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First Person

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

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The best $1.75 I ever spent: Hand sanitizer that allows me to exist in public

As someone with cerebral palsy, moving through the world by myself means I have to make a lot of contact with less-than-clean surfaces.

By Kelly Dawson

When I twerked onstage with Lizzo, it was an act of political defiance

By Sami Schalk

Money Talks: They laid out finances on their first date. Then they retired at 38 and 41.

By Nicole Dieker

The way forward for Me Too, according to founder Tarana Burke

By Morgan Jerkins

I listened to the Supreme Court argue about my rights as a trans person. I have never felt more frustrated.

By Katelyn Burns

The best $1.16 I ever spent: a set of loaded Dungeons & Dragons dice

By Jessica Xing

The Supreme Court is finally taking on trans rights. Here’s the woman who started it all.

By Katelyn Burns

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Why HR is powerless to effectively handle sexual harassment claims

What happens after you report sexual harassment and hear nothing?

By Laurie Ruettimann

The real reason Amber Guyger was convicted

By Brittany Packnett

The true tale of a bona fide, one-of-a-kind “Lobster Girl”

By Kim Kelly

I confronted Jeff Flake during the Kavanaugh hearings. One year later, I regret nothing.

By Ana Maria Archila

Greta Thunberg became a climate activist not in spite of her autism, but because of it

By Steve Silberman

The best $1.50 I ever spent: a kneadable eraser

By Eliza Brooke

6 Native leaders on what it would look like if the US kept its promises

By Rory Taylor

I’m a Latina who went to an elite institution. Kavanaugh culture dominates.

By Jennifer M. Morton

Money Talks: She moved home to save money — and her mom never wants her to leave

By Julie Vadnal

Caroline Calloway and our obsession with feminine deceit

By Nayomi Reghay

The best $80 I ever spent: TSA PreCheck

By Josh Gondelman

’90s erotic thrillers and the satisfaction of watching women burn the world

By Rachel Vorona Cote

Money Talks: She makes triple his salary

By Nicole Dieker

On eating watermelon in front of white people: “I’m not as free as I thought”

By Cynthia Greenlee

The best $190 I ever spent: a fan to ease my perimenopause

By Jolie Kerr

5 things people still get wrong about slavery

By Karen Turner and Jessica Machado

This stream has:

Money Talks

By Nicole Dieker and Julie Vadnal

Money Talks: He has a kid, she doesn’t

By Nicole Dieker

The case against summer camp

By Mac Schwerin

I faced Larry Nassar in court. Epstein’s accusers should have had the same chance.

By Rachael Denhollander

Fake autism treatments show the lengths parents will go to “cure” their kids

By Sarah Kurchak

The best $60 I ever spent: a palm reading that helped me find my way

By Josephine Livingstone

Is wealth immoral?

By Adam Roberts

Why we should let more foreign doctors practice in America

By Perrie Briskin

The best $14 I ever spent: a wipes warmer when I had postpartum depression

By Rachel Christensen

I’m a former Parkland student. I am sick of lawmakers’ empty tweets.

By Kyra Parrow

How to politely smoke weed

By Luke Winkie

Money Talks: one spouse had student loans, the other paid it all off

By Julie Vadnal

From diagnostics to autopsy to burial, stillbirths are alarmingly expensive in America

By Joni Hess

2020 Democrats are tweeting about the murders of black trans women. Where are their policies?

By Katelyn Burns

How a Bay Area ban on feeding squirrels and birds ended up saving their lives

By Alison Hermance

A day in name-changing court

By J. Dylan Sandifer

A sick pet, and an unthinkable choice

By Peter Rugg

The best $42.92 I ever spent: a handful of junky Forever 21 jewelry

By Veronica Walsingham