Episode 30: We're Cooked: America's Literacy Crisis, Burnout & The Cost of Speaking Up

Episode 30: We're Cooked: America's Literacy Crisis, Burnout & The Cost of Speaking Up

From Two Personal with Joy Taylor by Joy Taylor

July 14, 2026 · 29 min · Season 3 · Episode 30

About this episode

Joy and Hayley discuss America's literacy crisis, burnout, and the complexities of community and speaking up.

This week Joy and Hayley discuss America's growing literacy crisis, why critical thinking is disappearing, whether speaking publicly about important issues actually creates change, burnout from always showing up for everyone else, and the difference between wanting community versus committing to it. They wrap up with a hilarious Never Two Personal about girls trips, guys trips, and relationship double standards. 00:00 – Intro 00:19 – America's literacy crisis: the stats 02:15 – Growing up with strict reading rules 04:47 – "A stupid population is easier to control" 06:37 – The history of literacy as a control tactic 08:56 – Has Joy's relationship with speaking up changed? 11:52 – Is speaking out even making a difference? 16:04 – "Everyone's person, but not many are mine" 18:56 – Asking for help & letting go of shame 21:47 – Burnout: "My nervous system is shot" 22:33 – Never Two Personal: Girls trip vs. guys trip 28:23 – Outro See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Joy Taylor

Guest: Hayley

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: America

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