We spoke with writer and professor McKenzie Wark about her punk-soundtracked pathway to academia, rave strategies to keep you on the floor no matter your age or the hour of the day, and the manual labor being a writer entails.
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Meet Ana Kraš
in Designer, Photographer
In this conversation, artist and designer Ana Kraš shares thoughts on her childhood in Belgrade marked by war, her luxuriously simple approach to beauty and fashion, and how she, as a self-professed “homebody,” creates an inspiring space in which to spend her days.
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Camera Roll with Katie Merchant
in Photographer
Katie Merchant’s creative eye is applied to the photography she shares on her prolific Instagram account, @thankyou_ok, but also to her work as a creative director and stylist for brands such as Glossier, Babaà and Marimekko that share her penchant for nostalgia filtered through a lens of romance that recalls the films of Jacques Demy or Éric Rohmer. Here, we speak to Katie about capturing moments of serendipitous beauty on an iPhone, the opposite of buyer’s remorse (regret for a purchase unmade), and women she’s inspired by, from Miss Piggy to Martha Stewart.
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Meet Olivia Villanti
in Designer
Olivia Villanti’s appreciation for the understated romance of everyday gestures is woven into the simple but studied clothing made by Chava Studio, the atelier she founded in San Miguel Chapultepec, Mexico City. Here, she shares with us how a childhood steeped in dance translated into a textured perspective on clothing as an agent of movement, life as an expat, and much more.
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Meet Niat Amare
Niat is a lawyer who moved to the US in the early 2010s from Ethiopia’s conflict-torn Tigray region. Marked early by social and political injustice, her childhood and upbringing caused Niat to embark on a legal career that focuses on immigration, human rights, and gender-related issues — fields that have taught her much about our shared human experience. We speak about the traumatic experiences that sparked her professional ambitions, activism, and what lasting effect the ongoing conflict in her home country has had on her life and sense of self.
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Meet DeNeita Watson
Postal worker DeNeita Watson is most likely to be spotted on the road — her daily 9-mile walking route through Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood, to be exact. After growing up with a single mother in South Carolina and having not one, but two children straight out of high school, she moved over ten years ago to take advantage of her familial support system in the city and leave behind memories of a destructive relationship. DeNeita talks to us about early motherhood, the physical ramifications of her job, and how her fashion sense has evolved over the years.
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Meet Meryanne Loum-Martin
Meryanne Loum-Martin’s morning commute is likely the most picturesque of any passerby to date: having made her permanent home in Marrakesh after spending much of her childhood on the go as the daughter of a diplomat, she now walks past palm trees on her way to the office. We talk to Meryanne about her definition of home, the importance of independence in marriage, and why, for her, staying intellectually challenged is the key to youth and happiness.
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Meet Miyako Bellizzi
Costume designer Miyako Bellizzi, the brain behind the character-defining looks for movies like Uncut Gems, Good Time, or HBO’s hit show Scenes from a Marriage, sees her role as “cultural anthropologist with a specialization in clothing.” Born in the Bay Area, Miyako moved to NYC 15 years ago to embark on a multi-faceted career across film, tv, editorial, and print that is marked by patience and her DIY attitude. We speak to the fashion maven about growing up in a family of stylish women, her research process, and home-made beauty remedies.
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Meet Naomi Fry
in Writer
If you’ve ever read one of Naomi Fry’s pieces for The New Yorker — or follow her on social media, for that matter — you know that her sense of humor and ability to curate culture into text (from highbrow art all the way to reality tv) is unparalleled. In our conversation, she speaks about growing up across two continents, the financial aspects of raising a family in NYC, and why she’ll never quite feel a sense of belonging in America.
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Meet Hengameh Farhang
in Retiree
Speaking to Hengameh Farhang about her life experience to date feels like a roller coaster ride: born in Iran, she has uprooted more often than most, first moving to Paris for school and business, then Dubai for love, the US for her daughter, and finally back to France to save her physical and mental health. In this interview, she speaks to us about her three abortions, opening up a business as a young woman, and navigating marriage despite her ex-husband’s addiction issues.
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Meet Elsa Dorlin
in Philosopher
French philosopher and professor Elsa Dorlin has devoted most of her career to exploring the relations between violence, gender, and race, which she brought to the old-fashioned philosophy department of the Sorbonne, winning awards on the way. In this interview, she talks to us about her political background, and anti-capitalist commitment which she considers the most fundamental political question of our time, and the issue with contemporary feminism.
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Meet Laurie Simmons
in Artist
We might have never come to know Laurie Simmons for her sharp critiques of gender, mass media, and consumerism or as part of New York City’s celebrated Pictures Generation if it hadn’t been for an unsuspecting downtown psychic in 1972. “Join the photography club. You'll meet people, and you'll make friends.” Following this advice set Laurie off on a path of integrity, grit, and curiosity through decades as an artist, wife, and mother. We talked to her about the importance of prioritizing friendship, why a successful marriage is based on accountability, and being unapologetically feminine for the first time in her life.
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Camera Roll with Tala Ashe
in Actor
In a special edition of our Camera Roll series — where we glimpse into the current moment through an in-depth look at our interviewee’s phones — we speak to Iranian-American actor Tala Ashe about the political situation in her native country of Iran and how she captures the things that matter to her right now.
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Life in 10 Tracks with Fatima Robinson
For Fatima Robinson, the accolades are endless — from starting her career as a choreographer for Michael Jackson’s Remember the Time to lending her vision to numerous Super Bowl halftime shows and a Beyoncé Academy Awards performance. We caught up with her while on break from filming the forthcoming remake of The Color Purple in Savannah, Georgia.
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Meet Josephine Hack
in Engineer
One of mechanical engineer Josephine Hack‘s most prominent character traits is curiosity — along with a high degree of self-reflection that applies as much to her career at Brooklyn startup Terra Kaffe as to her philosophy on beauty and fashion. She talks to us about the effects of nature on her mental health, working in a male-dominated industry, and why she likes to wear dresses on hikes.
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Reality Bites with Maddi Bragg
in Content Creator, Chef
Maddi Bragg’s first foray into the professional food world was as a sous-chef during a social media break — a necessary step back for the YouTube phenomenon with 1.1 M subscribers. In this conversation, she elaborates on seasonal shopping, leaving home and supporting herself at 16, and her desert island cooking essentials.
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Reality Bites with Fiorella Valdesolo
As a writer and editor for the likes of Travel + Leisure, The Wall Street Journal, or Vogue, and co-founder of James Beard award-winning food magazine Gather Journal, Fiorella Valdesolo can look back at years of powerful epicurean storytelling. In this conversation, she elaborates on her two-breakfast routine, the NYT cooking app’s comments section, and why we should all eat more kraut.
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Life in 10 Tracks with Ambar Lucid
in Musician
Ambar Lucid has come a long way since sharing her first cover on YouTube. She talks about tracks that transport her back in time and reveals what song cures relationship problems when shouted at the top of your lungs.
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Meet Rose
in Housekeeper
“I have to keep going.” Housekeeper Rose came to the US at 22, leaving her young children in Mexico to provide them with a better life. In this conversation, Rose opens up about her difficult youth, how religion has helped her, and prioritizing family above all else.
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Meet Helen Radulovic
Helen Radulovic is a self-proclaimed fan of taking the long path: “It will help you become stronger, more experienced, and prepared for all the challenges life brings upon you.” We talk to Helen about uprooting her life mid-thirties to move to a foreign country, turning her basement into a walk-in closet, and why she doesn’t subscribe to traditional communist ideals about women and family.
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