Not long ago, the idea of another American Civil War seemed outlandish. These days, the notion has not only gone mainstream, it seems to suddenly be everywhere. Business Insider published a poll in October 2020 saying a majority of Americans believed the U.S. was already in the midst of a "cold" civil …
Sunday Reads for January 16, 2022
The rumble that America is on the verge of a “civil war” feels like it’s only getting louder. NPR examines how the geographical divides today are different from those of the 1860s. Vox’s story about Covid immunity comes with gorgeous visualizations, but the piece that captured me the most was a personal essay by Gordon Shotwell. He proves to be a critical voice for people with chronic illnesses who, of course, have always known what it’s like to live with a persistent health threat.
This Week's Picks
Over the past two years, the United States has seen more than 63 million Covid-19 cases, with some people infected more than once. More than 240 million people in the US have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. More than 60 million have received three. While Covid-19 infections are …
I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about seven years ago. My first symptoms were numbness in my feet which I thought were caused by tight shoes, …
It was around 23:00 on 13 April 1699, in a small village in the north of England. Nine-year-old Jane Rowth blinked her eyes open and squinted out into the moody evening shadows. She and her mother had just awoken from a short sleep. Mrs Rowth got up and went over to the fireside of their modest …
Lucía Obregón Matzer remembers crying every day and calling her mom and telling her the stories she was hearing. She was in her mid-20s, a recent …
In the weeks after the killings of Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, many Americans rushed to purchase books on race and executives scrambled to hold town halls on racism. The spiked interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion was promising, but it needs to continue if long-term …
The unstoppable guard helmed one of the best offensive teams in NBA history. Two years after that dynasty fell apart, he’s willing the Warriors toward another championship run—and underlining his claim as one of the game’s all-time greats. Sweater-vest, $542, by Wooyoungmi. Shorts, $517, by Bianca …
I don’t have anything against cultural and ideological bubbles. My family is a bubble. We have a host of in-jokes that no one else will get, and a bunch of tastes that many others do not share. We regularly eat a dish called “tuna quiche,” which brings us joy even as it causes others to break for …
What happens when the good-natured wife from a famous stand-up routine gets divorced, embraces her art, and goes viral on TikTok? In a recent TikTok video, the multimedia artist Anna Marie Tendler jokes about the “clear and stress-free” path to her current career breakthrough. In under three minutes …
The conference room at the Bellagio hotel swelled with the horns of “Ride of the Valkyries.” On a theater-sized screen set up at the front, I watch as a drone flies over a low, sunny suburb, bypassing highways and beaches and nondescript homes, where in the backyards everyone cranes their necks to …
See Past Sunday Reads
First, a moment of silence for the 1 million lost. I often hear "Mercury in retrograde" as an explanation for things going wrong, but I never knew its origins or how it became the patron planet of the internet. My dreams are often haunted by ginormous waves so I quivered watching the swells at Nazaré, the capital of big wave surfing. Artist Matthew Wong only came onto my radar after he passed so it felt sacred to learn more about him and his work. In other news: midcentury Jell-O is a trip.