z-other-galley
Zimbabwe’s vivid English first names carry family histories, from Privilege to Shame
HARARE, Zimbabwe | Have-A-Look. Handsome. Thanks. Trust. Privilege. Doubt. Problem. Shame. In Zimbabwe, these aren’t just random words. They are names chosen with intention in a culture where naming a child goes beyond identity and can offer a snapshot of family history, emotion and circumstance. At first, Privilege Mubani, a 37-year-old bar manager in the […]
Such great heights: They’re tall, they’re proud — and they’re getting together
SEATTLE | This story has legs. Very long ones. At a Seattle sports bar on a recent Saturday night, hundreds of very tall people got to experience something rare: blending in. Women in their highest heels craned their necks to look at someone taller. Men who usually duck under doorways looked ordinary. For once, nobody […]
Cannes and the Hôtel Martinez await a ‘White Lotus’ close-up
CANNES, France | Though many actors are appearing at the Cannes Film Festival this week, the best role in town might be a little further down the Croisette. Season 4 of “The White Lotus” will be set around the Cannes Film Festival, bringing one the most acclaimed TV series into the heart of cinema’s French […]
Judge declares a mistrial in Harvey Weinstein’s rape retrial after jury deadlocks
NEW YORK | Jurors deadlocked in Harvey Weinstein ‘s rape retrial Friday, forcing another mistrial in a #MeToo-era case that has gone to trial three times so far. While the former Hollywood mogul has been convicted of other sex crimes on two U.S. coasts and remains behind bars, the mistrial leaves the New York rape […]
Separate and unequal: The ‘Whites Only’ sign was a visible reminder of American racism
“No dogs, no Negros, no Mexicans.” “Colored served in rear.” “For whites only.” It’s the type of signage that hung from the doors and windows of establishments across much of the American South for many years. The words, like screaming headlines from Page One of a broadsheet newspaper, were the most visible, daily reminder of […]
Americans love their iPhones (though sometimes they wish they could live without them)
SAN FRANCISCO | The American obsession with the iPhone is complicated, as most love-hate relationships are. It sometimes seems like a talisman so magical that we can’t fathom living without all the pleasures and conveniences that it bestows almost anytime or anywhere. The iPhone, and its smartphone brethren, enable pictures that can be posted instantly […]
Muskets like those from 1776 are mostly exempt from today’s gun laws
HALIFAX, N.C. | With 165 grains of black powder in the barrel, a .75-caliber Brown Bess flintlock musket like the ones the redcoats carried in 1776 can hurl a lead ball at a velocity of around 1,000 feet (305 meters) per second. Imagine what that can do to a human body. Now, imagine that it’s […]
Movie Review: Sorry not sorry — ‘Is God Is’ stakes a claim for unapologetic female rage
As playwright Aleshea Harris tells it, something felt missing when she first sat down to write her searing and startling play “Is God Is,” which made waves off-Broadway in 2018. Harris was writing an epic story of Black female revenge, one that drew on Greek tragedy and mythology, but also spaghetti westerns and a liberal […]
Sandra Oh, Kumail Nanjiani among ‘A List’ Asian American, Pacific Islander names in new HBO doc
Director Eugene Yi has always been interested in the term Asian American and Pacific Islander and which ethnicities it includes. “When we’re talking about Asian Americans or Asian people in the U.S., oftentimes it’s people who might look like you and me, and maybe not people who look like (New York City Mayor) Zohran Mamdani,” […]
Underwater memorial to wrecked slave ship draws pilgrims seeking to connect with their roots
KEY WEST, Fla. | Ruthie Browning dove into the calm, blue water off Key West, Florida, expecting to see “a big, old rock with stuff growing all over it.” She was on a pilgrimage with other Black divers and community members, visiting sacred sites including one where a British slave ship — the Henrietta Marie […]