More than 100 million Americans have medical debt, with half owing more than $2,000; disabled people are twice as likely to have it than those without disabilities. Annually, around half a million Americans are pushed into bankruptcy by health care costs. That’s understandably made medical fundraising through websites like GoFundMe appealing, with Americans seeking a combined $10 billion from 2010 to 2018 for health expenses. But publicly asking for financial support can also be a hindrance, aff

In March 1911, the segregated Crownsville asylum opened outside Baltimore, Maryland, admitting only Black patients. It was the first to house Black people in the state, but when they arrived, their main role wasn’t to get support—it was to build the asylum. The combination of ableism and sanism—harmful beliefs about the nature and treatment of mental illness—with anti-Black racism in the Jim Crow South all but ensured that Black patients were treated worse than white ones held in other asylums t

The initial narratives pushed by law enforcement after so-called “officer-involved shootings” or fatal beatings, particularly of Black men, have been found wrong many times over. In January, the Memphis police officers who beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols to death claimed he’d been combative and reached for one of their guns. Video footage debunked both claims. In 2020, a press release from the Minneapolis Police Department, “Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction,” said an unnam

After months of preparing to give birth to her first child at a birthing center, T’Nika’s plans had to change: She needed a caesarean section due go her baby’s placement during delivery. As a Black woman giving birth during COVID-19, giving birth outside of a traditional hospital sounded appealing. But her baby had other plans, and due to the birthing center’s working relationship with a nearby hospital, T’Nika was quickly transferred.

As coverage of the 2022 midterms continues, NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Ali Vitali is ready to see more women running for office and watch how candidates are going to address women’s issues, including childcare and access to abortion. During the 2020 election cycle, Vitali was on the campaign trail covering candidates like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar. It seemed like a remarkable year, one in which a woman finally had a chance to be elected as the president of the United Sta

We urgently need your help. DAME reports the stories that need to be told, from perspectives that aren’t heard enough. In times of crisis it is even more critical that these voices are not overlooked, but COVID-19 has impacted our ability to keep publishing. Please support our mission by joining today to help us keep reporting. Growing up, many of us are taught that being sick is a sign that we’re not taking care of ourselves. This is just one of many erroneous messages about wellness that chro

In the world of true crime podcasts, it’s practically a given that audiences want narrators to dig deeper into a case, if not solve it. Every little detail could be a clue or a murderer’s tell. So it’s no accident that the protagonists of Hulu’s hit mystery series Only Murders in the Building—Oliver (Martin Short), Charles (Steve Martin), and Mabel (Selena Gomez)—give audiences what they want.

Margarita Gokun Silver’s unique personal history, and new essay collection, show that Soviet and Russian stories are more complex than pop culture would have you believe.

After the election of Donald Trump in 2016, many people across the United States who opposed his policies wondered what they could do. Many mothers, women, and allies attended the Women’s March in cities across the country and the world.

In July, New York Times bestselling author Andrea J. Buchanan published the article “The Maid Who Mapped the Heavens” at Narratively, which tells the story of Williminia Paton Flemming, a maid who became a groundbreaking astronomer. This was not Buchanan’s first foray into literary science writing. Her memoir The Beginning of Everything: How I Lost My Mind and Found Myself is a 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award finalist. Like Flemming, Buchanan had to overcome obstacles, in her case while recovering from a brain injury. We chatted with Buchanan about her recovery, her approach to memoir writing, and what’s in store for her in the future.

Michael Stahl, Narratively’s layout manager, contributing editor, and longtime writer, loves baseball. At Narratively, Michael has written about the embattled New York Mets’ star Kevin Mitchell and American black baseball players who left for Canada to play the sport. Now his work continues with a new book, Big Sexy: In His Own Words, out May 12. The book is the All-Star pitcher Bartolo Colón’s autobiography, which Colón co-authored with Michael Stahl. Michael chatted with us about how he landed such a coveted book deal, and how the Narratively crew, “taking a chance on someone that had no experience” years ago, helped set him up for the success he has today.

In her second book, Wandering Dixie: Dispatches from the Lost Jewish South, writer Sue Eisenfeld takes the reader on a journey while she travels to and researches lost Jewish communities. Lost communities in Eisenfeld’s book include places where it seems like the only part of Jewish history that remains are old temples, as well as cities where people may be surprised that Jewish communities thrive. Wandering Dixie is not a history book, but rather a memoir where Eisenfeld’s connections to the su

Narratively readers may remember Sassafras Lowrey’s article “Confessions of a Misfit on the Dog Show Circuit,” and four-legged friends are a common theme in Lowrey’s writing. Just last year alone, Lowrey had three dog-related books published, including a finalist for the Dog Writers Association awards, and has another book, Chew This Journal, coming out this summer.

Over the past seven years, we have been fortunate to build up an international network of storytellers who bring deeply reported tales from around the globe to Narratively. One of these writers is Joe Henley, a three-time contributor originally from Canada, now based in Taiwan. Henley’s work covers a wide range of topics – just at Narratively this year he wrote both The Expat English Teachers’ Murderous Love Triangle and The 11-Year-Old Girl Taking Skateboarding By Storm. But one issue that he has been drawn to time and again is the mistreatment of migrant workers in Taiwan. We chatted with Henley about his upcoming book Migrante, the conditions that migrant workers in Taiwan face, and his advice on how to pursue fiction writing.