Adam Chandler
Journalist and author
Kathy Gilsinan
Author and a senior editor at Puck News
99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life
BONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy of 99% Perspiration from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Chandler and Gilsinan that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page.
“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” This phrase, arguably Thomas Edison’s most famous quote, has been drilled into the minds of generations of Americans. A straightforward iteration of the idea that innovation, discovery, and ingenuity are the result of drive and grit above all, it has also come to represent much darker myths: that hard work always leads to success and that achievement is the product of individuals and not communities. In this model, those who come out on top are there because they earned it, and everyone else needs to buckle down, glove up, and, maybe one day, they’ll get there too.
As the wealth gap widens, communities crumble, and Americans work more for less, journalist Adam Chandler raises the question: What happens when perspiration isn’t enough? To answer it in his new book 99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life, Chandler crisscrosses the country interviewing mayors, teachers, generals, pastors, construction workers, and entrepreneurs, to reveal just how untenable relying on “perspiration” as a strategy has truly become. He also delves into America’s past to reveal how our government, education system, and culture at large have woven the idea of meritocracy deep into the fabric of American society and how some of history’s most famous so-called bootstrappers really built their wealth. From George Washington to Seattle, Washington, Jay Gatsby to Bill Gates, 99% Perspiration unpacks the misguided obsession with hard work that has come to define both the American dream and nightmare, offering insight into how we got here and hope for where we may go.
Chandler is the author of Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through the Heart of America’s Fast-Food Kingdom and a recurring guest on The History Channel’s The Food That Built America. A former staff writer at The Atlantic, Chandler’s work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, WIRED, and elsewhere.
Chandler will be in conversation with Kathy Gilsinan, author of The Helpers: Profiles from the Front Lines of the Pandemic, and a senior editor at Puck News. Previously she covered the Midwest for Politico Magazine and was a senior editor and staff writer at The Atlantic, where she ran the international coverage before covering foreign policy and national security herself.
This event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.
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Upcoming Events
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99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life
Adam Chandler
Journalist and author
Kathy Gilsinan
Author and a senior editor at Puck News
ON ZOOM