Call for Submissions: Incompetence + Stupidity
In The Fray Magazine | Call for Submissions | October 2013: Incompetence + Stupidity In a glaring example of governmental dysfunction, Congress has shutdown the US government and may default on the...
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Rebel Blues: A Review of Mojo Hand
Mojo Hand: The Life and Music of Lightnin’ Hopkins By Timothy J. O’Brien and David Ensminger University of Texas Press. 294 pages.Blues legend Sam Hopkins — known as Lightnin’ Hopkins to his fans —...
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Maybe in America: A Review of Captain Phillips
Captain Phillips Directed by Paul Greengrass Columbia Pictures. PG-13. 2 hours, 14 minutes.Captain Phillips, the new film based on a real-life encounter between an American commercial-shipping crew and...
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The Slippery Slope of Social Media
Photo by Jason Howie I am a writer who recently noticed I spend more time reading articles about writing, absorbing Top Ten lists of famous authors’ work practices, and laughing at clever memes than...
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Burning Man’s Economy of Loving-Kindness
As I approached the gate to Black Rock City, a young man came up to my car and greeted me with a warm “Welcome Home.” I had arrived at Burning Man: a week-long arts festival in the Nevada desert held...
View ArticleCall for Submissions: Forgiveness
In The Fray Magazine | Call for Submissions | January 2014: Forgiveness Nelson Mandela, who spent twenty-seven years in prison before leading South Africa out of apartheid as its first black president,...
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Tourism in a Time of War
The Bekaa Valley and the shelters of Syrians (not necessarily refugees) who work in the adjoining fields. Please, please, please cancel your ticket. It doesn’t matter how much it costs,” implored the...
View ArticleCall for Submissions: Resistance
In The Fray Magazine | Call for Submissions | April 2014: Resistance Ukraine. Venezuela. Thailand. The Arab Spring. We are living in a time of vibrant protest, captured and magnified by cellphone...
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The White Death, Revived
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen that causes TB. NIAID She looks like a child: a baby face and large, round eyes, long and thin arms that make her seem gawky. When she sees me, her eyes...
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The Poetry of Pussy Riot: A Review of Words Will Break Cement
Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot By Masha Gessen Riverhead. 320 pages.Journalist Masha Gessen wrote a well-received biography of Russian president Vladimir Putin two years ago. In her...
View ArticleCall for Submissions: Frenemies
In The Fray Magazine | Call for Submissions | August-September 2014: Frenemies “Frenemies”: friends with fewer benefits. It’s often an apt term to describe our working lives, where polite interactions...
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Cold Peace
Twelfth of July, Donegall Street, Belfast, 2013. Dominic Bryan, via Flickr A few years ago, I found myself in a very Protestant part of Belfast trying to convince neighborhood kids that they should be...
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Lost and Found: A Conversation with Writer Philip Connors
Earlier this year, forest-fire lookout and nonfiction writer Philip Connors came out with his third book, All the Wrong Places: A Life Lost and Found. It’s a beautifully wrought memoir about his...
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Power Failure
Photo by Saptarshi Chakraborty Lately, as a result of planning my wedding, there’s been a lot of talk among my buddies about what drives the expensive social conservatism we see during our various...
View ArticleCall for Submissions: Incompetence + Stupidity
In The Fray Magazine | Call for Submissions | October 2013: Incompetence + Stupidity In a glaring example of governmental dysfunction, Congress has shutdown the US government and may default on the...
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Today, Tell Your Family That Black Lives Matter
Each year I go through the motions of Christmas, rarely ever feeling fully present. I spend the days leading up to the holiday cooking for my family and baking for my neighbors. I send out Christmas...
View ArticleBest of In The Fray 2014
The following are the best pieces published in In The Fray this year, as chosen by the editors: Commentary: Unearthing Another War, by Michael Long News: The White Death, Revived, by Octavio Raygoza...
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Fresh and Fetid: Remembrance of Lunches Past
In search of Lunchables. Eddie Huang (Hudson Yang) and his mom Jessica (Constance Wu) journey to the supermarket. “Ugh, what is that? Gross!” About seven minutes into the pilot episode of ABC’s new...
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Foraging for Bits of Home
Photo by elzinga alexander, via Flickr When I was growing up in suburban Maryland, every fall would bring a familiar sound. Thud, thud, thud!—chestnuts falling in their hardy armor. My mom and I would...
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The Big Picture of Baltimore, Ferguson, and North Charleston
“Seasons Greetings, from Ferguson,” November 29, 2014. Mike Tigas, via Flickr Richard Rothstein of the Economic Policy Institute says we need to remember the big picture of race relations in Baltimore:...
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