In 2017, a multibillion-dollar court battle was raging in a small South Dakota town between a former heavyweight meat producer and one of TV’s Big Three networks. The sheer size of the case sent ripples through the media industry.

While sitcoms are full of New Yorkers gabbing about therapy, the reality is that many people in the city suffer from mental health issues that go untreated. Health data gathered by city mental health workers shows that one group is overwhelmingly neglected: black New Yorkers.

In 2014, I wrote a literary feature piece on Amy Hassinger, the author of two novels, “Nina: Adolescence,” which was called “truly penetrating” by Salon.com, and “The Priest’s Madonna,” which Library Journal said was “marvelously written and researched.” 

In April 2018, a teacher rebellion that began in West Virginia spread nationwide.

In 2017, Americans were opting for pickups and SUVs over cars at a record rate, as those larger vehicles comprised over 60 percent of the market for new vehicles in the U.S., according to Jessica Caldwell, the executive director of data strategy at Edmunds, an auto-market research and review site.

In 2016, I bought Skittles for the first time in years. When I ate a green Skittle, I had expected the lime flavor of yore, but no, it was the horrifying taste of green apple.

When I went to the Skittles Facebook page to see if other people were making a ruckus about the abomination that is a green apple Skittle within a package labeled “Original,” I found something more: humanity.