#123: Our Favorite Articles of 2017

This article received the most reader responses. In scintillating prose, Ta-Nehisi Coates (#3, #10, #48, #58, #71, #109) argues that white liberals like to attribute President Donald Trump’s election victory to the economic angst of working-class white Americans. No way. White people from every socioeconomic group preferred Mr. Trump, and the 2016 election served to protect whiteness and white supremacy. Mr. Coates’s thesis rings even more true after Tuesday’s election in Alabama, where Black voters were responsible for Doug Jones’s victory. ⏳⏳⏳ 

Imagine arriving home from school to learn that your mom is in jail and likely will be deported. This is what happened to 10-year-old Angel Marin and his three sisters in Phoenix, Ariz. The day after their mother’s arrest, the children agreed not to tell anyone. Better to fend for themselves. The number of children who have lost their parents as a result of deportation is staggering — about 500,000 between 2009 and 2013. With the foster care system and child protective services overwhelmed, many children go unnoticed for long periods of time. Writer Lizzie Presser (#80) was also featured this year for her outstanding article on the cruise ship industry, “Below Deck.” ⏳⏳

There is a place in the Dominican Republic where one out of 90 people is born with sexual anatomy falling somewhere along a spectrum of biologically male and female. Unlike in the United States, where doctors diagnose intersex babies with a “disorder of sexual development” and most parents opt for surgery, the situation is different in Las Salinas. There, babies born with 5-alpha-reductase deficiency — who are genetically male but sometimes appear female — are generally raised as girls but switch to living as young men as they reach puberty, without much fuss. ⏳⏳

This was the most clicked article of the year. Please everyone read this piece, particularly if you’re a millennial or if you’re a non-millennial who doesn’t like millennials. (I like millennials.) Bijan Stephen (#114) explains why chain restaurants like Applebee’s are closing, and in the meantime, he captures the essence of what it means to be a millennial. Mr. Stephen’s writing is smart and fresh and funny. ⏳

This is my favorite article of the year. Kathryn Schulz (author of “The Really Big One,” about the catastrophic earthquake destined to hit the Pacific Northwest) begins this astounding piece with anecdotes about losing things — her keys, her wallet, her car. Then Ms. Schulz turns to the loss of her father, who died last year. Her writing is exquisite, and her thesis — that living is losing — will bring you pause, even if reading about death is something you’d rather not do. Big Surprise Bonus: Listen to an excerpt from the article, read by loyal subscriber and actor Shyanna Bryan. Thank you, Shyanna! ⏳⏳