Why do people — mostly men — want to throw axes and dress like lumberjacks?
Story
Posted inNonfiction
Remembering Roky Erickson
Despite ongoing personal struggle, the psychedelic rock pioneer left a singular body of work that continues to influence musicians and challenge listeners.
Posted inNonfiction
The 19th Century Lesbian Made for 21st Century Consumption
Jeanna Kadlec considers Anne Lister, the historical figure at the center of HBO’s Gentleman Jack, and the influence of other queer women who preceded her.
Posted inNonfiction
How the Cosby Story Finally Went Viral — And Why It Took So Long
A journalist who reported on the accusations long before they went viral wonders, “What kind of profession am I in, where stories have no logical reason for unfolding?”
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Story
Mama Looks for Melanin
Harmony Holiday remembers her mother’s years of trauma-bonding in search of new love, after the death of her mercurial yet brilliant father.
Posted inStory
Kristen Arnett on Taxidermy, Memory, and “Mostly Dead Things”
“What’s considered high art? What’s lowbrow? What are those things? That’s something that, as a person who like, lives at 7-Eleven, I’m extremely interested in.”
Posted inFeature, Sports, Story
The Gymnast’s Position
Aimee Trepanier was proud to showcase the pose that started her 1993 gymnastics floor routine in a billboard ad off I-15 in Salt Lake City. But when Utahns looked up, that’s not what they saw.
Posted inNonfiction
True Roots
One woman quits coloring her gray hair and investigates the human and environmental costs of this contentious female beauty standard.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Talk Like an Egyptian
Cary Barbor traverses language, culture, and class to connect with her new family.
Posted inStory
The Artificial Intelligence of the Public Intellectual
Today’s public intellectuals have their own version of the American Dream, where one person, on their own, can achieve anything — including being the smartest person in the room.