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First Person

Vox's home for compelling, provocative narrative essays.

“The world doesn’t fit me”: a new memoir chronicles everyday life at 460 pounds

Writer Tommy Tomlinson on battling obesity.

By Hope Reese

I’m furloughed. I’m also disabled. I have to choose between care and keeping the lights on.

By Kings Floyd

I live by Yosemite National Park. Here’s what’s been happening since the shutdown.

By Tracy Barbutes

The unexpected best use of Facebook

By Katie Hawkins-Gaar

I write political thrillers. The Trump era keeps spoiling my books.

By Matthew Quirk

The best $104 I ever spent: a rose gold trash can

By Amanda Mull

The retro piece of exercise equipment my parents couldn’t give up

By sabaimtiaz

I work with kids. Here’s why they’re consumed with anxiety. 

By John Thornton Jr.

When I was furloughed, I couldn’t pay for child care. It set off a financial chain reaction.

By TL Coleman

Black women have been calling out R. Kelly for years. Nobody listened.

By Feminista Jones

Diversity on Capitol Hill starts with paying interns

By Audrey Henson

Kevin Hart’s Oscars controversy feeds the stereotype of the black homophobe

By Ernest Owens

“Are you a doctor?” The unchecked racism faced by physicians of color.

By Vidya Viswanathan

I’m a black man who moved to the Deep South. Here’s what it’s teaching me about race.

By Jemar Tisby

I’ve counseled hundreds of victims of gaslighting. Here’s how to spot if you’re being gaslighted.

By Robin Stern

The 7 things I did to get over a big breakup — and why research says they work

By Katie Bogen

My advice for aspiring explainer journalists

By David Roberts

What the holidays are like for a recovering alcoholic like me

By Helaina Hovitz

I worked in the Interior Department. Watching Zinke’s tenure was heartbreaking.

By Sarah Greenberger

2018 was the year I changed my mind

By Cindy Mallette

The best $6,250 I ever spent: top surgery

By Daniel Ortberg

The spare button represents all the ways we fail to be good consumers

By Alden Wicker

Young people are having less sex. Who cares?

By Lux Alptraum

I’ve never had a student ask for a safe space. Here’s what they have asked for.

By Jonathan W. Wilson

I was a Sheryl Sandberg superfan. Then her “Lean In” advice failed me.

By Katherine Goldstein

How the “Jewish American Princess” became America’s most complex Jewish stereotype

By Jamie Lauren Keiles

Why are people still living in the western US with the constant threat of climate change?

By Cally Carswell

I knew dating as a widow would be difficult. But the hardest part surprised me.

By Marjorie Brimley

Why do we stop giving meaningful gifts to our friends?

By Sara Petersen

How you think about raising children says a lot about your political views

By Marc J. Hetherington, Jonathan Weiler, and 1 other

What Mark Wahlberg’s new movie Instant Family gets right and wrong about foster care

By Christy Tennant Krispin

The big lie we’re told about climate change is that it’s our own fault

By Mary Annaise Heglar

Working at the mall on Black Friday doesn’t have to be a nightmare

By Kaitlyn Tiffany

A historian on our broken election system: “it’s run by people with stake in the outcome”

By Hope Reese

What I wish my friends had said to me after my mom died

By Chelsea Gray

I work in urban planning. Now Amazon’s coming to my city.

By Alex Baca

The thrill of watching Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bring her whole self to Congress

By Alexa Kissinger

In the midterm elections, the GOP strategy was racism. In key races, it worked.

By Samuel Sinyangwe

I was on a Forbes 30 under 30 list. Here are the hidden privileges that made me a “success.”

By Aditi Juneja

I got my dream job and had my baby the same week. So I brought my baby to work.

By Rebecca Kelly Slaughter

I'm a woman who fought wildfires for 7 years. Climate change is absolutely making them worse.

By Anastasia Selby
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