Firsthand Stories

For me, niqab is a feminist statement.

by Zainab bint Younus

I’m a writer, a feminist, and an orthodox Muslim (Salafi, to be precise).

I have a fondness for all that is goth, (steam)punk, and Batman. I’m obsessed with leather biker jackets. I’m loud…

Why Peeple is the Worst App Idea

by Stephanie Ivy Whiteside

It’s almost Halloween, so it’s a great time for a real life privacy horror story, courtesy of The Washington Post.

Direct from the Central Mediterranean: Dispatches from a search-and-rescue ship

Where #ImFrom: A little darker

By Ali Hajighafouri

In Indiana I was “Mexican,” but in Walnut Creek, California, I was a poor “Arab redneck” (never mind the fact that Iranians are Persian, not Arab).

Behind Deborah’s story: Women in solitary confinement

Where #ImFrom: Swinging identities

By Christopher James

Florida, where I grew up, is an entrapping place. It might be the humidity, the cheap rent or the many minimum-wage jobs, but people who move there tend to stay there, and I don’t think it’s purely by choice.

Why I ate rotten fish

by Ethar El-Katatney

I ate some rotten fish yesterday.

It wasn’t by mistake.
It wasn’t a dare.
It wasn’t a prank.

95,000 tons of methane

The leak is over, but the outrage remains
By Wendi Jonassen

Smile, you’re on jury duty!

I had always been curious about jury duty. Last year, the court finally…