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First Person

First Person

First-person essays and interviews with unique perspectives on complicated issues.

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The time to panic about anti-trans legislation is now

Finding the language to describe the legislative assault on trans people is tricky. Pushing back against it shouldn’t be.

By Emily St. James

My father, the white supremacist

I’d inherited his family’s money, his height, his arthritis. Could I inherit the very worst parts of him, too?

By Caira Conner

What we don’t know about OCD

By Eleanor Cummins

The ghosts of our motel

By Sabaa Tahir

The helplessness of being an Afghanistan War vet

By Jackie Munn

My nemesis, the piano

By Doree Shafrir

The complicated reality of doing what you love

By Marian Bull

The White Lotus is as clueless about Native Hawaiians as its characters

By Mitchell Kuga

The long road to a reckoning on racist team names

By Maria Givens

The best four years of your life?

Dropping out helped me see the lies we’re sold about the college experience.

By Rainesford Stauffer

“I can’t tell you how relieved I was”

By Tiffanie Drayton

How American parents became obsessed with gender

By Amanda Montei

Critical race theory hysteria overshadows the importance of teaching kids about racism

By Jania Hoover

Sweating and grieving in Oregon

By M. Sabine Rear

Criticism’s lack of diversity is hurting movies, TV, music, and more

By Carlos Aguilar

I’m a gay ex-NFL player. I can’t wait until players like Carl Nassib don’t need to “come out.”

By Wade Davis

The stigma of the lonely woman

By Kristen Radtke

Reevaluating the gay bar

By Naveen Kumar

In the Heights exemplified the ugly colorism I’ve experienced in Latinx communities

By Jasmine Haywood

The Asian American wealth gap, explained in a comic

By Lok Siu and Jamie Noguchi

The best $298 I ever spent: Oysters and a cocktail the night before I gave birth

By Gray Chapman

American Jews are taught a very specific Israel narrative. Can that change?

By Abraham Riesman

Seeing myself — and Asian American defiance — in Gilmore Girls’ Lane Kim

By Sanjena Sathian

First-time activists on how last summer’s protests changed their lives

By Mary Retta

Why the world must witness pictures of India’s mass Covid-19 cremations

By Kamayani Sharma

Who pays?

As dating and marriage evolve, so is the way couples tackling the uncomfortable question.

By Melinda Fakuade and Kazimir Lee

In many Asian American families, racism is rarely discussed

By Rachel Ramirez

Mourning my grandmother — and India — from across the ocean

By Diksha Basu

The many Asian Americas

By Karen Turner

What does it mean to be Asian American?

By Vox First Person

Teens can’t all get vaccinated yet. They’re still excited for summer.

By Maryam Gamar

Ma’Khia Bryant didn’t have to die. Deescalation could have saved her.

By Merushka Bisetty

I help people decide if they want to have kids. Here’s my advice.

By Ann Davidman

Greek life is losing members. Here’s why.

By Maryam Gamar

I could have been Ma’Khia Bryant

By Tiffanie Drayton

Why do we care how smart animals are?

By Sigal Samuel

We have enough proof

By Allissa V. Richardson

Daunte Wright and the grim financial incentive behind traffic stops

By Alexes Harris

The best €44 I ever spent: The first sweater I bought in years

By Alessio Perrone

The next generation of Black farmers

By Anoa Changa

From beans and rice to BBQ: Muslim Americans’ Ramadan cuisine reflects their diversity

By Maryam Gamar