The earth is doomed.

and we thought you might need it, too. We usually shy away from topical pieces, but Joanna Arnow’s “First week after the election” is a powerful exception.

We’re presenting it today, on its own, to spotlight its timeliness, but a large part of what makes it so effective is how it transcends the particulars of a single event and its aftermath and evokes feelings of uncertainty, helplessness, and longing–of needing to understand and be understood, and the frustrations of having those desires thwarted by internal and external forces–in a way that is timeless and profoundly, painfully human.