China, 2014
They Jumped From the Roof. Could I Find Out Why?
What was hidden inside an enormous human factory that generates such great business success — and so much unhappiness? I visited Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple,...
India, 1947
Goodbye to Paradise
A Muslim family on the road, during Partition. Photo by Margaret Bourke-White The wrenching journeys of Muslims forced to choose between homes they’d know all of their lives, and an unknown land...
Guatemala, 2016
Values of the Guatemalan Poor
An artist let a foreign visitor carry off a painting — and trusted him to pay later. Photo by Tara Reid The people of Guatemala left a special mark on me, after only a few short encounters....
Biafra, 1967
"The World Was Silent While We Died"
More than a million people starved during the Biafran war, as supply lines to the breakaway nation were blocked. Source: Centers for Disease Control The author’s father tells her a story of...
Italy, 2014
My Napoletano Lesson
Reconciling my American, my Italian and my hard-to-verbalize identities I. I woke up to the smell of Pledge cleaner, Windex and the stereo blasting Dean Martin’s greatest hits. It was a...
Guatemala, 2016
My Epiphany at the Shopping Mall
My disdain for the mall stemmed not from the mall, per se, but from the way it stood for the harmful systems of racism and classism disadvantaged Guatemalans face every day. It was one...
Guatemala, 2016
Where the Water Stopped Flowing
About 51% of Guatemalans live in poverty. Towering skyscrapers stood mockingly over barrios of tin-roofed box homes built into cliff edges. Photo by Eric Weck To discover a country torn apart by civil...
New Jersey, 1968
Vilma's Telenovela
In which the scion of a rich Guatemalan family falls into disgrace and is banished to another country – but turns her misfortune into victory March 1968 Vilma was vacuuming. Staring at the carpet...
