[Online] The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others

Join The Better Life Lab at New America and the CareForce to discuss the transformative power of care. Care is a long-ignored force in our collective and political lives, as well as a deeply philosophical, spiritual, and psychologically potent experience, explored in the new book by Elissa Strauss, When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others. 

Drawing on research into parenting and caregiving and her own experiences as a mother, Strauss delves into the history and power of care in our lives and communities. With a curiosity and desire to more fully understand one of humanity’s most profound and essential relationships, she interrogates our societal obsession with going at it alone. She poses a challenge to let ourselves be transformed by the act of caregiving.

When You Care weaves historical anecdotes and science with conversations with parents and caregivers to the young, old, disabled, ill, and more, revealing a rich array of insights about how care shapes us on the inside and the outside, for the better.

Elissa will be joined in conversation about the power of care, transforming narratives, and intergenerational connection by Sian-Pierre Regis, a New America National Fellow, who is featured in the book and whose journey as a caregiver to his mother was the focus of his debut documentary, Duty Free.

About the Speakers:

Welcome remarks will be given by Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America.

Elissa Strauss has been writing about the politics and culture of parenting and caregiving for more than fifteen years. Her work appears in publications like The Atlantic, The New York Times, Glamour, ELLE, TheWeek.com and elsewhere, and she was a former contributing writer at CNN.com and Slate. Her book, When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others, is out April 2024 from Gallery Books. She lives in Oakland, California, with her husband and two sons.

Sian-Pierre Regis, National Fellow, is a former journalist (CNN, MTV, HLN) turned documentary filmmaker whose debut feature, Duty Free, was a #1 Apple News story and distributed by Independent Lens on PBS. Expanding on the core issues of care and intergenerational connection, Raising Adults is Regis’s latest podcast project that will uplift stories of modern families who—by choice or circumstance—are living multi-generationally in America today.

The conversation will be moderated by Katherine Goldstein, a journalist and Care Reporting Fellow for the Better Life Lab at New America and the director of The CareForce, a network of 350+ builders, advocates, funders, storytellers, and researchers who are a driving force in reimagining how we care. She also writes The Double Shift newsletter.

About Us:
The Better Life Lab at New America works to change narratives and shape equitable public policy, workplace practice, and cultural attitudes through solutions-focused research, compelling multimedia journalism, thought leadership, and practical tools. We share with broad audiences to elevate the value of care, intersectional gender equity, and work-family justice and well-being, particularly for those most disadvantaged by the status quo.

The CareForce is a driving force in reimagining how we care. We are a group of 350+ builders, advocates, funders, storytellers, and researchers across public, private and social sectors. Our mission is to work together to transform and elevate care in all of its forms. We seek to do this through narrative and political change, care research, care policy, and the care economy.