This is How You Say Goodbye
A personal essay in which, after losing two brothers and a cousin in a short amount of time, Lillian Slugocki tries to make sense of death — and life in the wake of others’ passing.
A Muslim, a Christian, and a Baby Named ‘God’
A personal essay in which Rachel Jones, a Christian American living in Djibouti, reflects on her friendship with a Muslim woman there, and the more universal aspects of faith.
In Praise of Cowardice
A humorous personal essay in which Emily Meg Weinstein considers the ways in which her grandfather’s less than heroic choices in love and war led to her existence.
The Human Cost of the Ghost Economy
A reported personal essay in which Melissa Chadburn writes about her work, under cover, as a temp, and considers the effects of temporary employment on those who have limited power and little choice but to work for low wages with no job security. With support from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
Finding My Identity By the Light of My Mother’s Menorah
A personal essay in which Santi Elijah Holley, the African American son of a white mother, revisits Hannukahs past with his Jewish forebears.
Derivative Sport: The Journalistic Legacy of David Foster Wallace
Editors and writers discuss the ways David Foster Wallace’s work influenced them and what it was like to work with him.
The Consent of the (Un)Governed
“The search for a more human understanding of power and consent is not simply stage-dressing for a bigger fight. It is the big fight. It’s all about the grabby old men, and it always has been.”
The Joys and Sorrows of Watching My Own Birth
A personal essay in which Shelby Vittek reflects on the bittersweet experience of watching the video of herself being born — and her now-divorced mom and dad becoming parents — again and again.
Assertiveness Training
A personal essay in which Susan Sheu considers her estrangement from her conservative mom, who tried to teach her to stand up and be heard in a male-dominated world — but not to be too unladylike about it.
Ushering My Father to a (Mostly) Good Death
A personal essay in which Karen Brown recalls conspiring with her father in his final weeks to find some humor in the pain.