Morgan Jerkins

Jan 9, 2025 | thecut.com | Morgan Jerkins

Photo: Grier “You come here and see this view and you think, Yeah, this is my life,” says Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. “Then you have to say, No, it’s not really.” For the average anxious person, overhearing such a statement could send you down a spiral about life, career, belonging. But Ellis-Taylor’s honey-warm voice obliterates any trace of nervousness buzzing about her Central Park hotel suite.

Jun 30, 2024 | lgbtqnation.com | Morgan Jerkins

Last year, despite minding other people’s business online, I didn’t know what a “trad wife” was. Now it seems like every time I log in to Instagram or TikTok, there is another video of a beautiful woman cleaning her home or making an extraordinarily long and needlessly difficult meal. These trad wives, short for traditional wives, are women who post online content showing themselves adhering to patriarchal gender roles while keeping house and raising children—and making it look easy.

Jun 23, 2024 | motherjones.com | Morgan Jerkins

Last year, despite minding other people’s business online, I didn’t know what a “trad wife” was. Now it seems like every time I log in to Instagram or TikTok, there is another video of a beautiful woman cleaning her home or making an extraordinarily long and needlessly difficult meal. These trad wives, short for traditional wives, are women who post online content showing themselves adhering to patriarchal gender roles while keeping house and raising children—and making it look easy.

Jun 17, 2024 | thecut.com | Morgan Jerkins

Photo: Miranda Barnes This story was originally published on June 27, 2023. We are recirculating it after the news that Kara Young won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Lutiebell Gussie Mae Jenkins in Purlie Victorious. Kara Young stands at the top of the stairs of her parents’ Harlem brownstone enthusiastically yelling for me to come on up, the front door left ajar for me to venture inside.

Feb 4, 2024 | motherjones.com | Morgan Jerkins

When the US targeted Russia’s oligarchs after the invasion of Ukraine, the trail of assets kept leading to our own backyard. Not only had our nation become a haven for shady foreign money, but we were also incubating a familiar class of yacht-owning, industry-dominating, resource-extracting billionaires. In the January + February 2024 issue of our magazine, we investigate the rise of American Oligarchy—and what it means for the rest of us. You can read all the pieces here.