“As Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declares a state of emergency on housing, residents like Sarah Fay live on the brink of being unhoused.”
Community
On Mother Trees: What Old-Growth Trees Taught Me About Parenting
“I was helpful, but unlike the giving tree, I was not entirely happy.”
Our Most Popular Reading Lists of 2022
Reading lists dive into a range of topics, allowing our contributors from around the world to explore their obsessions and fall into rabbit holes. This post compiles our 10 most-read lists of the year.
The Orca and the Spider: On Motherhood, Loss, and Community
“Try as I might, there is no material stronger than kinship.”
‘She Made Us Happy’: The All-Star Dreams of Uvalde’s Biggest JosĂ© Altuve Fan
“We didn’t have to grow up alongside the Nueces River, listening to songs and stories of the violence all around us. But we did.”
There are Trees in the Future, Or, A Case for Staying
“What is a city without its people, its history, its intimate relationships, its land and public spaces? If every place becomes any place, what difference does it make?”
Breakfast with the Panthers
The Black Panther Party was founded in Oakland in 1966 as a way to address police brutality throughout the city, but its work expanded beyond the streets. In its early years, the Panthers did a lot of work in the community, with many women in leadership roles. At one point, writes Suzanne Cope, the author […]
Futures From Ruins
Bombay Beach was once a vibrant resort town on the Salton Sea until agricultural pollution, drought, and toxic air led to its demise. Today, an art movement and emerging community hope to bring it back. In this Noema essay, writer Johanna Hoffman and photographer Tao Ruspoli show how a town in ruins is experiencing a […]
Caught Between New Tech Money and a Growing Homelessness Crisis, Restaurants on One Street in Venice, California, Are Trying to Keep Its Identity Alive
“There were an estimated 1,900 unhoused people living in Venice, and Rose Avenue was the nexus of that community.”
Leap of Faith
“The men call up to Sofiane, telling him that he and his brother have to jump. Guelord shouts that the younger boy needs to go first. Sofiane should throw him down.”
