What Is Elite TikTok?

As multinational corporations face a reckoning, thousands of American teenagers are playfully posturing as retail stores and popular household brands on TikTok. This universe of faux brand accounts makes up just a sliver of what is known on the platform as Elite TikTok, or Alt TikTok. It is not marked by the attractive dancing young…

Meet the ‘Grandmother of Street Medics’

As protests against police brutality have swept the country, in some cases leading to additional police aggression, toward demonstrators, a loosely organized group of trained volunteers has been on call to intervene and treat injuries. Street medics, who may be medical professionals or first aid practitioners with only basic training, bandage cuts and rubber bullet…

Let’s Meet on the Porch

While walking my dog on a recent Sunday afternoon, I spotted my neighbor knitting on her front porch. I waved and approached, stopping just short of her shade garden. We chatted for a long time — from a safe distance — about working from home, our dogs, baking, knitting and how our families are doing,…

How to Create a Fragrant Garden

In his latest book, Ken Druse candidly admits to a particular botanical bias. “When I come across a beautiful flower,” he writes, “the first thing I do (after checking for a bumblebee) is lean in to sample its smell.” And if there’s no scent? “I find the blossom somewhat lacking.” Mr. Druse is the author…