Natives & Neighborhoods
My Father Wishes He Were a Writer, Like Me
Writing was just something I thought happened to people naturally, that whatever wasn’t written was eventually forgotten. And I wanted to remember everything.
How Immigrant Sculptors Shaped an Artists’ Hub Called Kumartuli
This “heritage site” has been home to my family since the 1940s.
Joan of Arc: The Girl Who Saves Cities
Statues and monuments tell us about ourselves mostly, what we hope to remember and be remembered by.
A Brief History of American Utopian Communities
“Utopian communities are inherently tragic because they are always, every single time, doomed to failure.”
Children of ‘The Cloud’ and Major Tom: Growing Up in the ’80s Under the German Sky
In the sky you could watch history happen as though on the world’s most massive TV, and history’s wreckage could rain down on you at the park with your friends.
Standing in the Shadows of Brands: San Francisco at Dawn
When a city’s populace is wiped out of its longtime residents, so goes the collective memory of San Francisco.
Flexibility and Frustration: Navigating Life Through Istanbul
“As Turkey becomes an increasingly difficult place to live, many friends and peers have become perplexed by my determination to stay here.”
The Fourth Plague of West Philadelphia
“My girl calls it a balance of New York ambition and Southern hospitality, but I would claim Philadelphia for the Rust Belt.”
Did You Know Anybody?: On the Manchester Arena Bombing
“The morning after the attack, I almost broke down when a colleague asked if I was okay.”
My Eyes Yearn for You: A Short History of Longing in NYC
“Fashion’s bright lights beckoned me toward New York.”