Grist for the Schill: New Year's Roundup!
Interviews, podcasts, and some thoughts on those last-minute donations!
Hello! This has been a wild ride of a month — as many of you know, my debut book, The Price of Humanity, was released on December 5. This may in fact be the reason you now subscribe — welcome and THANK YOU!
Yes, there is a link roundup of book press below — but I should first mention that tomorrow morning, I’ll be on NY1 for a Weekend Segment! Baby’s first live TV appearance! Video version to follow, and if you’re in New York and can catch it live at 7:45 AM, please do so!
Honestly, the best moments of the book rollout are the texts people send me of their favorite lines and chapters, the comments people have left about how much this book speaks to them. I teared up last night reading
, who wrote:
As it happens, those final three words of Julia’s are also the closing lines of Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral,” which is central to me as a person and to the chapter on Notre Dame. Friend of the Schill Eliana told me she teared up at that section, which also happens to be quite close to my heart.
I discuss why in my interview with
in Culture Study:
That interview covers Effective Altruism, LeBron James, and more, and I have loved seeing the robust response as people take the book up on the invitation to share about their experiences as nonprofit workers, donors, volunteers, and citizens interested in this multifaceted thing called philanthropy that shapes our world.
Other truly lovely discussions I’ve had about the book these past few weeks:
Factually! podcast with Adam Conover available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere you get podcasts.
Public Seminar published an excerpt from the aforementioned Notre Dame chapter, and a terrific interview with Rachel Sherman.
An interview with Doug Henwood on KPFA!
A segment on Press Play with Madeleine Brand, on KCRW!
Reviews at Inside Hook and Philanthropy News Digest!
Excerpts at Fortune and The Daily Beast!
There’s a lot more to come in 2024 — I’ll be on the
, as well as , Philanthropisms, New Books in Political Science, and more. And of course, I’m going on tour! Starting in just over a week, I’ll be at Powell’s in Portland with Bill Deresiewicz, then to The Village Well in LA with , all capped off with a glorious homecoming in Cleveland at Loganberry Books!
Finally: I know the next few days are when people make their end-of-year gifts. Something I’ve said a lot these past few weeks is that ideally, we use philanthropy to fund sanctuaries of beauty and magnificence, things that nourish us outside of the framework of direct political struggle or social crisis.
We are, of course, not in ideal circumstances. But I encourage you to think about a balance of giving that helps heal the world we have and helps build the world we want. This could look like supporting your local food bank, an antipoverty advocacy organization like Hunger Free America, and your local library, a place where all people can sit in dignity, seeking any combination of warmth and community and knowledge.
The pressures of this broken world are immense. We are in conditions of nonstop urgency. Remember that there are many ways to love humanity, and many things that make a person human. There is a difference between surviving, and coming back to life. Absolutely, help people survive — and make sure there are parts of our world that help restore all of us to our fullest, most human selves.
To a more human new year,
Amy