I Want to Persuade You to Care About Other People
After successfully convincing her conservative, Jewish grandfather that affirmative action is necessary and valid, Danielle Tcholakian commits to trying to get through to people who think differently than she does — as a journalist, and as a person in the world.
Why Oil-Loving Louisiana Should Embrace America’s Coming Offshore Wind Boom
The budding wind power industry is rich in jobs, and the people of south Louisiana are ready for clean energy.
In a Swimming Pool, Learning to Trust
A personal essay in which Matt Grant details how he learned to trust himself as a swimming teacher as he taught students of all ages to trust the water. He learns the most from a particularly frightened, challenging young student named Jacob.
Pregnant, then Ruptured
In this personal essay, Joanna Petrone recalls the medical abortion for an ectopic pregnancy that led to the rupturing of one of her fallopian tubes, followed by emergency surgery. She also reflects on the kinds of legislation that can — and has — kept women from being able to terminate life-threatening pregnancies like hers.
What Thomas Jefferson Taught Me About Charlottesville, and America
A personal essay in which Joshua Adams, a Black graduate of the University of Virginia, traces the roots of the recent racist attack there back to UVA’s problematic but venerated founder, Thomas Jefferson.
How a Journalist Uncovered the True Identity of Jihadi John
Souad Mekhennet’s thrilling tale of late-night rendezvous, burner phones, and secret codes — and her quest to reveal the man in black. Excerpted from I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad.
You Are a Jigsaw Puzzle with Missing Food-Shaped Pieces
A personal essay in which Lindsay Hunter, author of the novel Eat Only When You’re Hungry, unpacks the factors and childhood experiences informing her complicated relationship to food, eating, and body image.
Forever Yesterday: Peering Inside My Mom’s Fading Mind
A personal essay in which writer Kevin Sampsell struggles to understand and accept the ravages of Alzheimer’s on his elderly mother’s memory — and quality of life.
In Foreign Territory, Wondering: Who is the Alpha Monkey?
A personal essay in which Leigh Shulman writes about learning about human behavior while studying primates at a refuge in Bolivia. Volunteering there with her nine-year-old daughter also provides perspective on the meaning of home and belonging.
The Hippies Who Hated the Summer of Love
Fifty years ago, the merchants of Haight-Ashbury advertised a summer of free food, free lodging, and free love. What they got instead was a civic nightmare.