Washington Post

A beautiful meditation on Kurt Vonnegut and the trauma of war.

“It’s clear my daughter died because of these drugs coming through our border,” Susan said afterward, to a bank of TV news cameras, and then she returned to North Carolina, where the more complicated truth was that nothing about Toria’s death seemed clear. Susan, a former private investigator, was trained to work a case and then solve it, but this time, she kept going back over the story, looking again for causes, reassigning blame, interrogating her own mistakes as she tried make sense of one drug death in a national epidemic.

A new breed of experts is here to help you appreciate the hard-to-name nuances in real Dijon, to let you experience the aroma of honey more deeply, and to choose the right water for your meal, but do we need certified experts to appreciate what we eat? And what makes these specialists experts?

Vanessa Mártir learns about homophobia as a child but grows up to raise her daughter while in a happy, same-sex relationship.

Outside the ring, Nelson is, in the words of her friend and fellow boxer Tyrieshia Douglas, “a nice churchy lady.” She spends half an hour each day reading and discussing Bible verses with her longtime boyfriend. She’s a hugger, a baby nuzzler, a bestower of silly nicknames. Then she enters the ring and something terrifying emerges, something that won’t let her stop punching until she has annihilated the person in the opposite corner.

As the cost of the lifesaving medication skyrockets, some desperate diabetics are rationing — and risking their lives. Was Alec Raeshawn Smith one of them?

Trump used her slain daughter to rail against illegal immigration. She chose a different path.

“Mothers and fathers who have a child placed in foster care because they are incarcerated — but who have not been accused of child abuse, neglect, endangerment, or even drug or alcohol use — are more likely to have their parental rights terminated than those who physically or sexually assault their kids, according to a Marshall Project analysis of approximately 3 million child-welfare cases nationally.”

For many early users, Insta has lost its intimacy and been co-opted by celebrities and other brand-builders. It also conflicts with their values. Is the end near?

In 2006, a high school student in Arlington, Texas named Amber Wyatt reported that she had been raped by two classmates. Authorities failed to help her and she was ostracized by her community. Twelve years later, Wyatt’s case remains unresolved, a troubling reminder that justice doesn’t always find a way.