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May 2022

I met Briana in early June, just after school had ended

I met Briana in early June, just after school had ended

When she and her mother were watching TV and a romantic or sexual scene came on, her mother would leave the room

She was in a summer program for geometry remediation because she’d gotten a C in math. “I don’t know. I try hard. I’m just more into sports.” On the day we met, she wore a purple tank top and not-too-tight shorts, and her long hair was down. She had a sunburn on her shoulders that was bothering her a little. She told me she ran track and played volleyball and softball. Mostly she seemed nervous and eager to please-“No, ma’am.” “Yes, ma’am”-and to make me understand that she was not a bare-your-breasts kind of girl.

“Just let me see them, please?” She texted back, “No,” she told me. He was a junior, one year ahead of her. She didn’t consider him her boyfriend, just someone she talked with at school sometimes. Plus she felt “self-conscious.” Briana is tall and fit but doesn’t exude that sexy sheen some high-school girls do. He asked a dozen more times, in different ways, and one night the text came as she was getting out of the shower.Read More »I met Briana in early June, just after school had ended

Many were husbands and boyfriends; just over half were either married or in a relationship with a woman

Many were husbands and boyfriends; just over half were either married or in a relationship with a woman

Darren was young, good-looking and bright; I asked him how often he thought the women he paid enjoyed the sex

Seven hundred men were interviewed for the project, which aimed to find out why men buy sex. Photograph: Christina Griffiths/Getty Images/Flickr RM

Seven hundred men were interviewed for the project, which aimed to find out why men buy sex. Photograph: Christina Griffiths/Getty Images/Flickr RM

‘I don’t get anything out of sex with prostitutes except for a bad feeling,” says Ben. An apparently average, thirtysomething, middle-class man, Ben had taken an extended lunchbreak from his job in advertising to talk about his experiences of buying sex.Read More »Many were husbands and boyfriends; just over half were either married or in a relationship with a woman

Did you have a special friend like that, Tom?

Did you have a special friend like that, Tom?

Once upon a time, there was a boy who didn’t like himself very much

“Old Rabbit. Oh, and I’ll bet the two of you were together since he was a very young rabbit. Would you like to tell me about Old Rabbit, Tom?”

And it was just about then, when I was spilling the beans about my special friend, that Mister Rogers rose from his corner of the couch and stood suddenly in front of me with a small black camera in hand. “Can I take your picture, Tom?” he asked. “I’d like to take your picture. I like to take pictures of all my new friends, so that I can show them to Joanne. ” And then, in the dark room, there was a wallop of white light, and Mister Rogers disappeared behind it.

He had always loved Mister Rogers, though, and now, even when he was fourteen years old, he watched the Neighborhood whenever it was on, and the boy’s mother sometimes thought that Mister Rogers was keeping her son alive

It was not his fault.Read More »Did you have a special friend like that, Tom?