An American City, Inhabited Yet Abandoned By Michelle Weber “Not a single person was killed on the day of the rioting. But the following month, May, would conclude with 41 homicides — the most the city had experienced in a month since the 1970s.”
The Fertility Doctor’s Secret Children By Krista Stevens Donald Cline justified his deception with choice bible verses, so that makes everything okay.
The Power of a Neighborhood’s Name By Aaron Gilbreath When Google Maps’ data renamed an African American neighborhood, it opened up residents to the looming forces of gentrification.
A Rare Toy Heist, in a Galaxy Far, Far Away By Cheri Lucas Rowlands In 2017, the theft of a rare toy — a Boba “Rocket” Fett prototype that was never released for sale — rocked the Star Wars collecting community.
How the Pacheco Family Pivoted From Baking Bread to Burying the Bodies By Krista Stevens “For now, though, he has no plans to become a baker again.”
‘The South Is Different Now. So Are We.’ By Cheri Lucas Rowlands On two tours of the South, taken 20 years apart, Pete Candler uncovers truths about his family and the place he comes from.
“The Glitter-scurfed Frappuccinos” Is Totally the Name of My New Band By Michelle Weber Don’t disrespect the fish. Or do! It’s your dinner.
“White” Isn’t Even Neutral When You’re Talking About Paint Colors By Michelle Weber Your systems will not protect you.
Deciphering the Language of the Body in China By Aaron Gilbreath In China, a British expat learns a whole new way to speak with her body.
‘We All Live in the Great Database in the Sky’: On Silicon Valley and UFO Culture By Cheri Lucas Rowlands “The idea seems to be that we all live in the great database in the sky, occasionally summoning aliens with our minds.” Emily Harnett explores Silicon Valley’s appropriation of UFO culture.
Diabetes in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley: ‘The Inevitable Inheritance’ By Krista Stevens “We’re literally cutting people’s limbs off, when they could just be taking medication. It’s kind of crazy in a developed country.”
The Darwinian View of Our Storytelling Species By Aaron Gilbreath What the history of folktales reveals about the role storytelling played in human evolution.
Make Way for Meera By Michelle Weber She bounded up a mountain humans can only slog up, and she’s the second-best dog in the world (after your dog, obv).
Maintaining Mental Health as a Rescuer in the Grand Tetons By Krista Stevens “What was important was that each of us had been there; we all, in another way, had blood on our hands—we had all shared the same experiences. We needed each other.”
Fox & Friends in High Places By Catherine Cusick Trump’s friends are like family. And Trump hires his family.
It’s All In the Wrist (and the Blatant Lying) By Michelle Weber In these troubling economic times, you can’t amass a giant art collection without robbing a few hundred museums any more.
The Beautiful Politics of the Backyard Barter System By Krista Stevens “My farm connects me to the world, the ground, its air, its water, its fauna, and people. In an introvert-kind-of-way. Which is to say, my-kind-of-way.”
What’s a Good Hourly Wage for Developing PTSD? By Michelle Weber Asking for a friend called Facebook.
When Music Speaks to Our Experience By Aaron Gilbreath Anton Webern’s Concerto, Opus 24 had the structure that was missing from one young musician’s life.
Choosing Amputation Over Pain By Krista Stevens Swimmer Morgan Stickney opted to amputate her leg below the knee to get off of opioids and get back in the pool after a seemingly innocuous foot injury and the ensuing complications left her in pain.
At Glen Mills Schools, the Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves By Michelle Weber “Nathan quickly learned that counselors preferred to bash boys’ heads into the door of the refrigerator at the back of Lincoln Hall, hearing the distinct thud and his classmates’ screams from the next room over.”
‘Premonitions Are Impossible, and They Come True All the Time’ By Kelly Stout What if the prediction of your death could bring it about?
The Problem with Nature Writing By Aaron Gilbreath The sprawling Los Angeles Metropolitan Area is the best place in America to reassess the way we write and think about the natural world.
How Do You Shepherd If You’ve Never Had a Sheep? By Michelle Weber “You couldn’t have a particular friendship with a man, because you might end up being homosexual. And you couldn’t have a friendship with a woman, because you might end up falling in love.”
Living to Tell About It By Aaron Gilbreath Struggling with trauma, sexual objectification, and self-harm, the teenage T Kira Madden found salvation in her close relationships with other young women.
‘What Happened to You While You Were Gone?’ By Krista Stevens “There is beauty to be found in mining hidden histories, but also, in letting them rest.”
Stovetop Revenge By Michelle Weber Black women take power where they can find it, and sometimes that’s in a pot of hot, skin-searing grits.
The Problem of Too Many Hotels, Too Many Parties, and Too Many Tourists In Tulum By Cheri Lucas Rowlands From over-development to contaminated cenotes, the problems continue to pile up in the Mayan paradise formerly known as Tulum.
When Accepting Support Feels Like Becoming a Burden By Catherine Cusick When Ijeoma Oluo offers to buy her aging white mother a home, her mother worries she’s become a burden.
A Moral Center In a Decayed Ethical Universe By Michelle Weber “The best thing I did was simply respect him.”
