January 20, 2021 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Parlez-Vous Anglais? Yes, of Course.
Europeans speaking perfect English sounds like good news for native speakers, but it may also be a threat.
January 20, 2021 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Why It’s So Hard to Learn French in Middle Age
I knew I’d never sound like a native. But shouldn’t I be much better than this?
January 20, 2021 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Lockdown Left My Mind and Body Flabby. Then Came Tennis Camp.
What playing doubles with a Parisian urologist taught me about how to get my life in order.
January 20, 2021 | 1843
Adventures in Nudist Paris
I’ve seen my share of penises, but never so many at once.
January 20, 2021 | NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
The Consolations of Philosophy
I recently found myself on a metal chair in the Jardin du Luxembourg, in Paris, submitting to my first-ever session of “philosophical therapy.”
January 20, 2021 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Paris by Bike
In a feat of urban chutzpah, Paris — though not yet a cyclists’ paradise — is becoming a cycling town.
August 02, 2020 | NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
Pandemic Marriage, Ménage, & Me
What would happen when we were cooped up for weeks or months with what the French government was ominously calling our cellule familiale?
August 01, 2020 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Yes, I’m Turning 50. No, I’m Not Really Ready.
Someone does still want to sleep with you, but you don’t get to decide who that is. And other lessons for my next decade.
August 01, 2020 | 1843
A lime-green dress turned me into a sexpot
Pamela Druckerman recounts the outfit that prompted an orgy in her absence
August 01, 2020 | 1843
Shopping with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Pamela Druckerman meets Nigeria’s most famous living author
August 01, 2020 | 1843
It’s hard to buy a dress in a pandemic
With coronavirus closing in on Paris, Pamela Druckerman admits defeat
February 07, 2019 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Bad News About Helicopter Parenting: It Works
New research shows that hyper-involved parenting is the route to kids’ success in today’s unequal world.
January 19, 2019 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Revenge of the Middle-Aged Frenchwoman
‘I would like 50-year-old women to stop sending me photos of their bottoms and breasts,’ a French writer pleaded.
December 21, 2018 | MARIE CLAIRE
The Life-Changing Magic of Marie Kondo
Marie Kondo’s decluttering technique has always been refreshingly strange: Make a pile of all your clothes—down to the last pair of socks—then discard anything that doesn’t “spark joy.” Repeat this with books, papers, and the contents of your kitchen cabinets.
November 24, 2018 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Woman Who Still Finds Louis C.K. Lovable
The French comedian Blanche Gardin is taking on all of feminism’s orthodoxies.
November 01, 2018 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
The News Is Bad in Hungary
Viktor Orban didn’t like what the press was reporting, so he took it over.
May 04, 2018 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
How to Survive Your 40s
If you want to know how old you look, just walk into a French cafe. It’s like a public referendum on your face.
May 03, 2018 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Are the French the New Optimists?
Americans used to be full of hope. No longer.
April 10, 2018 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
What Are the French Doing to Protect Jews? A Lot.
This isn’t World War II all over again.
March 08, 2018 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Are iPhones Bad for Kids?
Two new books — Anya Kamenetz’s “The Art of Screen Time” and Naomi Schaefer Riley’s “Be the Parent, Please” — offer advice to anxious parents.
April 21, 2017 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
How Do You Say ‘Hail Mary’ in French?
I’ve lately been telling French people about the Hail Mary pass. I explain that it’s a desperate move in American football: You’re running out of time to score, so you lob the ball toward the end zone and hope for the best.
March 17, 2017 | THE ATLANTIC
Podcasts Are the New Xanax
I’m not an early adopter. I’ll only start wearing new styles of clothing once they’re practically out of date, and I won’t move into a neighborhood until it’s fully saturated with upscale coffee shops. I was the last person I know to download music and to stop paying for long-distance phone calls.
October 02, 2016 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
‘If I Sleep for an Hour, 30 People Will Die’
It’s 1944, in occupied Paris. Four friends spend their days in a narrow room atop a Left Bank apartment building. The neighbors think they’re painters — a cover story to explain the chemical smell. In fact, the friends are members of a Jewish resistance cell.
July 08, 2016 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Why Rich People Make the French Squirm
With Paris now competing to become Europe’s post-Brexit financial capital, France’s fraught relationship with wealth is under global scrutiny.
November 17, 2015 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
How to Talk to Children About Terrorism
Even in tough times, parents should tell them the truth — often in simple terms — and help them process it.
April 23, 2015 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Eat Up. You’ll Be Happier.
My father-in-law, an anthropologist, likes to talk about the time he ate dog penis. He was visiting a remote town in South Korea, and the mayor invited him to lunch. Once they’d finished the dog soup (not a big deal), a waitress carried out the boiled penis on a silver plate. The mayor cut it lengthwise with scissors, then served half to each of them.
March 16, 2015 | THE NEW YORK TIMES
Decoding the Rules of Conversation
As an American married to an Englishman and living in France, I’ve spent much of my adult life trying to decode the rules of conversation in three countries. Paradoxically, these rules are almost always unspoken.