In Amsterdam, an uncertain search for salt becomes Shreya Dharavath’s case for moving through unfamiliar places with curiosity, humility, and room for connection.

The decline of shared public life may be giving partisan identity more power to define how Americans see one another.

We are raised to not think outside ourselves, to ignore the unhoused person asking for food, to avert our eyes at the sight of struggling families desperate for medical care. The United States and similar capitalist Western cultures have cultivated a mindset of “not owing anyone anything” and of watching out for yourself above all else. This seems to remain true in closer-knit groups like family and friends as well as in larger community bodies. We have created a culture wher