James Parker

1 week ago | theatlantic.com | James Parker

Editor’s Note: Is anything ailing, torturing, or nagging at you? Are you beset by existential worries? Every Tuesday, James Parker tackles readers’ questions. Tell him about your lifelong or in-the-moment problems at [email protected]. Don’t want to miss a single column? Sign up to get “Dear James” in your inbox.

1 week ago | yardbarker.com | James Parker

The Oklahoma City Thunder took a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals with a huge 120-109 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 on Monday. The Pacers cut OKC’s lead to just two points in the fourth quarter, but the Thunder responded with a run of their own to hold on to the lead. OKC’s smothering defense was once again the deciding factor in the matchup. Jalen Williams led the Thunder’s strong performance from the opening tip and OKC led by ten points after the first quarter.

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | James Parker

It’s a real American moment out there: battle lines drawn, tear gas drifting, charity and gentleness on their heels. Turn inward, inside ourselves, and it looks even worse, the mind’s landscape pocked and blackened with destruction. Can somebody please bring the beautiful music, to carry us up and out? Someone like Sly Stone, who died on Monday at the age of 82. Sly was a born transcender, a natural synthesizer of situations, a raiser of elements to their highest state of possibility.

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | James Parker

Editor’s Note: Is anything ailing, torturing, or nagging at you? Are you beset by existential worries? Every Tuesday, James Parker tackles readers’ questions. Tell him about your lifelong or in-the-moment problems at [email protected]. Don’t want to miss a single column? Sign up to get “Dear James” in your inbox. Dear James,In the second half of last year, I went to a naturist beach for the first time. I was afraid on my whole walk there that I would chicken out.

3 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | James Parker

Editor’s Note: Is anything ailing, torturing, or nagging at you? Are you beset by existential worries? Every Tuesday, James Parker tackles readers’ questions. Tell him about your lifelong or in-the-moment problems at [email protected]. Don’t want to miss a single column? Sign up to get “Dear James” in your inbox. Dear James,I’m not very punk rock. Not even a little. I’m well into middle age and experiencing my first taste of the many small indignities sure to come.