Columns
There Are Things No One Can Tell You About How to Live
I had a sense, unvoiced, that living well and loving steadfastly were one and the same. I translated that sense into certainty: Marriage would make me Good.
The Wildness of Maurice Sendak
Just as Sendak inverts a stereotypical association of white with youthful ingenuousness, Max inverts the expectations of many a children’s morality tale, for he is allowed to be wild.
The Case Against Italicizing “Foreign” Words
Italicization too often bolsters a sense of superiority when it comes to the unitalicized, reinforcing a thick patina of whiteness or other cultural dominance.
The Headache Diaries
The diary was how I organized a life suddenly thrown into chaos. This is what the human mind does; it looks for a narrative, for meaning.
‘Star Trek’ Failed to Reckon with Our Greatest Threat: Climate Change
Humanity appears to have succeeded at solving the climate crisis and eliminating capitalism. But how? And at what cost?
Why the Label of ‘Gifted Kid’ Isn’t Always a Gift
Here’s a thing about being labeled “smart” as a kid: When there’s a thing you’re not good at, people assume it is because you are lazy.
Finding the Right Face for Charlotte in ‘Charlotte’s Web’
In insisting on an anatomically correct Charlotte, E. B. White was playing with fire: People hate real spiders.
You’re in Good Virtual Hands: On ASMR, Anxiety, Relaxation in the Side-Hustle Economy, and Being Baby
In this strange territory of dorkiness, role-playing, and absurd props, there is something like real magic, and it makes me shiver.
In Discovering Perfume, I Discovered Who I Am
Before I transitioned, perfume was the only thing I felt safe to experiment with. It worked in the realm of the invisible, the as-yet-unsayable.
Hiring a Chief Diversity Officer Won’t Fix Your Racist Company Culture
Racial equity must be a top priority for everyone, incorporated into how a company hires, makes decisions, and approaches all of its objectives.
