Culture

Podcasts are a beautiful thing, but there is only so much of Ira Glass’ nasal story-telling out there.

At the New York City release party for Dayna Kurtz’ latest, Rise and Fall, my friend Nadia leaned over to me and whispered, “Why the fuck

If we openly acknowledge that these are life-long struggles for many people and that you’ll slip up, mess up and some days, panic attacks will happen, then it’s not so terrifying when they do. By putting the focus back on improving life where we can, with the tools we have, and doing the best we can, we take the pressure off ourselves to find a cure or be cured.

Weddings can be anxiety-inducing and filled with dread for those of us that don’t drink. Attending weddings as a sober person can often feel lonely and about as fun as having dental work without novocain.

If you find yourself in Manhattan this summer, be sure to add the New York Historical Society to your itinerary. A stone’s throw from the American Museum of Natural History, New York Historical is currently staging three blockbuster exhibitions, each one revealing the rich history of New York City.

It’s bad enough when I’m street harassed out by myself — I feel vulnerable and deciding how to respond can be hard. But it gets really complicated when I’m harassed and with my child.

Even when I explained to my son that he came from a long line of short people, it didn’t help. David still felt bad about being small. How could a five-year-old possibly get this type of size-shaming message? From other people, mostly insensitive adults. They gave him the idea that bigger was somehow better.

The thing is, we soak in these body-judging lessons from a very young age, before we even know how damaging they are. Some of the messages are implicit, like when we see a fat girl getting made fun of on the playground (or, for many of us, when we are the fat girl getting made fun of on the playground) and learn that being fat is not just wrong, it’s a punishable offense.