Feb 15, 2023
‘Moonstruck’ Makes Me Reconsider the Myth of Bad Luck
Life can be crappy and expensive and heartbreaking, and there is no way out of that. That story feels more like the truth.
In Horror Films, the Newest Nightmare Is Getting Canceled
Men around me speak about cancel culture with such hyperbole and terror, you’d think it was a supernatural force.
Feb 09, 2023
Releasing the Fear of St. Vincent’s “Year of the Tiger”
I fear it and I dream of it: total honesty with my family, opening the door of my personhood and letting them see all of me.
Feb 06, 2023
To Tell a Story Is to Tell It Again, to Carry Another Time
Regret, I was once told, means to weep again. My first thought, when I heard this: That’s what it is to tell a story.
Jan 24, 2023
The Mixed-Race Fantasy Behind Kawaii Aesthetics
Toward my “Japanese Barbie,” I felt mostly indifferent.
Jan 17, 2023
You’re Going to Be Cared For: A Recipe for Braised Chicken Thighs
A Le Creuset Dutch oven telegraphs contentment and cheer—but for me, mine is a token of complicated bitterness and longing.
Jan 05, 2023
The Secret Asian American History Behind New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”
I love new wave music for the way it makes me feel—like the cups of my interior and exterior worlds are overflowing. Turns out I’m not the only one.
Jan 03, 2023
On Jellyfish and the Fear of Touch
Early in the trip, the jellyfishes begin to take on the quality of metaphor.
Dec 14, 2022
Do Female Androids Dream of Rebellion?
There is something revolutionary in their will to be free.
Nov 23, 2022
On Mother Trees: What Old-Growth Trees Taught Me About Parenting
I was helpful, but unlike the giving tree, I was not entirely happy.
Nov 17, 2022
‘13 Going on 30’ Didn’t Prepare Me to Be Thirty, Flirty, and Striving
Weren’t your thirties supposed to be the time when “real adulthood” begins? What if, instead of thriving, you’re striving?
Nov 08, 2022
What Michelle Zauner’s “Paprika” Taught Me About Making Art (and Peace With It)
What a joy it is—a singular joy, an occasion for jubilee—to allow your art’s translation through another point of view.
Nov 03, 2022
The Occult, Fear, and Crises of Faith in ‘The Witch’
According to ‘The Witch,’ there’s no surer way to invite evil in than by being reckless enough to try to play God.
Oct 27, 2022
‘Top Chef’ Makes Perfection Impossible. And That’s Exactly What I Needed
Fear of losing control is one of the causes of OCD.
Oct 24, 2022
I Sought a Good-Luck Charm to Write. I Found My Body Instead
To choose an omamori is to cast a wish.
Oct 20, 2022
Running Up That Hill (And Dealing With God)
This is the deal I’d make with God: my devotion in exchange for acceptance of the past, peace with the present, and assurances about the future.
Oct 13, 2022
An Immigrant’s Eyewitness Report from the Streets of Dating Apps
When I packed my one suitcase to come to America, I put everything I thought I needed inside and romance wasn’t in it.
Oct 11, 2022
Drum Head: Playing Through My Chronic Pain
But pain and pleasure intertwine in playing the drums, much as they do elsewhere in life.
Oct 06, 2022
Why Is Horror So Afraid of Female Friendship?
When girls begin to work in groups, their latent potential can be the stuff of horror films.
Oct 06, 2022
