Essays

On selfhood and big tech for The Nation
On prescience, fiction, and the present for The Atlantic
On a new kind of immigrant novel for The Atlantic
On why I write for Alta
On Chantal Montellier for The Nation
On California and the future for the New York Times Magazine
On reading your way through Tangier for the New York Times Book Review
On what we remember and forget about 9/11 for the New York Times Sunday Review
On voting for PEN America
On the comforts of clutter for the New York Times Styles
On conditional citizens for the New York Times Magazine
On the social contract for the Los Angeles Review of Books
A quarantine diary for the Los Angeles Times
On conditional citizenship for Harper’s
On citizenship for Time
On John Lanchester’s The Wall for The Nation
On redemption for the Los Angeles Times
On political tribalism for the New York Times Magazine
On “winning hearts and minds” for Harper’s
On immigrant assimilation for the New York Times Magazine
On borders and walls for the New York Times Magazine
On public and private lives for the Los Angeles Times
On becoming American for The New Yorker
On whiteness and identity for the New York Times Magazine
On the great American novel for the Los Angeles Times
On procrastination for the Los Angeles Times
On books about Muslim life for the Washington Post
On ISIS and the grey zone of co-existence for the New York Times Magazine
On communal eating in Morocco for the New York Times Magazine
On luck for the New York Times Magazine
On the Charlie Hebdo attacks for The Nation
On torture for NPR
On history becoming story for The Millions
On the Ferguson unrest and James Baldwin for NPR
On chronicles of the veil for The Los Angeles Review of Books
On J.M. Coetzee for The Nation
On my mother for the New York Times Magazine
On Salman Rushdie for The Nation
On Islamophobia for The Nation
On the city of Los Angeles for Newsweek
On Katherine Boo for The Nation
On returning to Morocco for Newsweek
On Percival Everett for The Nation
On the Moroccan “Exception” for The Nation
On the city of Tangier for Time
On Abdelfattah Kilito for The Nation
On Europe’s Muslim immigrants for The Nation
On writing in English for World Literature Today
On gender roles for the Los Angeles Times
On Abdourahman Waberi for The National
On Tayeb Salih for The National
On Alain Mabanckou for The National
On Orientalism for CUNY’s Great Issues Forum
On Sinan Antoon for The Nation
On Joan Wallach Scott for The Nation
On Zakes Mda for The Nation
On Sayed Kashua for The Boston Review
On Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Irshad Manji for The Nation
On Tahar Ben Jelloun for The Nation
On being in one’s thirties for The May Queen (Edited by Nicki Richesin)
On fiction and poverty for Powells.com
On Abdulrazak Gurnah for The Nation
On Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor for The Nation
On stereotypes of Arabs for The Los Angeles Times
On Father of the Bride for The Los Angeles Times