Twenty-five years after the social hell of adolescence, I found my self-esteem once again at the mercy of a 10-year-old girl’s acceptance. This time, it was harder than ever to fit in. — Up until I started dating someone with a child, I hadn’t thought too much about what being a mom would be like. …

A few apologies, and a rumination on the essence of apologies. I probably should’ve been Catholic. Or Jewish. (Please please please let me be Jewish.) — On a recent Saturday, I spent the day volunteering to help immigrants fill out paperwork as part of their application for U.S. citizenship. I’d like to say it’s because of my great big heart, or is my way of giving back to the country that welcomed my own parents almost…

A new study released this week showed startling disparities between men and women in the field of sexual assault. “We always knew there was a glass ceiling in the industry [of unwanted groping]”, said Jocelyn Kohen, a VP at a Silicon Valley software company, “but this study puts real numbers…

An impressively unscientific case for empathy, at a time when we need it the most. We’re all the same, guys. — We had been talking about getting a taxi home for at least the last two rounds of drinks. Barış glanced at his phone, and insisted there was still too much traffic on the bridge — time for another round. “It’s practically magenta!” he yelled, as he revealed his phone displaying…

If dreams are a pathway into our truest self, my truest self is a 9-year-old boy idiot savant. Or maybe just an idiot. — At 4:30am last night, I woke up sore from laughing hysterically in my sleep. …

We regularly build people up so highly that we’ve never even met, only to be let down crushingly by their inevitable flaws. But maybe — maybe — it’s essential to keeping society in order. — When I was in middle school, I wanted three things, and three things only: (1) A tattoo of Sublime’s 40z to Freedom album cover on my shoulder; (2) Robin Hood: Men in Tights on VHS; and (3) to marry “Mike”, the only non-robot from Mystery Science Theater 3000.

An anecdotal counterpoint to the ever-popular American threat of moving to Canada in times of turmoil. — In the weeks after Donald Trump was elected president, many writers scrambled to post timely words of warning, hope, and the perpetual oscillation between the two that now encompasses the emotions of many like-minded liberals. Some were convinced it was the end of days, others found solace in the fairly…

A case for making a killer standup routine required for med school admission. — Getting ready for multiple deep steroid injections near your spine and other nerve-dense, paralysis-risking regions is usually not something to get giddy over. But for me, the day before such a medical treat, I’m like a kid in a candy store. …

Social networks have made it easier than ever to share information with people who it turns out, really don’t give a shit about you. But while seeing others’ good fortune is easy to ignore/loathe, bad news is much harder to process, and makes you experience something that the Aspergers-inducing digital age has actively challenged: feelings. — In 2004, I was in my senior year of college and got an early invite to a social network called The Facebook. …