Summer 2019
Table of Contents
The Travel Issue
In Depth
Explore SectionFrom the Editors
Why “Radical” Travel?
We knew right away this was not going to be a typical summer travel issue. A survey of our readers showed that while many of us daydream about sunny vacations in distant places, we also understand that our travels — big trips and small — reveal complex social justice issues: Who gets to travel? How much of the Earth’s resources should we use so that privileged people can experience distant lands? Why are some destinations capitalism’s current darlings? And who exactly gets to decide whether we are a welcome guest in someone else’s homeland?
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Are We Doing Vacations Wrong?
Radicalize your travel by being a better guest in someone else’s homeland.
Bani Amor
12 Tips for More Equitable Travel
How to match your vacation to your social justice values.
Yasmeen Wafai & Zeb Larson & Carol Pucci
The Reverse Selfie: A Tiny Act of Decolonization?
I will likely never see how I am used in those images. But I was glad to relinquish power in those moments.
Suzanna Finley
That All-Inclusive Vacation Is Actually a Terrible Deal
Especially for the people who live and work in the places you’re traveling.
Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz
A Route 66 Road Trip Through Indigenous Homelands
I’m seeking out the histories and communities that existed before Route 66 and that survive still today.
Shoshi Parks
Why Young Jews Are Detouring From Israel to Palestine
Some are using Birthright trips to draw attention to the Israeli occupation, its policy of oppression, and the call for a two-state solution.
Lornet Turnbull
Beyond Airbnb: Your Vacation Rental Options Just Got More Equitable
Co-op alternatives to Airbnb strive to offer short-term rentals that respect local communities.
Deonna Anderson
Traveling While Brown: Journeys in Privilege, Guilt, and Connection
Visiting other countries connects me to experiences outside my own and shows me how Brownness is both window and mirror.
Anu Taranath
How to Travel at Home: Finding New Routes Through Our Daily Lives
Many of us don’t look up from our smartphones long enough to notice what’s around us.
Richard Schiffman
Solutions We Love
Explore Section
A Climate Action for Every Type of Activist
No matter your age, gender, race, or political ideology, there are ways to fight climate change that fit your life and values.
Cathy Brown
How New Yorkers Stood Up to Amazon and Won
Queens activists, unions, and political leaders worried about gentrification and opposed the $1.2 billion in tax breaks offered to the retail giant.
Yasmeen Wafai
Culture Shift
Explore Section
How Do We Teach “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Honestly Confront Racism?
Harper Lee’s novel is the closest thing America’s had to required reading. But the book’s failings in confronting racism are more apparent than ever to White educators—and Black ones wonder what took so long.
DJ Cashmere
Why Economic Equality Won’t Fix Mental Health Care
Mental illness doesn’t discriminate based on your bank account, but treatment is much more difficult to access when you’re living in poverty.
Eleanor Goldberg
How Capitalism Exploits Our Fear of Old Age
Getting older isn’t all loss and no gain—we may actually become happier and more emotionally resilient.
Valerie Schloredt
