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USA Today
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Rainn Wilson thinks 'corny and hippy' hope may be the answer to this US problem
Rainn Wilson wants us to embrace hope, even if it is "corny." It's one of the actor's key takeaways from a recent summit he hosted focused on addressing division, loneliness and isolation in America. "Anyone who is delivering hope, that is what we need to do right now, to look for the hope," Wilson says in a June 27 interview with USA TODAY. "Deliver it, kindle the fire of hope − it sounds corny and hippy, but maybe we need some corny hippies in the world right now." The Share our America summit on June 11 was part of the Newmark Civic Life Series of Recanati-Kaplan Talks, and featured nearly three hours of discussions among more than a dozen researchers, activists, civic leaders and everyday Americans. Their goal is to rebuild trust and connection among people, amid a measured rise in Americans who say they feel lonely, anxious and worried about the country's future. The event's co-presenters, 92NY's Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact and The Aspen Institute's Weave: The Social Fabric Project, describe the event as a response to a "crisis of community and broken connection." Gannett and its USA TODAY Network were the exclusive media sponsors of the event. The summit's speakers included David Brooks, longtime columnist for The New York Times and founder of The Aspen Institute's Weave project, TV host Mike Rowe, creator and host of "Dirty Jobs" and "Somebody's Gotta Do It," CEO of AmeriCorps Michael D. Smith and Michael McCarter, Gannett Opinion Editor. Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute on NBC's "The Office," served as host of the event. Though the actor is also known for his work in climate change activism and for his book and podcast encouraging a "spiritual revolution," Wilson said the conference's focus on division is another symptom of the same underlying malady he wants to help address. "We're disconnected and there's something kind of deeply, profoundly wrong with contemporary society,' he says. "Whether it's being in harmony with our nature and climate, or making sure the poorest among us get an education, or bringing people with different political views together and creating community, it's all part of one imbalance." Study: LGBTQ youth, family relocate amid increasing anxiety over laws directed at them Surgeon general advisory: Parents need mental health support amid youth crisis Gallup, one of the nation's leading public opinion research organizations, has observed in its polling data greater pessimism about the state of the nation, widening ideological divides and an erosion of national unity over the past decade. Its research mirrors conclusions from numerous other polls and surveys, showing an increasingly divided and turbulent country. More than seven in 10 adults reported that the future of the nation is a significant source of stress in their lives in an August survey from the American Psychological Association. According to a September Gallup poll, a record-high 80% of U.S. adults believe Americans are greatly divided on the most important values, alongside record-low levels of trust in government and confidence in U.S. institutions. A more recent poll released by Gallup on June 30 found 58% of U.S. adults say they are proud to be an American, down nine percentage points from last year and five points below the previous record-low in 2020. In the face of such concerning trends, summit organizers Frederick Riley and Rebekah Shrestha wrote in a June 5 op-ed for USA TODAY that the answer lies in part in small, local actions, like talking to a neighbor, or joining a volunteer group or nonprofit. In his book, "Soul Boom," and in the podcast of the same name he hosts, Wilson has urged for a "spiritual revolution" to foster healthier connections and communities, emphasizing the importance of service to others. It's the small initiatives, he says, that are cause for hope for the future, pointing to the projects highlighted in the summit, like the U.S. Army veteran teaching blacksmithing skills to other veterans, or local leaders building gathering spaces to foster connection, arts and education. "I think the biggest kind of global pandemic is people feeling like the situation is hopeless, that they're powerless and can't do anything to change it," Wilson said, reflecting on the summit. "That's a disease that has to be snuffed out, whether through local politics or activism, through union work, education work, and through building community on the local level." The full summit can be viewed on 92NY's website. Kathryn Palmer is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kapalmer@ and on X @KathrynPlmr.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hillary Clinton blasts Vance, Musk for encouraging higher birthrates, says immigrants can do that instead
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk are pushing America to boost its birthrate to "return to being a Christian nation." On May 1, Clinton spoke at the Newmark Civic Life Series in Manhattan at the 92nd Street Y, New York. She argued that there is a "very blatant effort to basically send a message, most exemplified by Vance and Musk, and others, that, you know, what we really need from you women are more children… and what that really means is 'You should go back to doing what you were born to do, which is to produce more children.'" Musk, who has fathered 10 children with three women, has repeatedly voiced his concerns about the threat posed by a declining population, often advocating for policies that encourage childbearing. Vance also encouraged building families during his speech at the March for Life in January, declaring, "I want more babies in the United States of America. I want more happy children in our country, and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them." Hillary Clinton Bashes Republican Women, Says Gop Female President Would Be 'Handmaiden To The Patriarchy' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday detailed a provision of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" that would codify "MAGA" savings accounts for new parents. Read On The Fox News App Clinton criticized various programs Republicans have proposed to boost the American birthrate, arguing such policies have failed elsewhere. At the same time, she argued that Republicans are gutting many programs that actually help new parents. "This is another performance about concerns they allegedly have for family life, but if you had read the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, despite Trump saying he knew nothing about it, if you had read it, it's all in there. It's all in there," the former first lady said in the interview. "'Return to the family, the nuclear family, return to being a Christian nation, return to producing a lot of children' — which is sort of odd because the people who produce the most children in our country are immigrants, and they want to deport them. So none of this adds up," she continued. Clinton also argued that immigrants, whether legal or illegal, have made the American economy exceptional by adding to the workforce, while other countries have struggled with demographic decline. "One of the reasons why our economy did so much better than comparable advanced economies across the world is because we actually had a replenishment, because we had a lot of immigrants, legally and undocumented, who had a, you know, larger than normal - by American standards - families," she said. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture "So, this is just another one of their, you know, 'Make America Great Again' by returning to the lifestyles and the economic arrangements of not just the 1950s, I mean, let's keep going back as far as we can. And, you know, see what happens," Clinton added. This is the latest example of Clinton blasting pro-life Republicans as hypocritical on family article source: Hillary Clinton blasts Vance, Musk for encouraging higher birthrates, says immigrants can do that instead
