Joel Stein
Overview: Stein is an American journalist formerly associated with the LA Times who currently operates as a regular contributor to Time.
- Speaker: Reading Stein's works, you can tell he values relatable pieces; many of his stories depict events that could very well happen to anyone. for example, his piece "Me, My Liberal Wife, & What Happened When We Went to a Gun Range", he talks about how his wife "wanted to protect herself from the people who had guns to protect themselves from people who wanted to take their guns, such as her". Many married couples have considered buying a firearm, and her liberal views & the contrasts that come with it make this more believable.
- Occasion: When it comes to large occasion events that drive him, Stein's writing is mostly about the 2016 election, although he has done work over a variety of topics, like the War on Terror, Jews in Hollywood, and millennials in America. However, the immediate occasion is generally dictated by his personal life; his May 2017 article "That Time I Failed Miserably at Charming My Own Son", recounts his 2009 meeting & subsequent jealousy of Diary of A Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney over Joel's son Lazlo's preference of his book series over Stein's.
- Audience: Joel Stein's work seems to be directed at people like him, or middle aged, married, white Jewish men. Because he wants people like him to read his work, Stein's stories suddenly become more relatable (see above). He also incorporates his personal & professional life into his stories, so whether he's detailing his attempts to get his son interested in football, creating plans to leave the US after election night, or even jealousy over how other journalists have been mocked by Trump before him(and subsequent attempts to be mocked), all of his work is organic, full of passion, & above all, relatable.
- Purpose: While the specific purpose of his works do vary, Joel Stein normally writes his papers to detail the happenings of his life to others. While it may seem basic, not many of his writings tend to involve specific opinions and why you should adopt them. Looking back, the only one of his works I can definitively say wants you to adopt an opinion is "Why Old People Shouldn't Vote- & Other Ideas Unpopular With my Parents", where he argues that due to their more conservative mindsets & tendency to choose the "least progressive outcome", the elderly should be barred from voting. Shamelessly biased, but still an argument for an opinion.
- Subject: The subject of Stein's works tend to vary based on what he's writing about; what he writes about, however, generally encompass national politics, culture, and science as they relate to him and his family.
- Tone: Joel Stein has personally stated that "Time hired me with the hope that I'd make the magazine relevant to young people", so his works has a generally lighthearted tone. However, Joel's critics have frequently mocked his attempts at humor; Tom Scocca of Slate has stated his "lack of funniness is...key to understanding any phenomenon involving Stein. He is a bad & incompetent humor writer...who lacks the basic ability to control his tone & persona". Actor Kal Penn mocked a 2010 article of his relating to Indian immigration in Edison, NJ, saying the piece's stereotypes are like talking about "that African American kid who got marked absent at night school".