Allergic to life: the Arizona residents ‘sensitive to the whole world’
High in the Arizona desert, a community of people suffering from a clinically unproven condition called “environmental illness” have gathered to seek a pure life unpolluted by modernity’s poisons, from wi-fi to plastics, car exhaust to cologne, and to support each other as they battle an infirmity many people discount. When two journalists went to report the story, they became part of it.
The Very Quiet Foreign Girls Poetry Group
Migrant and refugee students write poems that tell their untold stories of loss and trauma.
My Life As a ‘Sex Object’
“Just keep pointing and laughing, rolling your eyes in the hope that someone will finally notice that this is not very funny.” An excerpt from Jessica Valenti’s new memoir.
The Enduring Whiteness of the American Media
Howard W. French reflects on the crisis of race in journalism: “For decades it has been clear that space is made in the firmament for a tiny number of black journalists at any given time, if mostly to write about race. These figures, however brilliant, find themselves transformed into unwilling emblems of inclusivity…”
The Day We Discovered Our Parents Were Russian Spies
Alex and Tim Foley, whose family’s story partly inspired The Americans, grapple with their broken identities and their parents’ lifetime of lies.
Ugg: The Look That Refused to Die
The story behind the footwear brand, and how they managed to transcend the usual rules of fashion.
Death by Gentrification: The Killing That Shamed San Francisco
Alejandro Nieto was killed by police in the San Francisco neighborhood where he spent his whole life. Solnit examines the case surrounding his death and the disintegration of the communities displaced by “disruption.”
Inside Makoko
Ogunlesi explores the uncertain future of the world’s biggest floating slum. Spread out in full view below a Lagos bridge, Makoko’s residents live under constant threat of eviction.
Cancer Cons, Phony Accidents and Fake Deaths
After Taryn Wright exposed an elaborate fake tragedy on Facebook, she became an unlikely leader of an online hoax-busting squad.
The Birth of Boko Haram
Andrew Walker traces the growth of Boko Haram, from the tattered remnants of an Islamist sect to a relentless terrorist army.