In The Fray

08/04/2025

New article: Tightrope Walking in Narbonne

"It’s 13:59, and the intercity Bordeaux-Narbonne departs at 14:00. I have sixty seconds to decide whether or not to stay on the train. I reread the text I just received from my Airbnb host in Narbonne: 'I can’t receive you today, my apologies.'"

Read more: https://inthefray.org/2025/08/tightrope-walking-in-narbonne-funambule-nomades

11/27/2024

From our latest article, an interview with a Palestinian artist on living through the past year of war in Gaza: "We used to have a skincare ritual—it was something we’d do together periodically, just to lift our spirits a bit. He wanted me to help him look and feel better, as we’ve all been so weary. One week before he was killed, during our ritual, we had a conversation about the fragility of existence—how our lives hang in the balance between life and death. I held him close."

What is life like in Gaza, more than a year since Israel began its military assault there? I spoke to Mariam Salah, a twenty-nine-year-old artist and teacher who lives there, for a personal perspective on the war. Salah has lost six family members and eight friends since Israeli forces swept into th...

02/15/2024

The misery of the work in ’s warehouses speaks to the hollowing out of the American dream, writes In The Fray editor Victor Tan Chen.

The misery of the work in Amazon’s warehouses speaks to the hollowing out of the American dream.

06/02/2023

Our latest article by Dr. Qanta Ahmed, physician, author, and women’s rights activist: “Experiencing firsthand the dramatic reforms that Saudi Arabia has made in the two decades since I lived there gives me hope for another Muslim nation held in thrall by fundamentalists.”

Experiencing firsthand the dramatic reforms that Saudi Arabia has made gives me hope for another Muslim nation held in thrall by fundamentalists.

07/21/2022

Our latest piece by sociologist Chinyere Osuji on the surging global popularity of Korean dramas, how they helped her cope with the pandemic, and how Black women and other women of color are leading thriving online fan communities devoted to K-dramas.

While problematic content occasionally crops up in K-dramas, I’ve found a welcome escape—and a welcoming fan community—through their relatable stories.

06/10/2022

In The Fray Magazine | Call for Submissions | June 2022: Reckonings

Around the world, leaders at the highest levels are facing a reckoning. A brash military invasion has gone more poorly than almost all experts expected, rattling an autocratic regime once thought unassailable. Public investigations are chipping away at the piled-up falsehoods of demagogues. Corporations that for decades squeezed out ever greater profits for ever less pay are struggling to find workers. Loose monetary policy is tightening. Global warming is intensifying. Everywhere, the chickens are finally coming home to roost.

In The Fray magazine is looking for commentary, reportage, visual essays, short stories, and poetry that speak to the settling of accounts. Please review our submissions guidelines at inthefray.org/submit and send a one-paragraph pitch NO LATER THAN JULY 1. You may attach a complete draft if you have one.

More details: https://inthefray.org/2022/06/call-for-submissions-reckonings/

04/30/2022

We are now publishing Creative Commons-licensed content that can be freely republished, starting with Cherise Fong's new piece on the lingering scars of Japan's 2011 tsunami:

Cycling around Japan’s post-tsunami peninsulas, eleven years after March 11, 2011.

02/11/2022

Research by Alice Quach at Virginia Commonwealth University examines how inequalities of class and race affected online learning during the early stages of the pandemic, when college campuses couldn't play their traditional equalizing role.

Class and race have shaped the realities of online learning in deep, sometimes unexpected ways.

12/31/2021

From our latest article by Paul Michelson: "When I saw several months ago that the Yolo Food Bank was looking for volunteers to do some harvesting, I signed up. I respected the work the food bank did, and I was curious about what went on in the fields of California’s Central Valley. In the back of my mind, too, were articles I’d read about how very few native-born Americans signed up to do farm work nowadays—and how those who did would quit right away."

Also, before 2021 ends, please consider making a tax-deductible donation (at inthefray.org/donate) to our volunteer-run nonprofit organization. Our heartfelt thanks to those who have already given for their generous support!

Individual donations are our lifeblood, accounting for the vast majority of our funding every year. Every small amount helps. And every dollar donated to our not-for-profit magazine goes to the work we do—that is, publishing the magazine, paying our writers and artists, and spreading the word abou...

11/24/2021

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: We're looking to publish writers, photographers, and artists with any work relating to this topic, broadly construed: Openings and Closings.

In The Fray Magazine | Call for Submissions | December 2021: Openings and Closings For many people, life nowadays is a state of continual transition. Economies shut down, then reopen, then shut down again. Practices of business and leisure are in flux, responding to ever-changing local conditions

09/03/2021

From our latest story, an interview with an Afghan interpreter for coalition forces: "We must go to another country. If we will stay here, life will be bitter for us."

An Afghan interpreter talks about the danger and distrust that interpreters regularly experienced and their worries about the future.