Kathy in Beaumont, Pennsylvania, is a college instructor whose son is dating someone who is non-binary. Kathy’s eager to be supportive, but still struggles with using their preferred pronouns in a way that feels second-nature. Using language in an unfamiliar way can be difficult, given the paradigms she learned growing up, but time and exposure should make it easier to achieve her goal. One recommended resource: The documentary Disclosure is as revelatory about the representation of transgender people in film and TV as the 1996 film The Celluloid Closet was for onscreen depictions of lesbians and gay men. This is part of a complete episode.
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
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