Hospitals are well lit. Uncomfortably well lit. Flooded with sallow, merciless light: unnatural,  fluorescent. Recessed troffers in the ceiling, cradling thick bars of sizzling white. They are places where light feels Continue reading →

Watching a movie can sometimes feel like swimming backstroke. You spend minutes suspended between boredom and curiosity—Why won’t the sky move?—until you stop thinking and become something else, a rhythm. It’s Continue reading →

“YOU WANT TO OPT OUT?” asked the TSA agent without looking up. “Yes, I want to opt out,” I replied, quickly adopting her language. I liked the way she put it. “Okaay,” Continue reading →

IN SIERRA LEONE we always had a doctor when we needed one, and that doctor was my father. When I was a baby, a measles outbreak in the country caused scores Continue reading →