A meditation on the nature of grief, at a time when the whole world seems to be grieving.
COVID-19
‘I Couldn’t Do Anything’: The Virus and an E.R. Doctor’s Suicide
“I couldn’t help anyone. I couldn’t do anything. I just wanted to help people, and I couldn’t do anything.” Dr. Lorna Breen was “a consummate overachiever, one who directed her life with assurance.” Then the pandemic hit.
1600 Days in Solitary Confinement, and Counting
“She continued to write me, though she presumably risked retribution: more time in solitary, more nutraloaf, additional restrictions.”
Someone is Wrong on the Internet: A Study in Pandemic Distraction
What do you do when all productivity hacks, parenting tips, and writing tricks lead to the same outcome — a total, pandemic-induced inability to focus?
Tea, Biscuits, and Empire: The Long Con of Britishness
The soft-focus Britain of Downton Abbey bears little resemblance to the real Britain collapsing under the weight of racism, austerity, and COVID-19. As Brexit plods on, it’s time for an honest reckoning of the history and future of this outsize little island.
Beneath the Black Rocks
“The same unknown that makes me nurse the thought of my mother’s death, makes me think of the loneliness of everyone who died of the virus. Their loved ones will carry the same wound I carry in my heart. For decades, for the rest of their lives they will be imagining the last moments of […]
Four Stories from Wuhan
“From the moment my mother died, I haven’t stopped thinking about how I could have saved her.”
COVID-19 and the Fight for Justice
“And yet, even though this health crisis reflects our nation’s political, social, and civic infrastructure, this plague has no consideration for morality. “
Life in the Chelsea Hotel During Pandemic
The remaining residents face isolation, and the challenges of preserving their history while enduring the present.
What Didn’t Kill Her
Bernice L. McFadden ruminates on all the things her mother has endured only to find herself spending her golden years in the midst of a deadly plague and state-sanctioned racism.
