Our Picks

Jamie Lauren Keiles spends a week at a naturist camp to learn “why people get naked.” As she exercises, sun tans, and square dances her way through a week garbed for the most part only in shoes, she gets stripped not only of inhibitions around her own body, but also of notions around naturist intent, learning that most enthusiasts take off their clothes not for sexual reasons, but simply to feel free.

A personal essay in which Kate Abbott writes about helping her 8-year-old atheist son navigate the Cub Scouts’ “Duty to God” requirement.

A controlled rate of growth, responsible production methods and financial support of environmental causes ─ the Patagonia company has always run according to a strong philosophy, not just low-impact, but activist. It turns out that has been very good for business. Now it’s using its money and clout to fight the Trump administration, and urging other outdoor industry players to follow suit.

Alexander Chee reflects on his affinity for gin and how over the years — in its various cocktail permutations alongside vermouth in martinis and negronis — it has more than kept him company, becoming “almost a travel companion.”

An excerpt of The Hot One: a Memoir of Friendship, Sex and Murder, by Carolyn Murnick. Murnick tries to make sense of the stabbing death of her childhood best friend at 22, in 2001, just eight months after they last saw each other.

With drug resistance on the rise, the world faces a potential health catastrophe from infections we can no longer fight. One English scientist is probing toilet seats and pools of nasty stuff to find cures the way earlier scientists did: in nature.

In an effort to help her eight-year-old daughter see herself — an Asian American girl — in popular culture, Nicole Chung takes her to see Desdemona Chiang’s race-conscious production of The Winter’s Tale at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

A personal essay in which Pam Moore write about half her face becoming paralyzed after she gave birth to her second child, making her post-partum life much more challenging than anticipated.

“Without the right kind of help, Oakland could lose yet another piece of its vibrant, artistic legacy.” As affordable residences and art spaces are becoming increasingly scarce, artists in Oakland are forced to move elsewhere. Laney Tower journalists take a look at the history, present, and uncertain future of the city’s arts and culture scene.

When a well-publicized Chinese tech company raised billions of dollars to become the Netflix of China, it diversified quickly, expanded from streaming into manufacturing, and challenged Apple and Tesla. When it fell apart, it fell hard.