Let’s rethink this “normal” everybody wants to go back to. — When my husband’s restaurant was forced to close, when we lost childcare and life around us ground to a halt, I raged and I cried. Then I planted some seeds. For weeks, I scrupulously watered my cardbord planters and watched as tiny green leaves sprouted from the dark soil, turning…

Barcelona’s undocumented street vendors spent years running from the police. Then they launched a streetwear brand to fight for their rights. The message? “We belong.” — This story was first published in my newsletter, blue whale. It all began with a panic attack. Daouda Dieye was sleeping on his cousin’s sofa in Terrassa, a suburb of Barcelona. The immigrant from Senegal had recently lost his work permit. A former street vendor, he’d been working the harvest…

How attitudes in hosting countries influence refugee integration. — Today I attended an event called Aurora Dialogues, a one-day forum organised by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative to bring together a small number of high-profile international humanitarians, academics and members or civil society to discuss the most pressing issues of the day — and currently that issue is, of course…

An interview with Chris Dercon, the controversial new director of the Berlin Volksbühne, about the future of theatre, how to deal with criticism, and what constitutes a good place to live. And about Berlin, of course. This interview was conducted for Monocle in June 2017 and appeared in an edited form under the title “In betweener” in the September 2017 issue of the magazine. To mark the 10 November opening of the Volksbühne under Dercon and the accompanying brouhaha in the media, I’m publishing a lightly…

“Find your people. No one can do this alone.” — _________ This is from Anxy’s February 28th newsletter. Sign up now and never miss a story. We’ll email you every two weeks. _________ Dear Anxy Friends, In the week before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the lawyer and activist Mirah Curzer published a blog post titled How To #StayOutraged Without Losing Your…

Alright my friends, the Euro 2016 is coming to an end, and three weeks of scrupulous (and, let’s be honest about this tournament, pretty selfless) observation of players’ hair styles have borne fruit: I am ready to proclaim the European Champions of Hair. I care about nuance — this isn’t…

Let’s rank the Euro 2016 players by what really counts. — Hairdos are the most important means of expression in football right after goal celebrations and fouls. It might even be the most important, given that there are limits on free speech in both fouls and goal celebrations (FIFA bans players from taking off their shirts, meh) but not officially in…

The most important thing I learned in 2015? That depression and social media do not go well together at all. — The first time I deleted the Facebook app from my phone was in October 2014. It wasn’t a considered decision. Rather, it felt like dumping a half-eaten tub of ice cream before I could gobble down the whole thing and feel sick, or deleting the number of a man who…

Design immersively, build community, develop a voice and for god’s sake, slow down. — A slightly edited transcript of my talk at the MagCulture Modern Magazine conference in London on 29 October 2015. I recommend reading this only if you’re a bit of a media wonk. I gave a similar talk to this one last February, at an editorial design conference in Munich. At…