Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionMy first rich boy pulled down my underpants. My last rich boy pulled down my tights. My first rich boy — I had fixed my eyes on his face long enough to know — was beautiful, with dark gray eyes and long golden-brown hair across his forehead. I don’t know what he grew up to be. My last rich boy was blond. He grew up to be the president of the United States.The first rich boy’s name was James. He was raped by his grandfather. He was raped by his uncles. He was beaten by his father. My mother told me the stories much later. When...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionMy first rich boy pulled down my underpants. My last rich boy pulled down my tights. My first rich boy — I had fixed my eyes on his face long enough to know — was beautiful, with dark gray eyes and long golden-brown hair across his forehead. I don’t know what he grew up to be. My last rich boy was blond. He grew up to be the president of the United States.The first rich boy’s name was James. He was raped by his grandfather. He was raped by his uncles. He was beaten by his father. My mother told me the stories much later. When...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionI’d never been on Executive Foxtrot One, the presidential aircraft used to transport members of the First Family, when I ascended its red-carpeted stairs and boarded the cabin last spring to travel to a Nashville children’s hospital with Melania Trump. But thankfully, I was seated near Kate Bennett, a frequent Foxtrot flier and correspondent for CNN.Bennett is maternal and glamorous and cool, and I relied on her, asking her how things worked here and why they work this way and collecting from her the kind of precious details you...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionI’d never been on Executive Foxtrot One, the presidential aircraft used to transport members of the First Family, when I ascended its red-carpeted stairs and boarded the cabin last spring to travel to a Nashville children’s hospital with Melania Trump. But thankfully, I was seated near Kate Bennett, a frequent Foxtrot flier and correspondent for CNN.Bennett is maternal and glamorous and cool, and I relied on her, asking her how things worked here and why they work this way and collecting from her the kind of precious details you...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionI.I did plenty of things I knew I shouldn’t have done in that red-brick colonial in suburban Georgia: smeared grime from the unfinished half of the basement on the walls of the finished half; spilled ruby red sweet-and-sour sauce on the pearly carpet. During a sleepover, a friend even knocked a hole in the sheetrock as we rode sleeping bags down the basement stairs like sleds. It could’ve been any of those things or none of them that precipitated the beating I received from my father one night near Christmas, when I was 8 years...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionI.I did plenty of things I knew I shouldn’t have done in that red-brick colonial in suburban Georgia: smeared grime from the unfinished half of the basement on the walls of the finished half; spilled ruby red sweet-and-sour sauce on the pearly carpet. During a sleepover, a friend even knocked a hole in the sheetrock as we rode sleeping bags down the basement stairs like sleds. It could’ve been any of those things or none of them that precipitated the beating I received from my father one night near Christmas, when I was 8 years...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionQuawan “Bobby” Charles, a quiet 15-year-old who loved the outdoors and his dog, “My Baby,” in rural Louisiana on October 30. His body was discovered days later in a sugarcane field, 20 miles from his home; the sheriff’s department told his family that the boy had drowned.Charles’s family calls the claim “bogus,” and says that photos show Quawan’s face was horribly disfigured when he was found. They believe his death could have been racially motivated, and that law enforcement failed to act in the hours after they reported their...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionQuawan “Bobby” Charles, a quiet 15-year-old who loved the outdoors and his dog, “My Baby,” in rural Louisiana on October 30. His body was discovered days later in a sugarcane field, 20 miles from his home; the sheriff’s department told his family that the boy had drowned.Charles’s family calls the claim “bogus,” and says that photos show Quawan’s face was horribly disfigured when he was found. They believe his death could have been racially motivated, and that law enforcement failed to act in the hours after they reported their...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionFirst it was Hope Hicks. Then . Then Senator Mike Lee from Utah. Then Notre Dame University president Father John Jenkins, Chris Christie, North Carolina senator Thom Tillis, and Kellyanne Conway.These are all prominent Republicans and members of Trump’s inner circle who attended SCOTUS pick Amy Coney Barrett’s , September 26, who now have tested positive for COVID-19. Given that the virus can incubate for up to two weeks before showing up in testing, it’s possible that any number of them could have been sick at the event, even...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionFirst it was Hope Hicks. Then . Then Senator Mike Lee from Utah. Then Notre Dame University president Father John Jenkins, Chris Christie, North Carolina senator Thom Tillis, and Kellyanne Conway.These are all prominent Republicans and members of Trump’s inner circle who attended SCOTUS pick Amy Coney Barrett’s , September 26, who now have tested positive for COVID-19. Given that the virus can incubate for up to two weeks before showing up in testing, it’s possible that any number of them could have been sick at the event, even...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionI know the day we started feeling sick — at least two of us in our Brooklyn apartment — because that Saturday our 2-year-old son ran around outside. Walking past the farmers’ market at Fort Greene Park, I sent my friends photos of the clusters of people hanging out. “Can you believe this,” I texted, “the photos don’t do it justice.”My husband Patrick woke up that morning annoyed, his whole body hurting. I took our toddler out of the house so he could sleep, or try to — we also have a 4-month-old baby. I did feel a little off,...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionI know the day we started feeling sick — at least two of us in our Brooklyn apartment — because that Saturday our 2-year-old son ran around outside. Walking past the farmers’ market at Fort Greene Park, I sent my friends photos of the clusters of people hanging out. “Can you believe this,” I texted, “the photos don’t do it justice.”My husband Patrick woke up that morning annoyed, his whole body hurting. I took our toddler out of the house so he could sleep, or try to — we also have a 4-month-old baby. I did feel a little off,...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionEdinburgh Castle, many centuries old, has been called the most besieged place in Britain. In 2005, on the night Melissa Anelli arrived, it was besieged primarily by children. The cover of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was projected on its outer walls. Inside, J. K. Rowling, a longtime Edinburgh resident, was celebrating the midnight release of the sixth Harry Potter book.Anelli was then the 25-year-old web mistress of a Harry Potter fan site called . Rowling had personally summoned Anelli, along with Emerson Spartz (the...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionEdinburgh Castle, many centuries old, has been called the most besieged place in Britain. In 2005, on the night Melissa Anelli arrived, it was besieged primarily by children. The cover of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was projected on its outer walls. Inside, J. K. Rowling, a longtime Edinburgh resident, was celebrating the midnight release of the sixth Harry Potter book.Anelli was then the 25-year-old web mistress of a Harry Potter fan site called . Rowling had personally summoned Anelli, along with Emerson Spartz (the...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionThis article was featured in , New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. to get it nightly.My mother’s ex-husband, Jim (who, until I turned 8, I’d thought was my uncle), had Google alerts set for me. Every time my name appeared in the news — if you can call gossip websites “news” — he was notified immediately via email. Jim was well meaning but an alarmist; he wished to maintain a relationship with me, and these alerts provided him with perfect opportunities to reach out.I was walking through Tompkins Square Park with a...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionThis article was featured in , New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. to get it nightly.My mother’s ex-husband, Jim (who, until I turned 8, I’d thought was my uncle), had Google alerts set for me. Every time my name appeared in the news — if you can call gossip websites “news” — he was notified immediately via email. Jim was well meaning but an alarmist; he wished to maintain a relationship with me, and these alerts provided him with perfect opportunities to reach out.I was walking through Tompkins Square Park with a...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionWhen it came time to relocate from near D.C. to the New York tristate area, Fareed Hayat thought, I’m certainly going to Brooklyn. It was the summer of 2017. He and his wife, Norrinda Brown Hayat, had both gotten new jobs — he would be teaching criminal law at CUNY, and she had taken a position as the director of the Civil Justice Clinic at Rutgers — and Fareed had dreams of brownstones fueled by a viewing of Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It reboot on Netflix. They considered whether the city could be a suitable substitute for...…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionWhen it came time to relocate from near D.C. to the New York tristate area, Fareed Hayat thought, I’m certainly going to Brooklyn. It was the summer of 2017. He and his wife, Norrinda Brown Hayat, had both gotten new jobs — he would be teaching criminal law at CUNY, and she had taken a position as the director of the Civil Justice Clinic at Rutgers — and Fareed had dreams of brownstones fueled by a viewing of Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It reboot on Netflix. They considered whether the city could be a suitable substitute for...WW…

Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionThis article was featured in , New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. to get it nightly.You walk beneath a white molded archway. You’ve entered a white room.A basketlike lamp hangs overhead; other lamps, globes of brass and glass, glow nearby. Before you is a couch, neatly tufted and boxy, padded with an assortment of pillows in muted geometric designs. Circles of faded terra-cotta and pale yellow; mint-green and mustard confetti; white, with black half-circles and two little dots — aha. Those are boobs. You look down....…Things you buy through our links may earn New York a commissionThis article was featured in , New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. to get it nightly.You walk beneath a white molded archway. You’ve entered a white room.A basketlike lamp hangs overhead; other lamps, globes of brass and glass, glow nearby. Before you is a couch, neatly tufted and boxy, padded with an assortment of pillows in muted geometric designs. Circles of faded terra-cotta and pale yellow; mint-green and mustard confetti; white, with black half-circles and two little dots — aha. Those are boobs. You look down....WW…