The New Middle by Tanzina Vega
As a journalist, inequality is my jam. In this podcast I take 15 minutes of your week to talk about what’s creating inequality, how work is a proxy for that and how middle class and working class Americans are surviving and thriving. Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Never miss an update.
Writings featured in
The Boston Globe
Tanzina is a contributing Globe Opinion writer.
See a collection of featured articles below.
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Democrats lost the working class. How does the party move forward?
By Tanzina Vega
When Democrats talk about the economy, they often neglect the very real feelings of day-to-day Americans who simply aren't making enough to feel comfortable. -
The financial fragility of single parents who need child care
By Tanzina Vega
If women fall out of the workforce because they can't afford child care, few of them have enough of a financial cushion to get back on track. -
Argh! The rage-inducing state of customer service
By Tanzina Vega
Raise your hand if you haven't had at least one bad customer service interaction within the past year. Exactly.
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Work isn't working for a lot of America
By Tanzina Vega
Many Americans are looking very closely at the fine print of their contracts and realizing they want something more.
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The psychological abuse of workplace bullying
By Tanzina Vega
Massachusetts employment law covers discrimination against workers who are considered part of a protected class, which is defined by a person’s race or ethnicity, disability, gender, age, or religion.
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Hotlines for parents in mental health crisis
By Tanzina Vega
Help is only a phone call away.
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Parenting in what feels like end times
By Tanzina Vega
I have slowly become terrified of what could happen to me, my child, or anyone else we care about. The mental load of parenting in 2023 is crushing.
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From pandemic solitude to school days: A single mother’s five-year journey
By Tanzina Vega
I love motherhood. But I learned that it alone isn’t enough for me. I still want to contribute to the conversation about what’s happening in our country.
Writings featured in
The New York Times
Tanzina is a contributing New York Times writer.
See a collection of featured articles below.
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Quarantined With a Newborn, Alone
by Tanzina Vega
Raising a baby is already isolating. The pandemic highlighted how fragile my social networks are.
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Minority Gun Owners Face Balancing Act, Weighing Isolation and Stigma of Violence
By Tanzina Vega
At a time when gun issues are volatile nationally and sales are increasing, many minority gun owners are trying to balance the pros and cons of ownership with the N.R.A's unyielding stances. -
Vienna Convention Is Part of Criminal Court Routine in Immigrant-Rich Queens
By Tanzina Vega
In a windowless fluorescent haze, in the depths of Criminal Court in Queens, a
defendant making his first appearance before a judge hears a long, numbing list of forms changing hands…
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Protesters Out to Reclaim King’s Legacy, but in Era That Defies Comparison
By Tanzina Vega
On the eve of Martin Luther King’s Birthday, protesters mobilized by the shooting deaths of young blacks and outraged about racial inequality are evoking his work, denouncing what they say is an attempt to sanitize his message and using the hashtag #ReclaimMLK hoping to rekindle a new movement for social change.
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Census Considers How to Measure a More Diverse America
By Tanzina Vega
When Alexa Aviles received her census form in 2010, she was frustrated by the choices. Like all Hispanics, Ms. Aviles, a Puerto Rican who lives in Brooklyn, was first asked to identify her ethnicity and then to answer a question about her race.
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Schools’ Discipline for Girls Differs by Race and Hue
By Tanzina Vega
To hear Mikia Hutchings speak, one must lean in close, as her voice barely rises above a whisper. In report cards, her teachers describe her as “very focused,” someone who follows the rules and stays on task. So it was a surprise for her grandmother when Mikia, 12, and a friend got into trouble for writing graffiti on the walls of a gym bathroom at Dutchtown Middle School in Henry County last year.
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Lingerie Stores Enjoyed Heyday, but Now Simply Try to Survive
By Tanzina Vega
Hidden amid the hip shoe stores, stylish coffee shops and Asian markets on Orchard and Grand Streets are tiny remnants of the Lower East Side of long ago. “I’ll show you something like this for five and a quarter,” Howard Markowitz said, holding black opaque tights between his fingers, to a customer hidden behind large dark glasses. “Or do you want cheaper?”
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Two Ad Giants Chasing Google in Merger Deal
By Tanzina Vega
The merger of Omnicom and Publicis signals that advertising is now firmly in the business of collecting and selling the personal information of millions of consumers.
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The New Algorithm of Web Marketing
By Tanzina Vega
Publishers and broadcasters have long tried to offer advertisers the right audience for their products. Want to sell pick-ups to people who like sports? Buy ads at halftime during a football game. Selling luggage or airline tickets? Buy ads in the travel section of a newspaper or Web site.
Writings featured in
New of the United States
Tanzina is a contributing NOTUS writer.
See a featured article below.
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What is the single thing that has surprised you most about the second Trump administration?
The attack on basic human empathy has been astounding.
Audio
The Takeaway
Tanzina Vega is the host of WNYC Radio’s The Takeaway. She reports and speaks on issues of race, media, and inequality in the United States.
See a collection of highlights below.
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WNYC Studios/The Takeaway: After The Storm: One Year Later Puerto Ricans Reflect
An audio series on the effects of Hurricane Maria on the island’s politics, economy and social structure supported in part by the Puerto Rico Relief & Rebuilding Fund of the Partnership for New York City. I conceived, pitched, reported and hosted the series from Puerto Rico. I worked with a team of producers on the island on story development, interviewing in English and Spanish and broadcasting live from WUPR in San Juan, PR. I decided to do this because there was a lack of coverage about the island on mainstream media and I knew I would have access to places and people to tell the story accurately and build on our regular ongoing coverage of Puerto Rico.
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WNYC Studios/The Takeaway: Hysterical: Women and Rage
Women aren’t supposed to be angry. In professional and societal settings, female anger is often described as “bitchy” or “hostile.” According to research done by Ann Kring at the University of California, Berkeley, women experience more shame and embarrassment after an “anger episode” though men and women self-report comparable degrees of feeling angry. Angry women also make people uneasy and can have grave consequences in a professional setting. In this series, The Takeaway explores why women aren’t allowed to be angry and how we may be able to change those attitudes.
WNYC Studios/The Takeaway:
Justice Delayed
A series I conceived, pitched, reported and hosted during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown as courts across the country were limiting what they could do to keep cases moving. I was a former court reporter and happened to be dealing with the court system myself at the time and kept hearing about children and abuse victims not getting their cases heard. I knew these stories would be powerful, albeit limited, because of pandemic restrictions. Listen to highlights below.
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Justice Delayed: How Children are Hurting from Delays in Child Support and Custody Cases
In this segment, we're talking family court, and the backlog of child support and custody cases that have piled up over the past few months leaving parents and children from all walks of life wondering how and when these issues will be resolved.
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Justice Delayed: Court System Backlogs Leave Foster Families in the Lurch
For the next part of our ongoing series, “Justice Delayed,” The Takeaway is taking a look at how foster care systems, and foster families, were impacted by this abrupt shock to the system, and how courts are prepared to handle an expected surge of cases when normal activity resumes.
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Justice Delayed: Dysfunction in Immigration Courts System Leads to Growing Case Backlog During the Pandemic
For the next part of our ongoing series, “Justice Delayed,” The Takeaway is delving into what’s been happening within the immigration court system during the pandemic.
