Three New 'Between the Binary' columns

I've had a few more Between the Binary columns publish over at them. the last few months... It's taken me a moment to post them here because, well, I've been a little busy!

First, I spoke about the fear and uncertainty I had about getting top surgery in this column that ran before I got surgery in late November. I called it: "A Farewell to Boobs." (I am very proud of this punny title, not sorry.)

(Illo by Lucy Sherston)

In December, I wrote about the annoying fact that many brands still don't bother marketing products to anybody but "men" or "women." I asked: Where are nonbinary people supposed to buy socks, razors or hiking boots? Dear Brands: Consider Selling Me Stuff

Cheryl Strayed (known friend of Oprah) said this about the column:

(I died.)

And finally, this week I published my latest column, about how doing yoga has helped me transform my relationship with myself. It talks about recovering from top surgery. Which has been intense! How Yoga Changed My Relationship with My Body — And Myself. This one once again featured an illo by Ohni Lisle:

Thanks for reading.

99% Invisible!

For the last few months I've been hard at work on an episode of 99% Invisible and it's out now! It's about The Kirkbride Plan — a surprising and relatively forgotten chapter in the history of American mental health care. It's an answer to the question of why this country has so many huge abandoned asylums. I hope you'll check it out.

It was an honor to be able to create this piece with the awesome 99PI team. 99PI is a podcast I truly love and I'm very grateful to be able to tell this story to their audience.  BTW I realized I hadn't mentioned here that, some weeks back, I was on another of my favorite podcasts, albeit doing a fairly different thing. Anyway, ICYMI, here was my guest appearance on Slate's Dear Prudence. 

Between the Binary!

I've got a coupla new essays live today.

One is the first of a monthly column I'll be doing for them. called Between the Binary. The inaugural one is me complaining about Gmail not letting you just change your email address.

It's got a gorgeous illustration by Ohni Lisle.

I've also got a new essay up at Guernica, about going to the Museum of the Mind at Bethlem (aka Bedlam) in the UK. It's a piece about how, when I was writing A Kind of Mirraculas Paradise, I was very lost when it came to the question of who to listen to, when it came to the truth of madness. I went to this museum and saw the painting "Out of the Maze" by William Kurelek that's featured on my paperback's cover.

BTW! Don't miss the latest Batman: The Animated Series episode of Mad Chat, out today, with comedian Yassir Lester.