Elton John was wrong when he sang that sorry seems to be the hardest word. No—nowadays the hardest word is, uh, no. Think about it. There’s a reason the villain from the first James Bond film wasn’t called Dr. Yes: Nobody likes saying no, either to themselves or to others. This story is from Kinfolk Issue Sixteen Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 47 That’s Life The quiet tyranny of clichés. Arts & Culture Issue 45 The Whole Story The power of cradle-to-grave novels. Arts & Culture Issue 43 Signal Boost How status anxiety drives culture. Arts & Culture Issue 41 Mixed Emoji Is a picture worth a thousand words? Arts & Culture Issue 38 Social Work Hettie O’Brien considers the cost of never logging off. Arts & Culture Issue 38 Memes of Communication A conversation about digital folklore.
