Today’s public intellectuals have their own version of the American Dream, where one person, on their own, can achieve anything — including being the smartest person in the room.
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Communiqué from an Exurban Satellite Clinic of a Cancer Pavilion Named after a Financier
Anne Boyer encounters a familiar system — that grand and easy-to-mistake-for-everything system — at the cancer pavilion.
The Politics of UFOs
In the past few years the world of UFO “researchers” has been afflicted by the kinds of conspiratorial cracks that have appeared throughout American culture: Who can be trusted?
Faith and Reproductive Justice Are Not in Opposition
Black women face outsized threats if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
Total Depravity: The Origins of the Drug Epidemic in Appalachia Laid Bare
In an excerpt from his essay collection, Australian journalist Richard Cooke reports on the American opioid crisis through the astonished eyes of a foreigner visiting steel and coal country.
It’s Like That: The Makings of a Hip-Hop Writer
Hip-hop was a different kind of music that needed a different kind of writer to cover it. This is how Michael A. Gonzales came of age in a time when Black writers began breaking the white ceiling.
The Psychiatrist in My Writing Class and His ‘Gift’ of Hate
Rani Neutill recalls a literary workshop in which a white man critiqued her ability to write in “proper” English.
Oh, Girl!
Migrant children, many of whom are unaccompanied minors, are traveling to the U.S. border to escape violence and seek asylum. Is anyone listening to their stories?
Technology Is as Biased as Its Makers
From exploding Ford Pintos to racist algorithms, all harmful technologies are a product of unethical design. Yet, like car companies in the ’70s, today’s tech companies would rather blame the user.
Lacy M. Johnson on Rejecting the Need to Be Liked
“As a woman, I have been raised to be nurturing, to care for others feelings’ and wellbeing often at the expense of my own.”
