Personal. Political. Provocative. Ad-free.

Selections from the January issue

The Good Earth?
Sandra Steingraber On How We’ve Made The Environment Dangerous To Our Health
“You can drink as much bottled water from Fiji or Iceland as you want, . . . but every time you step into the shower, it’s the equivalent of drinking half a gallon of tap water.” 
Interview by David Kupfer

The Sweet And The Salt
The taste of Miami’s dark streets 
Fiction by Tatjana Soli

Narrow Escapes
Dodging the police, sailing in a tropical storm, rekindling an old flame
Personal stories by our readers

Plus: Poetry by Mark Smith-Soto, Sy Safransky’s Notebook, and Sunbeams

Favorite from the archives

Me Me Me
Fiction by April Wilder [November 2007]

“When my sister Fawn told me she’d decided to adopt a little girl, I was skeptical. The girl’s name was Sam, and she lived in a group home run by — according to Fawn — gang members, illiterates, and pervs. Fawn had a master’s in social work and had been working with lost youth for years. She felt it was time she brought one into her home, gave her a shot at a normal life. Plus Fawn had been bent on having a kid by the time she was thirty. She was now thirty-four, and I figure she figured adopting a five-year-old would retroactively accomplish her goal.”

More

Sun manuscript reader Marianne Erhardt recommends this story. She writes: “Hilarity is not always the sister of heartbreak, but the two share bunk beds in the pages of this story. The writing here is startling, with a hard, necessary grace. Wilder reminds us that saying, “Me, me, me,” isn’t all that different from saying, “Us, us, us.” It just depends who keeps showing up at our side.”

What’s your favorite piece from The Sun? Tell us, and we may include your suggestion on our website and in our newsletter.

What bloggers are saying

John Taylor Gatto’s essay “Why Schools Don't Educate” [June 1990] stirs up a heated discussion among readers on Reddit and Twitter.

Alice Bradley, author of the parenting blog Finslippy, reflects on the responses she’s received to her essay “Eighteen Attempts at Writing about a Miscarriage” [December 2009].

A social-justice activist in Berkeley, California, commits to donating to The Sun and makes a case for financially supporting independent media.

In honor of Thanksgiving, a writer and translator in New York City lists items for which she’s grateful, including John Rosenthal’s essay “Stealing Souls” [March 1983].

Are Sun readers meeting in your area?

Groups of Sun readers across the country meet regularly to discuss the latest issue of the magazine, or write, or both. Groups have recently formed in:

Dover, Delaware
Jupiter, Florida
Naperville, Illinois
Vinton, Iowa
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Pontotoc, Mississippi
Portland, Oregon

To view the complete list of Sun groups, or to start your own, click here.

Most-read on our website

1. Why Schools Don't Educate
   Essay by John Taylor Gatto
   (June 1990)
2. Eighteen Attempts At Writing About A Miscarriage
   Essay by Alice Bradley
   (December 2009)
3. The Good Hunter:
   David Petersen On The Ethics Of Killing Animals For Food
   Interview by Jeremy Lloyd
   (December 2009)
4. Anger
   Readers Write
   (December 2009)
5. Who Hears This Sound?
   Adyashanti On Waking Up From The Dream Of "Me"
   Interview by Luc Saunders and Sy Safransky
   (December 2007)
   

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