Music
Prince Taught Me a Whole New Love Language
“Sign o’ the Times” is candy for a cute little he/they like me.
Listening to Ariana Grande’s “fake smile” and Holding onto My Teacher Persona
In her rejection of performing happiness, Grande invokes gratitude for the impact she’s made on others. I have to believe the same.
Rihanna and the Legacy of Liberated Caribbean Women
I wanted to be loud, wild, and sexually liberated like them. I just didn’t know how.
On Fatherhood, Masculinity, and Steely Dan
But of course, all of this isn’t about ‘Gaucho’ or masculinity, really. It’s about trauma, about breaking a cycle you didn’t consent to entering.
When the South Drove Me Away, Kacey Musgraves’ Music Offered Me a Home
I’m a queer, northeast girl with southern roots, and no one has captured that duality quite like Kacey Musgraves.
Shakira’s Crossover into American Music Taught Me to Reject My Latinx Roots—Then Reclaim Them
The arc of my journey with Shakira traces a path from veneration to rejection to reembrace.
Thirty Years After ‘Little Earthquakes,’ I’m Finally Ready for Tori Amos
With reproductive rights under threat in the US, I returned to an artist unafraid of telling her truth.
Can We Dance as the World Falls Apart?
When Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, I found myself asking: What pleasures are permissible during wartime?
The Rise of the Reboot: Why We Can’t Escape Nostalgia
I’ve wondered if I, too, have become a member of a generation reluctant to move past adolescence.
The Mess of Millennial Womanhood and the Myth of ‘Having It All’
I turned to my friend and asked, “What if I don’t want it all?”