A pregnant woman I didn't know struck up a conversation with me at a party recently. We chatted amicably about the weather (bad), the Golden Globes (fine) and the food at the party (great) before the conversation turned—inevitably, it felt—towards birth (hers). She told me she was nervous but excited, that she could… » 1/23/15 11:50am Friday 11:50am

Editor's note: A few weeks ago, we were approached by a prolific Thought Catalog essayist who writes under the byline "Anne Gus." As it turned out, Anne is a young Swedish man whose real first name is Jakob (he wouldn't give out his last name). » 10/07/14 2:59pm 10/07/14 2:59pm

The first one that arrived was for Kevin, a teenage boy from Port Arthur, Texas: » 10/02/14 4:37pm 10/02/14 4:37pm

Amid the police terror that has swept the nation these last few months, there has been a missing facet from the conversation: the fact that women are brutalized by cops just as severely as men. For every John Crawford and Ezell Ford there is an Ersula Ore or a Marlene Pinnock (you can view the footage of Pinnock's… » 9/16/14 4:59pm 9/16/14 4:59pm

It's a Thursday night in August, just past 10 p.m., and my mother is texting me. This might seem like a harmless nuisance except my mother is not supposed to text me. Two years ago I asked her to give me space and not reach out. She responded with an "ok" and proceeded to respect my wishes for 13 days. Nobody's mother… » 9/09/14 3:13pm 9/09/14 3:13pm

According to its website, That's Life! is "Britain's leading real-life magazine." Each issue is packed with "the most inspirational, emotional and incredible reads that will leave you stunned and surprised." And Christmastime is no different: 'Tis the season for adultery, betrayal and murder. » 12/09/13 1:50pm 12/09/13 1:50pm

My eyelashes are mascara-less stumps and I’ve been commando in the same stained, hot pink sweats for 36 hours, but I don’t care. It’s 2011, and my mom and I are at my grandmother’s house in Michigan hoping for some rest after a hellish year spent cycling through chemo, radiation, and surgeries. » 11/23/13 3:14pm 11/23/13 3:14pm

Spirits, alcoholic ones, have their way of sinking their depressive tendrils deep inside, drawing up everything we keep locked away. My man and I spent the night apart, out and about Brooklyn. We lace fingers and make our way home, bellies full of fried food and spirits. He falls asleep soundly, peacefully. » 11/02/13 2:52pm 11/02/13 2:52pm

I'm a recovering debutante. I wouldn't go as far as saying a belle because I ain't with that frilly froo froo. Or girdles. I have a brain and I use it. I don’t own too many slips, or dresses, or wear much white. I don’t own a lacy parasol except for that one time where I had to accessorize with my lace ribbons for my… » 9/14/13 1:00pm 9/14/13 1:00pm

Mardi Gras in June. That was the noise out the window. Like a spray of firecrackers. A tack-a-tack-a-tack-a-tack-a-tack-tack midnight burst of joy. » 7/27/13 1:42pm 7/27/13 1:42pm

Today, the ACLU announced that it is filing a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a private prison in Meridian, Mississippi. The suit alleges that EMCF is "hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous." One example of the jail's dangers: this handwritten letter from… » 5/30/13 2:15pm 5/30/13 2:15pm

It is 1986. We are 13- and 14-year-olds, rank-smelling in unwashed teenager jeans, unsupervised and latch-keyed after school, huddled around the face of the future: The screen of a first-generation Apple Macintosh personal computer. Within the machine's non-dairy creamer-colored casing is a malleable visual playground… » 1/04/13 4:17pm 1/04/13 4:17pm

Somewhere in Northern Poland, the woman had a boy and a girl; the fathers are her husband and the man she was having an affair with. » 12/30/10 10:50am 12/30/10 10:50am

Since yesterday's gross stories were a big hit, we're offering up some more. A few also-rans, if you will. Disgusting stuff ahead! » 10/15/10 6:10pm 10/15/10 6:10pm

One day — maybe when I turned 30? — my mother gave me diamond studs. "I don't want them anymore," she said. "But don't lose them." I tighten the screw-backed earrings often, out of anxiety. But something went wrong. » 10/01/10 6:23pm 10/01/10 6:23pm