Goodbye 2020

A moment to reflect

In light of the holiday season, this is not a regular edition of Meanwhile In.

Hello!

I want to start by wishing all of you happy holidays! This year has been incredibly difficult for all of us. I hope that you have some time to rest and enjoy this holiday season with your loved ones in whichever way is safest for you. I also want to thank you all for subscribing and supporting me on this newsletter endeavor. Admittedly, I was nervous about putting my writing out there without a formal editor to go over it, but the support I have gotten from all of you has made it so worth it. It has only been two months since the launch, but I have big plans for Meanwhile In in 2021. I hope you will stick around.

One thing 2020 certainly produced was extraordinary journalism. I have compiled together some (definitely not all) of my favorite (i.e. thought provoking, moving, heartfelt, astonishing, or just plain fun) news, opinion, essays, and analysis pieces that I read and watched over the course of this year, for you to browse. Although Meanwhile In focuses on issues happening in the non-Western world, I spent the first six months of this year working (for a large part) in political news in Washington D.C. Consequently, several of the stories listed are about the U.S.

Health

Fear, Fury and the Coronavirus by Michael Barbaro and Amy Qin

‘People Are Dying’: 72 Hours Inside a N.Y.C. Hospital Battling Coronavirus by Robin Stein and Caroline Kim

The Last Children of Down Syndrome by Sarah Zhang

Periods and PPEs: Stories of Women Healthcare Workers by Devina Buckshee and Arnica Kala

Coronavirus Impact

I’m an international student 7,000 miles away from family. Loneliness is my new reality by Jimin Kang

Canceled Ceremonies Hit Different For First-Generation Grads by Haley Samsel

In Istanbul Under Lockdown, Baklava Makers Are Essential Workers by Carlotta Gall

India’s Comfort Food Tells the Story of Its Pandemic by Alia Allana

In North Korea, Coronavirus Hurts More Than Any Sanctions Could by Choe Sang-Hun

Africa has defied the covid-19 nightmare scenarios. We shouldn’t be surprised by Karen Attiah

Pantyhose and Trash Bags: How Music Programs Are Surviving in the Pandemic by Aishvarya Kavi

World

India’s first-time protesters: Mothers and grandmothers stage weeks-long sit-in against citizenship law by Niha Masih

She Faced Her ISIS Rapist in Court, Then Watched Him Sentenced to Death by Alissa J. Rubin

Russian election meddling is back -- via Ghana and Nigeria -- and in your feeds by Clarissa Ward, Katie Polglase, Sebastian Shukla, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Tim Lister

Born Into Carnage, 18 Afghan Babies Face an Uncertain Fate by Mujib Mashal

Security cameras and barbed wire: Living amid fear and oppression in Xinjiang by Matt Rivers

In a Changed Kashmir, Moderates Feel Betrayed by India by Sameer Yasir

So, Rhea's Arrested. Take A Good Look At Yourself by Vir Sanghvi

Analysis of CCTV footage from Lekki toll gate raises new questions about shooting by Stephanie Busari, Nima Elbagir, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Katie Polglase, Alex Platt and Barbara Arvanitidis

CNN-Bellingcat investigation identifies Russian specialists who trailed Putin's nemesis Alexey Navalny before he was poisoned by Tim Lister, Clarissa Ward and Sebastian Shukla

The U.S.

Inside the push to tear-gas protesters ahead of a Trump photo op by Ashley Parker, 

Josh Dawsey and Rebecca Tan

Trump tries to drag America backward on a very different July 4th by Maeve Reston

Think You’re Tense? Try Being A DACA Recipient Watching Election Night by Nidhi Prakash

I just voted for the first time by Ishaan Tharoor

The McDonald’s feast was the only good thing Trump did by Miles Klee

AOC’S Next Four Years by Michelle Ruiz

The Full(est Possible) Story of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping Press Conference by Olivia Nuzzi

Race and Identity

Iranian-Americans Questioned at the Border: ‘My Kids Shouldn’t Experience Such Things’ by Mike Baker and Caitlin Dickerson

Asian American doctors and nurses are fighting racism and the coronavirus by Tracy Jan

Living Abroad Is My Way of Prolonging My Black Son’s Life by Imani Bashir

Don’t understand the protests? What you’re seeing is people pushed to the edge by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

A Growing Push to Treat Racism’s Impact on Mental Health by Cordilia James and Andrea Petersen

Meet the Black Southerners Confronting Their Racist Town by Anna Kook

Why I Speak Up for Black Women by Megan Thee Stallion

Tech

The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy as We Know It By Kashmir Hill

How the ‘Plandemic’ Movie and Its Falsehoods Spread Widely Online by Sheera Frenkel, Ben Decker and Davey Alba

Behind the wall by Mara Hvistendahl 

TikTok Teens and K-Pop Stans Say They Sank Trump Rally by Taylor Lorenz, Kellen Browning, and Sheera Frenkel

A Woman Who Makes Bags For Michael Kors Was Sent To One Of The Most Crowded Prisons In The World For A Facebook Post by Nishita Jha

TikTok and the Evolution of Digital Blackface by Jason Parham

Media

CNN Arrest Is What Actual Censorship Looks Like by James Poniewozik

Inside one reporter's experience from Ferguson to Floyd by Sara Sidner

Inside the Revolts Erupting in America’s Big Newsrooms by Ben Smith

Jeff Zucker Helped Create Donald Trump. That Show May Be Ending by Ben Smith

Culture, Entertainment, and Misc.

Extra Black by Joshua Muyiwa

Six Months on a Planet in Crisis: Greta Thunberg's Travel Diary from the U.S. to Davos by Greta Thunberg

She Was Told Her Mother Died. So Why Was There No Funeral? Or A Body? by Melissa Jeltsen

How K-Pop and the BTS Army Disrupted U.S. Politics by Anna Kook

Buying Myself Back by Emily Ratajkowski

The Journalist and the Pharma Bro by Stephanie Clifford

Who Did JK Rowling Become? by Molly Fischer

Charli XCX writes her final diary of 2020 for Dazed by Charli XCX

If you have any article, video or podcast you would like to share, please comment!

Happy New Year!

-Sonikka