Dribbling in the Dark
What it’s like to be 14 in a new school, a new city away from home—and the wrong ethnicity in a divided country.
otherpeople
A collection of 140 issues
The Parking Letters
Los Angeles drivers love to leave notes on windshields—passive-aggressive, or just plain aggressive. A vigilante sets out to communicate politely with the city.
Being John
When five million people share your name, your Google-ability is miserably low. Will this forever change naming?
How to Drink in Qatar
The World Cup and its drunken fans are about to crash head-first into a repressive, restrictive society, where alcohol is illegal mostly everywhere.
IH8YRST8
Studying drivers across the country for signs of license-plate prejudice—or, why everyone loves Vermont drivers and hates Texans.
Crimewatcher
The victim of a robbery starts attending trials in New Orleans to understand the system while her burglar serves time in jail. Then he gets out.
What #Pobrezafilia Means for Mexico
Photos of poor, brown-skinned women, naked, in sexually suggestive poses, are flooding social-media networks.
Lo que #Pobrezafilia significa para México
Fotos de mujeres pobres, morenas, desnudas en posiciones sexualmente sugestivas están inundando las redes sociales en México.
The Downstairs Gays
Social media makes it easy to virtually tour our neighbors’ homes—and really, their entire lives. The hard part: finding the clear divide between entertainment and cyberstalking.
How the Other Half Shares
When the media talks about social media, it’s always about young, white Americans. We spoke to a wider sample—including a sex worker, a pastor’s wife, a rapper—to see why people do what they do online.
The Orchestra Checks Its Email
A day in the life of a professional orchestra—coffee, practice, social media, tuxedo—leading up to a performance.
Ars Erotica
What one woman labels kinky, another person calls a crime against cake. Offering a taxonomy of erotic fixations.
Around the World on 18 Plates
We asked people around the globe—in Uganda, Ecuador, Fiji, and more—to make food from the opposite side of Earth.
The Accidental Actor
Stumbling onto a movie set in Los Angeles—and then staying there for as long as humanly possible—offers lessons in acting and reality.
The Marlboro Men of Chernivtsi
Where there’s smoke, there’s smuggling. Before the Ukrainian border became a dangerous war zone, it was a profitable bootlegging arena.
Three Feet by Six Feet by Three Feet
A visit to the granddaddy of Japan’s capsule hotels—with cot-sized individual spaces and shared amenities—and a lesson in different methods of getting along.
Painting the President
Twice the official portraitist of George W. Bush, painter Robert Anderson explains what it’s like to build a relationship with a president, separate the man from the legacy, and struggle with his smirk.
We Don’t Eat It Here
People living in countries that aren’t the US explain the meaning of Thanksgiving, from the splendor of “harvest day” to the tradition that is gun violence.
Sorry I’m Not Sorry
Many people in the news are saying sorry, albeit through gritted teeth. Why apologies are essential—especially the non-apology apology—to navigating our modern world.
Outside
Outsider artists draw outsider patrons, some who smell like horses. Not even the art gallery world’s aura of intimidation will keep them away.
Private Eye
Her neighbors remember her as “the bag lady,” but Vivian Maier was secretly a street photographer who would leave behind an artistic trove that captured the public’s imagination.
Poor Sochi
Our Russia hand submits a roll-up of all the corruption, crises, ill-preparedness, highways paved with French luggage, and other #sochiproblems surrounding Putin’s graft-gutted Winter Olympics.
The Jennifer Berman Club
We all have doppelgängers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends with them. One Jennifer Berman reaches out to other Jennifer Bermans.
Having to Do With the Price of Onions
A sharp rise recently in the price of onions in India is about a lot more than just sandwiches. When onions are up, even governments are at risk.
A Lifetime’s One Regret
Does hindsight improve with age? People, ages five to 60, name their life's biggest mistake and what they learned.
A Moving Experience
Travel is mostly boredom—and if you’re not bored, you’re pretty sure that everyone else is having more fun. Selected for “The Best American Travel Writing 2014,” the woes of professional travel writers.
Brief Interviews With Very Small Publishers
Magazine publishing is a dark art. But the world of niche publishing—people who create magazines for necrophiliacs or donkey hobbyists, or for those of us who like to ride really small trains—features its own requirements.
The Window Cleaner
Dirt is difficult to see on glass. That’s why so many people don't bother to hire a professional for the job—they just can’t see what’s wrong.
Very Visible Cities
Giant Chinese pigeons, Scarlett Johansson’s daughter, and deliberately un-green urban living: What to expect from London, Los Angeles, and Moscow in 2040, 2070, and 2100.
Once Upon a Time in the Middle East
Driving from Lebanon toward Syria, across the Saudi Arabian desert to Dammam, in a taxi among the refugees of Beirut—quickly becomes the Wild West.
A Sudden and Awful Manner
In early New England, anyone who stood near an open door or window faced mortal danger. A conversation with a woman who hunts for gravestones with epitaphs describing death by lightning strike.
Bombs Over Damascus
As another military intervention gets underway—with your name on it—we thought a brief tour of recent history in Syria would be useful, with lots of pictures.
A Good Angle Is Hard to Find
The spread of the selfie produces daily turmoil, from columnist doom-mongering to celebrity scandals. Meanwhile, the world just took a billion more. Defense of a misunderstood phenomenon.
Our Bad
In light of the ongoing Snowden leak, the National Security Agency has begun mailing apology notes to private citizens. However, since it did take the time to read your correspondence, advice may be included.
E Pluribus, Gen X
Generation X has always been able to fashion its own best outcome. Now it’s time to take that DIY attitude and fix the nation. Because you know who really won the American Revolution? That’s right: Slackers.
Songs in the Key of Eno
Much to the chagrin of his former 25-year-old self, a man in his forties—with no singing experience outside the shower—joins the village chorus. Terror, learning, and intense joy, all while making Brian Eno proud.
Mother, May I
Don’t let the flying matzoh balls confuse you. A visit from a dead parent is serious business—a second chance for love, and for forgiveness.
Lots of Oil Fields Around Here
A special Fourth of July edition of our series where an editor randomly calls people in small towns around America to see what’s happening.
The Moroccan Deception
A man follows his grandparents’ trek to Morocco—where the Alaouite Dynasty has ruled since 1666—to search for so-called “sacred music” amid a feedback loop of riots, arrests, and the promise of miracles.
Token Anxiety
As New York City changes, so do its trains; our worries about life above and below ground move hand in hand. So which came first, the jitters or the subway?
Everything in This City Must
After six months in Leipzig, a German reporter asks the novelist what he’ll miss. But it’s back here in the United States where more dangerous questions take shape, none easily answered with good beer.
Art of the Steal
Western museums aren’t exactly known for possessing sterling records when it comes to acquiring the treasures of foreign countries. So when the Met is pressured to return its valuables, a mea culpa seems due.
The Case of the Hungry Stranger
A man is always more complicated than his paper trail—especially when he’s your father, who walked out one day.
Start of Darkness
The world of the myope is often a nicer place—faces lack wrinkles, and trees seem to be painted by Monet. Then, during a visit to Moscow, a black spot appears.
Night Vision
An unexpected pregnancy, tuna sandwiches consumed in darkness, and woman after woman of a certain age living by the ocean—eventually, all connections make sense when it comes to prescient grandparents.
Pause, Panic, Gringo
When your name prompts questions in several continents, how you answer—and whether or not you stick an accent above the “a”—says a lot about who you are.
She Nukes Me, She Nukes Me Not
Pyongyang’s frequent threats toward the United States appear to be ratcheting up in intensity. How did we get to this point? An illustrated guide to the relationship’s recent romance, and why you should be nervous about North Korea.
Pope Francis of Carhartt
The media has labored to stress the humility of the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church. But somehow they missed his taste for Burt Reynolds movies, and other signs of holy humbleness.
Eat, Pray, Murder
Good book clubs rely on commitment, Sauvignon Blanc, and the pruning of members with annoying habits. Unfortunately, sometimes those members are homicidal maniacs.
I Wish That We Could Both Be There
In 1974, a car hits a seven-year-old boy in central New Jersey. The boy dies. From 2013, a former friend starts to probe the causes, effects, statistics, and consequences.
Giving Up the Guns
When your life is opened in front of you, all your old attachments shucked off, the task of finding a new ending can be as simple as handing over a bag of guns.
Mea Culpa, Oprah
Ever since Lance Armstrong told Oprah about his persistent doping, lying, and just plain being mean, celebrities are lining up for their own public confessions. Starting with “Breaking Bad’s” Walter White.
Separate Housewives
A happy cul de sac experiences its first affair. Soon every living room—every computer screen—reverberates with news bulletins. Even for the Facebook generation, divorce comes with surprises.
What to Expect When You’re Electing
Small donations comprise more than half of President Obama’s war chest. Small donors, on the other hand, constitute some of the world’s most overwhelmed email recipients. But all that follow-up isn’t just about cash—it’s about subtle changes being made inside your head.
For the Price of a Dime
Since the 1980s, changing social mores, rising gas prices, and advancing technology have resulted in an information gap just screaming to be studied. A guide to demystifying songs from the ’80s for later, digitally native generations.
Ninety-Nine Bottles of Pee on the Wall
Everyone says they’ve got a book inside, but hundreds of people actually write them—and are preyed upon by scam artists. The greatest story of literary vigilantism ever told.
Down and Out in a Repurposed Troop Carrier
Stunt memoirs are ubiquitous: writers who eat, pray, and love straight into their bank accounts. But what happens when the material for your book—for which you took a dozen amusement park jobs to acquire—isn’t all hijinks and zany locals? What if it’s rather nice?
Submerged
Every four years, the world rediscovers swimming—that pleasant recreation turned into a furious race of hulks. But not everyone watches simply as a fan. The former competitive swimmer is never fully a land-bound mammal.
People Here Drink a Lot
Our country is colossal, much too big for the nightly news. Our series continues where a TMN editor randomly calls people in towns around America to find out what’s really going on.
Aliens in the Land of Egypt
For Americans, invitations to Israel—with lavish parties, higher education, and United Airlines tote bags—come easy. But if your homeland lies elsewhere, Israel’s welcome is far less loving.
All Your Futures Are Known
Our correspondent forecasts the week ahead for five volunteers and discovers an eerie rate of success. Secrets, tips, and truths revealed about how to predict the future.
Entertainment for Women
When it launched, Playboy was a literary power, nude photos or not. Its offices also happened to be an interesting place to work—for women.
I Believe I Speak for All of Us
Being overseas, the traveler is often taken for a diplomat—to explain his native country’s strange ways and beliefs. For example, why do all Americans belong to cults? What does Michelle Pfeiffer eat for breakfast? And why so many guns?
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Before the internet, before Facebook, before Twitter, a group of British documentary filmmakers launched what has become the grand-daddy of reality television. What can Seven Up! tell us about our own experiences in the (self-induced) spotlight?
Jonestown, Naipaul, and Me
A boy asking for money. An editor yelling at him to go away. An author, a rising star, dying young from a heart attack. A group of followers ending their lives at the wish of a single man.
Hammer of the Dads
Joining a band at middle age can feel like a juvenile, shameful pursuit, until you consider all the gear you get to buy. A report on purchasing earplugs and playing live—but why are the crowds so small?—when you're 40.
The Art of Choking
Some people require the Heimlich Maneuver a bit more than the rest of us. A report on the four times—so far—that the author has relied on the assistance of others.
Boots March on Bolotnaya Square
This winter, a burgeoning protest movement laid its cornerstone in a former swamp and up grew hope. Our correspondent talks to protesters, editors, commentators, and Kremlin-watchers in anticipation of this weekend's election and what comes next.
Diary of a Post-Adrenaline Junkie
Some decisions are best made heedlessly, based on the chance for an epic story—and some people think like that all the time. A report on what it’s like to slide down a volcano on a piece of sheet metal at 55 mph.
People Here Actually Show Their Livestock
The United States is an enormous country, much too big for the nightly news. We asked one of our editors to randomly call people in towns around America and find out what's really going on.
Enjoy the Silence
Just because no one uses payphones doesn’t mean the phone booth needs to go the way of the dodo. One man’s plea for preserving society’s greatest unused invention.
King of the Hyperpolyglots
On a quest to find the person who speaks the most languages on Earth, our correspondent encountered Emil Krebs, a German diplomat who knew, by some accounts, 65 of them—and happily swore in dozens.
Why I Won’t Be Screeching
Life in Newfoundland is changing. Nostalgia abounds for simpler, harder times, and outsiders are required to kiss cod on the mouth. But not everyone’s drinking the rum.
The Luxe Love Life of Veronica van der Vöorhies
When hard times hit a notable—and note-taking—member of Manhattan's 1%, she seeks out comfort in warm arms, big and strong, at New York's Zuccotti Park.
Happy Misgivings
Thanksgiving is an American holiday, but that doesn’t mean it’s not celebrated elsewhere. And each of those celebrations—in Liberia, in Leiden, in the South Pacific—give us fresh reasons to be grateful for our own messed-up version.
A Little Off
Just when companionship is the last thing you want at the hair salon, in walks Barry—who frankly couldn’t give two licks what you want.
Situation: Comedy
Language students rely on local television shows for vocabulary and instruction. But not all Three’s Company remakes should be trusted. Surveying Israeli TV from Orthodox Jewish sitcoms to comedy that equally offends Jews, Arabs, and sheep.
The Crap in My Head
Little things people say can get stuck in your brain and become triggers, forcing you to relive moments you’d rather forget. Well, for aspiring linguists, it’s much, much worse.
The Hand That Feeds You
Though you can still count on it for antibiotic-free cheese, the farmers' market has become a macrocosm of first-world food neuroses. True stories from behind the rustic wax-paper-lined baskets.
Les Bêtes Fromages
America adores its clichés about French culture—skinny women, hot sex, and "surrender monkeys." But the Mali intervention shows France in a different light. From 2011, an appreciation for France's history of conquering and oppressing the world.
Where the Choices Are Endless
After a childhood in the country, awaking as a freshman in a college town, where the inhabitants are willing and strange.
Fanboy
As America dreams of black ops teams, where do mutants belong? And can comics end wars? From Captain America to big blond Thor, Osama bin Laden, and beyond.
The Impossible Everything That Everybody Wants
In western Maryland, where the state’s already skinny, being a stutterer who can’t eat doesn’t help growing up. Paying tribute to 1980s Appalachia, home to American chariots.
Modern Hospitality
Faced with a stranger at the door seeking shelter for the night, what do you do?
Give and Take
December is the season for taking: taking money from strangers; taking care to avoid crying on the phone. Holiday confessions from a charity call-center employee.
My Kingdom for a Ginger Beard
Faced with a city full of strangers, you do what anyone would do: You give them nicknames and puzzle out their stories. Herewith, the story of an unemployed redhead.
You Don’t Want to Do This
You walk in to your bedroom and find your girlfriend in bed with another man. Blood boils. Violence is imminent. Wait, what's that he's saying?
The Products We Hate
Introducing a new series, "Crowdsource," where we tap the masses' wisdom for your entertainment. This week, TMN readers and staff explain which products the world should destroy.
Going Postal
This summer, record highs turned the city into a pressure cooker—and its inhabitants didn’t suffer it mildly. Braving the brimstone to mail a package.
Field Notes From 89th Street
Native New Yorkers live a traditional village life: of multiple generations, friends from kindergarten, and ghosts. Taking a naturalist’s eye to a corner of the city.
God Save the Queen From You Chumps
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we defend Britain against a cursing student of Anglo-Saxons.
Look at This Fucking Hipster Basher
Never mind news articles that link economic woes to a culture shift, the report of the hipster’s death is an exaggeration.
Pink Suede Shoes
Sometimes it takes the right pair of shoes to kick you over the edge into adulthood. For one writer, it’s other people’s shoes that do the kicking.
Replacing Things Lost
A diagnosis of breast cancer is mind-blowing. A mastectomy can be devastating. But for some women, reconstructive surgery offers a chance for a silver lining.
Ballad of a Thin Man
In a country so proud of its apple pie, there is an element of distrust for thin men.
The Crippling Fear of Corriearklet
Pity the English. Not only are they cursed with bad weather, and the habit of talking about it all the time, they also fear eye contact with strangers in long corridors.
Jewish Like Me
To be Jewish in America can be a gefilte fish served with wasabi and a dollop of paranoia. And things get even more complicated when you don't look the part.
Iggy Pop Lusts for Life
More than four decades into his career as a rock mentor, Iggy Pop talks about getting back with the Stooges and finding a daily rhythm that suits him.
Friending the President
Facebook and other online social networks have played an extraordinary role in this election season. But to what effect? Confronting your status-update addiction.
***Spoilers*** ***Spoilers*** ***Spoilers***
Spoilers online and IRL are plentiful, rendering those who wish to remain unaware on high alert at all times. A look at the many ways spoilers spoil everything (spoilers ahead).
My Life in Jest
When floating through post-collegiate limbo, you can use an anchor. Recalling when a very large book played a very large role in life.
It'll End in Tears
Everyone has a talent, something they do better than most anyone else. For some, that may be solving complex problems. For others, it may be performing an athletic feat. For me, it's crying.
Save Bubekhar
The world over, do-gooders are doing it for the greater good. But when carp gods and tight blouses mingle, discord looms.
Today We Learn About Canada
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. In this week's installment we uncover why Americans can so easily sniff out Canadians in their midst.
Sins of Admission
Growing up with strict Muslim rules can be tough in mainstream America. Throw in prank calls to sexually excitable old men and the going suddenly gets harder.
In the Beginning Was the Word, and the Word Was “Um”
Many hear verbal stumbles as a lack of eloquence—or worse, intelligence. However, there’s a new love and respect for our little hesitations.
Television: How Novel
People who hate television love to talk about it, not realizing they could be spending their time improving their minds--with novelizations. The best of the oeuvre, with and without Steve Urkel.
Northern Belle
New York is supposedly the home of the willful and headstrong, the forthright and brassy--but when a cousin from Nashville rolls into town, everyone else seems meek.
Will You Watch My Computer for Me?
Good manners and solidarity require us to monitor each other’s things in a public library. But what happens when Iranian porn addicts get involved?
Drumroll Please
A million-plus viewers will tune tonight to watch costumed young people dance with fake weapons and play bugle—and that’s just the fans already in the know. America, you live in a drum corps world, you just don’t know it yet.
We'd Like to Hear You Never
Yapping on cell phones has gotten out of hand--on the bus, on the street, even in subways, civil life is trampled with every outspoken call.
In Praise of Loopholes
There's something to be said for working smarter, and not harder, and humans have been looking for--and finding--loopholes to enable it for centuries.
It
United we stand. In line. At the cash register... If there’s one issue Americans can rally around, it’s consumption. We all want stuff. Lots of stuff. As much as our wallets and purses will allow, and usually more.
Lone Star Statements
The praise of professional critics hardly matters to the book-reviewing readers at Amazon.com. A compilation of the best of the worst... about the best.
Downloading for the Greater Good
Fall semester is fast approaching, when students in our best universities will resume buying their essays off the internet and plagiarizing like crazy--and good for them! Why downloading term papers is an asset to higher education.
Farewell, Tour
The tickets cost too much, the band didn’t play long enough, somebody keeps stealing my seat, and the drunk guy is annoying me and my girlfriend. A letter to whoever is in charge.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Toyota Prius
Tired of that gas-guzzler you've got parked in the driveway? Perhaps it's time you drank the antifreeze and experienced the future of the universe, and your reality too.
Mr. Ugli Fruit or: How I Stopped Being Nice and Learned to Hate Fairway
The Grocery Wars have made Manhattan a battlefield strewn with fallen asparagus, and no turf is more contested than the Upper West Side, where battered heavyweight Fairway fends off competitors.
Tempting but Ill-Advised Email Auto-Responses
Email can be a time-saving, productive tool; that is, except when your friends and family are the ones behind it.
Craigslist in Baghdad: Missed Connections
Some people are there to sell a cheap computer. Others to divulge a personal rant, but let’s face it: Most people go to Craigslist for the missed connections.
Your Books and Neighbors
A used-book store stocks its customers' tastes and perversions, and then sells them to their neighbors. A Brooklyn shop find life after New York's Book Row heyday by providing a service computers can't beat.
The Intramural Sports of Kings
The signup sheet in the break room wants you and your co-workers to meet at the park on Saturday for a game of softball. For some it may just be fun, but for others it'll be pure competition.
Concerning My Neighbors, the Hicks
It's easy for Yankees to see the South as a swamp, full of evangelist in-breds and Fox-fed yokels, when the media reinforces the stereotype.
When Guests Outstay Their Welcome
If your guests are walking all over you, it may be that you look suspiciously like a doormat.
Unexplained Snacks of America
“Grits” only sound edible if you know what they are; and even then you could argue otherwise. An Australian guesses what’s in the boxes of our popular foods.
How to Road Trip
Driving at least once from Connecticut to California should be required for all Americans, but how to survive the trip is less understood. Timeless advice for a tiring journey.
How to Write a Thank-You Note
"Sincerely, Help?" Having trouble finding the right words to thank cousin Sal for that mango slicer? How to write the perfect, honest thank-you note every time.
The Complicated Art of Chelsea
New York's art world is made of fanatics, freaks, and the ultra-rich. In a quest to convert a rich friend to patronage, we begin to doubt the faith.
Why Won't You Leave Me Alone?
Some people hear voices inside their head, others simply hear voices, and it tortures them to death. A sufferer begs you to leave him alone, you and your constant demands.
The Pigeons Are Illuminated
No one in New York sleeps easily on Sunday night, so where better to share the collective isolation than at the top of the Empire State Building?
8 Million Stories in a New York Minute
New York has enough eccentrics to make the normals seem crazy. Excerpts from a pint-sized book.
Branding
No longer content with acronyms or surnames, companies now hire brand consultants to name their children. The best and the worst of new-age monikers, including those easily pronounced as ass-enter.
Where Are You Now?
Possible humiliation, almost-certain ridicule, and excused overindulgence: Never one to flee from a challenge, our writer goes to her high-school reunion.
From Here to There
Stalking may not be in right now, but don't let that deter you. Spend a day following people around New York.
Lift
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we take a look at some people's pretty-darned-weird behavior. And why they keep pressing the elevator "call" button.
Kindness
You may think that etiquette doesn't matter, that grapefruit spoons are for sissies and no one should hold the door anymore. Think again, jerk.
I Remember Patty
Good friends bring out the best in us. Bad friends bring out the instincts that can lead to years in prison. Our writer remembers the girl she almost stabbed.
A Wrench the Size of Delaware
Toleration is necessary for living in an apartment building, even if your neighbor isn't of sound mind and humor. How a neighbor's problems can swiftly become your own.
Chagrin and Men I Have Loved
Shark attacks, public gaffes, ruining a prom dress: as topics for nightmares, any may cause a bad night’s sleep. But only our writer has survived them all in full daylight, with the help of a few good men.
A Fig for Thee, O Terror
The reason Mayor Giuliani sounded more effective than GW Bush was a simple matter of doing versus planning. You trust a man who's talking about lifting that brick right now and don't ask about tomorrow yet.