There was recently a Billboard article about the timeline of the K-Pop explosion in the U.S. The article mentions that MTV K, a channel launched by MTV in 2005 (17 years ago!), was the first in the country to program the genre that now produces the biggest pop stars on the planet- this is true but inadequate information.
Read MoreI’ve been fortunate to spend time with and learn from young women and men around the world.
Read MoreMy father died in 2000. For reasons I might write about later, his wardrobe and personal belongings were never disposed of. Perhaps it was the terror of dealing with his absence.
Read MoreIran's President, Ebrahim Raisi, calls the rage unfolding in his country over the death of 22- year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, “acts of chaos” that must be stopped.
Read MoreThe long and magnificent goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II was incredibly moving and momentous. I lived my early life in post-colonial India under her glittering shadow.
Read MoreWhat kind of country desecrates the rights of its women? Usually, we associate this with fascist regimes, autocracies run by maniacal madmen, tinpot dictatorships, and governments we critique and try to rehabilitate.
Read MoreIn a business eco-system crowded with loud, crass, and aggressive male leadership intent on more power, wealth, and global domination, there aren't many role models to look up to, especially for young women.
Read MoreIn his book "Winner Takes All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World," Anand Giridharadas exposes the hypocrisy of the "global elite’s efforts to 'change the world,' preserve the status quo & obscure their role in causing the problems they later seek to solve."
Read MoreThe explosion blew up the city, killing 135, injuring 5,000, forcing hundreds of thousands into homelessness and crippling the country for decades to come.
Read MoreIn this tumultuous time of pandemic and dissent, when male leadership has collapsed spectacularly, (Trump, Bolsanaro, Putin), women have proven their ability to navigate national crisis and terror far more successfully (Ardern, Merkel, Ing-wen). It’s time to bring female storytellers to the forefront to change the global narrative of doom and gloom.
Read MoreIn these turbulent days of pandemic, crisis, and corruption when we long for courage and inspiring leadership, it's particularly painful to wake up to John Lewis's passing.
Read MoreThe geckos of summer were already slithering up the bathroom walls, their stone-age eyes winking at us knowingly in slow-motion: we were leaving & they would have the apartment to themselves again.
Read MoreOne of the most gratifying experiences of traveling the world for the past three years, and most recently, driving through America, has been the deep understanding I have had, and the connections I have made with human beings from all walks of life in the many countries and states I have visited.
Read MoreBlackfeet Reservation, Montana.
For city folk like me, it’s hard enough to be exposed to rural America, but it was particularly inspiring to meet young women so passionate about the land, the environment and animals their families toil so hard on, and the symbiotic, deep and spiritual relationship they have with their habitat.
Whitefish, Montana.
Last time I was in Montana there was a fugitive on the run and the place was in a panic. He had escaped prison with the help of his girlfriend and the trigger-happy couple were shooting up people near St. Marie.
White Shield Reservation, North Dakota.
Bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, driving through tornadoes; & jolted in tiny planes & landing in Bismarck at midnight, rain falling like bullets on the tarmac. Dinky airport, charcoal night, glistening roads, the comforting croak of Tom Waits, Can, BuzZcocks, Salif Keita inside the Grand Cherokee.
Memphis, Tennessee.
With his brooding intensity and lanky good looks Jay W. could have been in the movies. Instead, he struggled out of poverty and became a cop, serving in the Memphis Police Dept. for ten years.
Indianola, Mississippi.
Otha C and his wife Linda work at his sister’s famous restaurant, Betty’s Place, in Indianola, Mississippi, birthplace of Blues legend BB King. In fact, Betty fed BB for more than 25 years- corn bread, catfish sandwiches, peach cobbler.
Greensboro, Alabama.
A particularly scenic stretch of Highway 61 North, title of a one of Bob Dylan’s best records (Highway 61 Revisited) leads to Greensboro, county seat of Hale County, a sweet, sleepy little town of 2,500 people, almost 25% of whom live below the poverty line.
Selma, Alabama.
Lowndes County, Alabama, is so gorgeous the emerald poplar trees drip with liquid gold at sunset. It is also so poor that resident's sewage is flushed directly into the front lawn. Hard to imagine such extreme poverty inside the world's wealthiest nation.
