Pam Grossman lives on a quiet street in Park Slope, Brooklyn, next door to a Mexican restaurant that sells cheap burritos and $3 bottles of Mexican cola. She is soft-spoken with long, dark hair, wears punk black boots and is married to a man who collects “Star Wars” figurines, which he lines up on a…
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One weekend about four years ago, Elizabeth Olsen found herself in the enviable position of having a pile of scripts to read. Just barely into her career — not counting childhood cameos alongside her older sisters, Mary-Kate and Ashley — she’d already raked in indie accolades for “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and ascended into the…
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Hair has once again caused a political tempest in a blow dryer. This week, the Washington Times published a story saying that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had spent $80 on a haircut and $180 on color at a Washington, D.C. salon, a styling choice the newspaper presented as hypocritical, given she “regularly rails against the rich…
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[Open Thread is a weekly email from Vanessa Friedman. She’ll even answer your toughest fashion questions! To get it by email, sign up here.] Hello, and happy day after National Handbag Day! Did you know that was a thing? I did not. Otherwise, it’s been relatively quiet in fashionland, mostly because — well, impeachment. In…
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To celebrate Modern Love’s 15th anniversary this month, we’re publishing a series of special features — three “classic” essays from the column’s early years and four conversations with writers whose stories were adapted for the television series that begins streaming on Amazon Prime Video Oct. 18. This week: it’s Amy Sutherland’s viral sensation that spurred…
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The first time Jennifer Hindieh saw Alexander Najman, she wished he would go away. Instead, after bumming a Marlboro off her in September 2011 at Long Island University, he stuck around and tried to strike up a conversation. “I was lost in thought,” she said. After fishing a cigarette out of the pack and handing…
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The prominent author Zukiswa Wanner, born to a South African father and a Zimbabwean mother in Zambia, has a complicated relationship with Nairobi, the Kenyan capital and her adopted city of seven years. “In its many layers, Nairobi has the beauty and the frustrations of all African cities I love,” said Ms. Wanner, 43, a…
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The body of a tick encased in wax lies in a candle in my bathroom where I set it aflame after picking it off my son. A mouse got trapped in my car engine and I can smell its little death whenever I’m after some fresh air. The demises those of pests, those of health…
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LOS ANGELES — The incendiary device came shooting toward the homeless encampment without words or warning. Arthur Garza, 29, heard a pop against his tent, then saw the object, which he described as a “mortar” or “firecracker,” bounce into the street and explode. “It was like shooting stars everywhere,” Mr. Garza said. In a matter…
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You wouldn’t expect a C.I.A. agent to talk like the spiritual presidential candidate Marianne Williamson. But there was Amaryllis Fox, who spent much of her 20s trying to keep nuclear materials out of terrorists’ hands, talking about love and kindness. “They are human, and they’re in the midst of waging a war that involves horrendous,…
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