal brain trust, stock of knowledge, and enduring mastery of American culture. Anything else is just guessing. And guessing is something the corporation is not allowed to do.

The inverse of this is that it took me months to figure out that Lady Gaga wasn’t some aristocratic infant with a great press agent…

Previous top-post entries:

• 25. Colorado Springs: City of the future? – Anti-tax haven Colorado Springs finds itself in desperate fiscal straits, touching off schadenfreude and defensiveness on the Web.
• 24. Sub-prime the Musical – college student creates series of podcasts on the causes of the credit crisis and, naturally, adds song parodies to illustrate the concepts.
• 23. Friday photo gallery Nov 20, 2009
• 22. The Skyscraper Index – This metric shows that the world’s tallest buildings rise on the eve of economic downturns.
• 22. Chances of passing a health care bill – On March 10, Bush administration economist Keith Hennessey upped the chances of health care’s passage from 10% to 40%.

• 22. Friday photo gallery Oct. 30, 2009
• 21. If persons were treated like corporations – Political cartoon from Kevin Moore’s In Contempt site.
• 20. Rappin’ economics – Rap adaptation of the classic econ textbook “Principles of Economics.”
• 19. Friday photo gallery Oct. 9 2009
• 18. Facebook “likes” by city – 210 million Facebook profiles broken down into which pages users click the “like” button on, organized by city.
• 17. Repaired Things – The blog – collection of pictures of things that have been repaired
• 16. Podcast: Local currency bucks the dollar – cash-strapped communities throughout the U.S. make their own money
• 16. Defriending over health care – Did you defriend anyone on Facebook, or were you defriended, in the midst of the furious health care debate?
• 16. Cards of change – altered business cards uploaded by people who have either been laid off or experienced a change in career situation

• 15. Who are the worst tippers? – Waiters comment on which groups of people are the worst tippers, and no one is spared.
• 14. 100 Motivational Blog Posts for the Unemployed – practical and emotional tips, tools, and resources
• 14. Teabonics – misspellings spotted on Tea Party rally signs
• 13. Facebook connections analyzed – interactive Facebook map with lines drawn between geographical areas that share a lot of friends
• 13. Friday photo gallery Nov 6 2009

• 12. Happy all the time – diary of a McDonald’s Happy Meal purchase, in which the subject of the experiment stays unnaturally fresh for a whole year
• 12. Merry Recession! – Recession-themed Christmas cards

• 11. Living Craigslist – Unemployed college grad travels cross-country using only Craigslist.

• 11. Who’s paying taxes?; Distribution of wealth – charts showing which income levels pay what percentage of taxes in the U.S., and the distribution of net worth and wealth
• 10. The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness – 24-year-old Brianna Karp’s blog about losing her job and falling into homelessness
• 9. Best of Craigslist: Economy version – Craigslist-user nominations of posts that are particularly interesting and humorous also serve as indicators of the rotten economy.
• 8. Pretend Office – Freelancers write pretend email messages about pretend office matters.

• 7. The H&M incident – After a student notices that retailer H&M is dumping unsold garments, a p.r. nightmare for the company unfolds on the web.
• 6. Who are the worst tippers? – another round of waiters commenting on which groups of people they think are the most penurious when it comes to tipping
• 5. Bush tax cuts vs. Obama health care – chart showing the relative impact on the budget of the two Bush tax cuts vs. the Obama health care plan
• 4. Funny unemployment photos – from the blog Unemploymentality

4. Funny unemployment photos – from the blog Unemploymentality (Nov 6, 2009)

Previous top-post entries:

• 25. Colorado Springs: City of the future? – Anti-tax haven Colorado Springs finds itself in desperate fiscal straits, touching off schadenfreude and defensiveness on the Web.
• 24. Sub-prime the Musical – college student creates series of podcasts on the causes of the credit crisis and, naturally, adds song parodies to illustrate the concepts.
• 23. Friday photo gallery Nov 20, 2009
• 22. The Skyscraper Index – This metric shows that the world’s tallest buildings rise on the eve of economic downturns.
• 22. Chances of passing a health care bill – On March 10, Bush administration economist Keith Hennessey upped the chances of health care’s passage from 10% to 40%.

• 22. Friday photo gallery Oct. 30, 2009
• 21. If persons were treated like corporations – Political cartoon from Kevin Moore’s In Contempt site.
• 20. Rappin’ economics – Rap adaptation of the classic econ textbook “Principles of Economics.”
• 19. Friday photo gallery Oct. 9 2009
• 18. Facebook “likes” by city – 210 million Facebook profiles broken down into which pages users click the “like” button on, organized by city.
• 17. Repaired Things – The blog – collection of pictures of things that have been repaired
• 16. Podcast: Local currency bucks the dollar – cash-strapped communities throughout the U.S. make their own money
• 16. Defriending over health care – Did you defriend anyone on Facebook, or were you defriended, in the midst of the furious health care debate?
• 16. Cards of change – altered business cards uploaded by people who have either been laid off or experienced a change in career situation

• 15. Who are the worst tippers? – Waiters comment on which groups of people are the worst tippers, and no one is spared.
• 14. 100 Motivational Blog Posts for the Unemployed – practical and emotional tips, tools, and resources
• 14. Teabonics – misspellings spotted on Tea Party rally signs
• 13. Facebook connections analyzed – interactive Facebook map with lines drawn between geographical areas that share a lot of friends
• 13. Friday photo gallery Nov 6 2009

• 12. Happy all the time – diary of a McDonald’s Happy Meal purchase, in which the subject of the experiment stays unnaturally fresh for a whole year
• 12. Merry Recession! – Recession-themed Christmas cards

• 11. Living Craigslist – Unemployed college grad travels cross-country using only Craigslist.

• 11. Who’s paying taxes?; Distribution of wealth – charts showing which income levels pay what percentage of taxes in the U.S., and the distribution of net worth and wealth
• 10. The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness – 24-year-old Brianna Karp’s blog about losing her job and falling into homelessness
• 9. Best of Craigslist: Economy version – Craigslist-user nominations of posts that are particularly interesting and humorous also serve as indicators of the rotten economy.
• 8. Pretend Office – Freelancers write pretend email messages about pretend office matters.

• 7. The H&M incident – After a student notices that retailer H&M is dumping unsold garments, a p.r. nightmare for the company unfolds on the web.
• 6. Who are the worst tippers? – another round of waiters commenting on which groups of people they think are the most penurious when it comes to tipping

5. Bush tax cuts vs. Obama health care – chart showing the relative impact on the budget of the two Bush tax cuts vs. the Obama health care plan

Check out this story on PRX and then, write a review.