The Cut - When I Feared My Father

I have my father’s wide button nose, his trip-wire temper, and his talent for wielding words as weapons. For most of my life, these were things I despised about myself.

My formative years began in 1994, when my mother and I followed my father from China to New York City. We quickly overstayed our visas and, at age 7, I went from being surrounded by family to keeping company with just my parents, hunger, and the constant fear of deportation. Our circumstances meant that Ma Ma and I were particularly dependent on Ba Ba. He had been an English-literature professor in China and arrived two years prior to get another degree, so he was fluent in the language we were just starting to learn. But his fearful pronouncements about life in America — trust no one, speak to no one, catch no one’s attention — kept us all the more tethered to the vicissitudes of his rage.

New York City has passed landmark new protections for food-delivery workers that the rest of the country needs to take a cue from. Our climate crisis can leave a person feeling entirely hopeless, but one person can still do their part. Amazing news: There’s a new season of The Great British Baking Show (“Bake-Off” to those in the know) on Netflix today. Before you dive in, meet the lovely new competitors. In far more chaotic TV news, watch The View cast find out in real time that two of them have tested positive for COVID, moments before they were due to be joined by the vice-president. For just $1.2 million, you can have the ultimate spooky szn in the house from The Conjuring. And we hope you enjoy your weekend as much as Angela Merkel enjoyed visiting this bird sanctuary!

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