Are there boundaries? Where are they? Who sets them? — In the spring of 2017 a work on display at the Whitney Biennial sparked controversy. The piece, by abstract artist Dana Schutz and titled “Open Casket”, is taken from a picture of the mutilated body of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black kid from Chicago who was brutally murdered in Mississippi…

Not a very efficient way to do things. — All photographs by Tristan DeBoer. Some time in 2010, I decided to walk the Camino de Santiago. If you are not familiar, the Camino is an ancient pilgrimage trail, over 1,000 years old, running generally through northern Spain from the Pyrenees in the east to the city of Santiago de…

Why is it so hard to understand the accepted and effective treatments for gender dysphoric kids? There may be a reason, innocent or not. — NB: As you can see above, the title of this piece in the print magazine is “Your Child Says She’s Trans. She Wants Hormones and Surgery. She’s 13.” The title for the online version is simply “When Children Say They’re Trans.” Did the folks at The Atlantic think about how…

I’m not sure where compromise can be found. Is it unthinkable? It is not often, these days, that I turn to that bastion of conservative thought, The National Review for enlightenment. There was a time — decades ago — when the journal had an editorial stance and writers worth exploring…

Without two pieces of software and one process, I would definitely tip over. Before reading on you should know that I am heartily endorsing three products here. I am not receiving any type of compensation, monetary or otherwise, for these endorsements. I didn’t even ask Shawn Coyne if it’s alright to write about him, which is probably rude of me. I am writing…

The ravening hordes of anti-trans bigots screaming on YouTube are not the real problem. — N.B.: I am a cisgender male. As such, I would never pretend to speak for transgender people or claim personal knowledge of anything other than my own cisgender experience. My sole claim to any expertise on this subject (if any claim can be made) is that I have been writing…