Virginia Pelley

Shortly after her live-in boyfriend moved out, Helena, a lawyer in her mid-30s, added “find a younger therapist” to her post-breakup to-do list.
“It’s definitely a personal bias and comes down to my own level of comfort,” says Helena, who lives in Tampa, Florida. “I don’t feel comfortable talking to an older woman about [having sex with] randos from Tinder.”
Helena found it annoying to explain modern dating mores to her former therapist, who she guessed was in her 60s, particularly because th...

Metal yoga is more than just the latest yoga gimmick....

The first year after Lilah was born was a bumpy one for Ben and Taylor. They had to learn how to navigate the new landscape of parenting. More daunting, they had to figure out their marriage, and how to transition from being a couple to being a family.
“Having a newborn changes everything in your life, including your relationship,” says Taylor, a public relations director in San Francisco. “You and your partner are in straight-up survival mode, operating on no sleep and thinking about nurturi...

Meet the anti-natalists, people who believe reproduction is wrong.

Breastfeeding their baby, Kaya, was a team effort for Keegan, a 28-year-old father in Philadelphia, and his wife, Auldyn, also 28. Keegan cheered his wife on, brought Kaya to her in bed so she didn’t have to get up to feed her, sourced salve for her nipples, kept her water bottle nearby, and fed his wife, who was often ravenous while breastfeeding their daughter. When Kaya was 3 months old, Auldyn went back to work, and Keegan took on the responsibilities of a stay-at-home dad.
It was a big a...

In the dream, he was smooth, seductive. He cupped the back of my neck with just the right amount of pressure when he kissed me, with force and urgency. His skin felt warm and he looked into my eyes and smiled slyly in a way that screamed “sex.”
In real life, he wore the same desire-killing button-down white shirt and goofy bright blue silk vest that we all had to wear at the restaurant where we waited tables. He was too perky for me, and sort of a jock. I liked the dark, artsy type, generally...

ER staff typically give immediate, life-saving care — and a hefty dose of judgment — to young heroin users. That’s starting to change.
Kelly D. says that when she was 21 years old and using heroin, she woke up in emergency rooms more times than she can count. Regaining consciousness in the hospital after an overdose was unpleasant enough, but the lack of compassion made the experience even worse.
“All I got in the hospital was an IV and judgment,” says Kelly, who asked that her last name not ...

It’s becoming increasingly evident that, for some people, trolling isn’t just playing an asshole on the internet.
It was only after several friends cut him out of their lives that Dave* realized he had a trolling problem.
For years, Dave felt a compulsion to argue "with anyone about anything" online, he says, whether the topic was gun control or the accuracy of a quote from the movie Top Gun. He trolled under his real name as well as behind more anonymous handles on various message boards and...

Smash-and-grab burglaries of gun stores are on the rise, and there’s not much cities can do to stop them.

In an ideal world, with rigorously regulated dispensaries and organic pot at shoppers' disposal, would a healthy person be healthier if she used marijuana?...