The Dailies

Word of the Day

Patois (n., pah-TWAH)

The dialect of a region or the specific jargon of a group. This word marks you as part of people who like learning weird words. Congratulations! You're one of us now.

Gif of the Day

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Link of the Day

How HGTV continued the housing bubble

We first became aware of this longform article at Vulture a month or so ago. It was a good read. But as we've chewed on the article, it's stuck with us because of its thesis: HGTV is continuing the housing bubble.

HGTV depends on the dream that has been with us since the saltboxes of New England and the Spanish bungalows of Southern California and the Leisuramas of Montauk: that if you can just get the right house — the one that looks like your friends’ houses look, only a little bit better — your family will pour into it, like thick cream into a pitcher: smooth, fluid, pleasing. Who could get a divorce in a house with so many lush towels rolled up in the master bathroom? Who could raise a sullen teen when there is a “great room” where the family can gather for nachos and football on the big screen?

We are supposed to be in rehab from our housing binge of ten years ago, the one that nearly bankrupted the country. We are supposed to be in a state of contrition. But our national love of HGTV suggests that the dream won’t die. The longing it addresses is impervious to market corrections, or personal financial realities, and as economists continue to explore the true causes of the 2008 financial crisis, they are beginning to suspect that some speculative Americans acting on that longing got us into that mess as much as — or more than — unscrupulous bankers or Wall Street. In fact, the network may now be tempting its millions of fans to dip their toes back into the most dangerous waters of the past crisis: flipping.

It's well worth a read. Go check it out on Vulture.

TagsWritingHGTVLongform articlesThink carefullyBubblesLiving in a world of wonder?