Columns

Columns | Through the Grapevine
Working on a Vineyard Taught Me to Slow Down and Pay Attention

We had no sense of “ecological time,” the cadence of the natural environment. Mostly, I experienced the natural world as lack.

May 12, 2022
Columns | What Doesn't Translate
How Untranslatable Words Have Connected Me to My Mother

“In Cantonese,” my mother says, “love isn’t so frivolous.”

May 4, 2022
Columns | Family | Half Recipes
I Love You by Remembering What You Hate: A Recipe for Herby Salad

I find joy in being let into the idiosyncrasies of someone’s taste.

Apr 14, 2022
Columns | Arts & Culture | Superhero Girlfriends Anonymous
What ‘Fast & Furious’ Can Teach Us About Women Who Reclaim Their Power

Letty Ortiz reflects back the best of our hero’s characteristics with fewer of the hang-ups.

Apr 7, 2022
Columns | Sepia Tone
Who Gets to Tell Stories About India and Its People?

India for white filmmakers is a place in their imagination.

Apr 4, 2022
Columns | Arts & Culture | Controller
The Naive “Post-Racial” Future of ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’

‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ is naïve in its progressivism, and to sing its uncritical praises is to underestimate the ability of video games to tell better stories.

Mar 23, 2022
Columns | Eldest Immigrant Daughter
Unlearning the Shame Culture of the Former Soviet Union

The avoidance of shame is a community obsession, one I haven’t been able to escape even in my thirties.

Mar 22, 2022
Columns | Through the Grapevine
Losing My Religion and Finding Faith on Spanish Vineyards

My family’s understanding of religion was too individualistic for my liking. But I still wanted to hold faith in something bigger than myself.

Mar 21, 2022
Columns | Gold Stars
What to Do With Your Twenties When Your Life Plans Fall Apart

It’s a strange sort of self-reliance, thinking you can out-plan the grief, and heartbreak, and confusion of growing up.

Mar 17, 2022
Columns | Objects of Affection
Shaping Butter Helps Me Feel Everything

What I mean is, butter puts me in my body.

Mar 17, 2022