personal essays
What Does Being 'Too Much' Really Mean?
In an extract from her new book "Poor Little Sick Girls", Ione Gamble explains how the fear of being "too much" actually shrinks our horizons.
Grandma is 101. I Don't Want Our Last Conversation to be on Zoom
My grandmother is in a nursing home. The coronavirus pandemic has left her without anyone.
I Worry At the Best of Times. It's Not the Best of Times
With coronavirus upending everyone’s lives, but especially those in precarious situations or in the arts, I’m fighting the urge to feel hopeless and want to do better.
I Finally Got a U.S. Green Card After 8 Years. A Lot Has Changed
In 2012 I was wearing leg warmers and thought Benedict Cumberbatch was the sexiest man alive. As people change, so do nations.
Confessions of a Reddit 'Karma Whore'
My years-long journey to the top of Reddit's karma leaderboards has only made me feel more alone.
I Was in Cleopatra, One of the UK’s First Black 90s Girl Groups
It's been 20 years since the three Mancunian sisters gave black girls pop role models. Cleo Higgins looks back on her experience of fame at a young age.
What It's Like to Have a 'Hummingbird Heart'
Read 'Naming' a personal essay on anxiety by New Zealand writer Bonnie Etherington.
South Asian Women Like Me Still Face Subtle Racism on Tinder
What it really means when people say South Asian women are their "type", and how it makes you second-guess people's motives on dating apps.
Anthony Bourdain Made Us All Proud to Be Line Cooks
After Bourdain, we tried to become better—as cooks, as people—and began to reexamine why it was we punched the clock and one another in the dicks.
My Wedding Feast Gave All of My Loved Ones Salmonella
I spent my first day as a wife transporting my new husband's feces to the hospital.
My Parents Told Me I Was White—Until a DNA Test Uncovered the Truth
Now that I've found out about my real heritage, those closest to me are struggling to accept my blackness.
I Met a Pastor Who Thinks 'Transgenders' Are Deceptive—He Didn’t Know I’m Trans
Pastor Ralph Van Ness, who also works as a high school security guard, has been vocal in his fight to prevent trans people from using the bathroom. I wanted to see what he'd say face-to-face with a trans person.