
Afghanistan’s Fashions Over Three Generations
In 2009, I was 13 years old and I had taken fashion into my own hands. I loved designing new clothes, imagining how I could stand out from the crowd. It became an obsession, the only thing on my mind. Then the Taliban came, again and again.

The Birthrate Is Leveling Off in Europe’s Most Fertile Region
Alarms about crashing fertility rates are going off around the world. Is the Faeroe Islands, an autonomous nation within the Kingdom of Denmark that has long been Europe’s most fertile country, going the way of its Nordic neighbors? If so, why?

After a Seattle Cop Disdains Value of a Student’s Life, Indian Americans Are Outraged
The viral video of a Seattle police officer joking about the “limited value” of Indian student Jaanhavi Kandula, who died earlier this year after being struck by a police car, prompted the Indian consulate to demand a probe and has created outrage among the large Indian community in the United States.

A Deliberate Political Madness?
The National Institute of Mental Health definition of psychosis speaks of “loss of contact with reality.” That is what is happening. Masses of people, whether unable or unwilling to recognize reality, are substituting nightmarish fantasies generated within their movements, making these into a political force moving millions.

In Egypt, Society’s Well-Being Is Reflected in the Mangoes
The mangoes were not as good as they usually were. One of my favorite varieties, the Alfons — a cousin of the Indian Alphonso — was bitter and inedible, while the reddish Naoumi carried a muted sweetness that left me craving a phantom taste. The Fas variety — the father of Egypt’s mango — was stained by sunburn. Something was wrong.