Jessica Wakeman
Writer + editor
Present: Staff reporter at Mountain Xpress in Asheville. Past: Writer & editor with over 18 years experience covering politics, culture and health. Reach me at jessica dot wakeman at gmail dot com.
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How Choire Sicha Is Steering Style in a Crisis
The man behind the curtain of the New York Times’s most innovative section emerged fully formed from the Internet. But the Style section's reputation for lightness is running up against our chaotic moment.
Bustle
The Women Of Democratic Socialism Prove The Movement Isn't Just A Bunch Of Sexist White Guys
Meet the young women joining the Democratic Socialist movement in the wake of the 2016 election.
Glamour
Men Who Scream at Work Aren't "Passionate." They're Abusive.
The toxic effect of verbal harassment in the office.
melmagazine.com
The Delicate Art of Writing a Believable Sexual Predator
Kate Elizabeth Russell, the author of the new book ‘My Dark Vanessa,’ talks about what men can take from her portrait of an abusive bond.
Mountain Xpress
Couple Shares Journey After Infant Loss
Abigail Mary Elizabeth Crawford’s life started sometime in the weeks before Oct. 4, 2020. That was the date her mother, Jenna Crawford, giddily leapt on top of her sleeping father, Garry Wynn, holding a positive pregnancy test at 5:30 a.m.
Rolling Stone
Virtual Brothels: How Teledildonics Is Revolutionizing Sex Work
Customers can experience cam girls like never before.
The New York Times
Book Review: ‘Jersey Angel,’ by Beth Ann Bauman
A review of the YA novel with mature themes.
Food & Wine
This Chef Helps At-Risk Women Feel at Home for the Holidays
Abigail Hitchcock teaches residents of a Manhattan shelter to cook healthy dishes they can make cheaply and easily on their own.
Mountain Xpress
WNC Explores Psychedelic Mushrooms for Mental Health
People who use mushrooms for depression or anxiety often have a clinical history of using pharmaceutical antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication.
Medium
I Shared My Sex Life with the Entire Internet
I’m reckoning with the fact that there’s a lot of very personal details about my sex life online from a specific time of my life that was pretty different from the one I have today.
Mountain Xpress
Captive Audience: Downtown Businesses Grapple With Buskers Who Use Amps
Andrew Fletcher knows the ingredients for the best busking experience in downtown Asheville: “The right band, the right spot and the right weather.” That combination yields the perfect recipe for tips, he says. One ingredient that isn’t necessary for street performers, says Fletcher, is an amplifier.
damemagazine.com
Why Are So Many Women Crowdsourcing Their Healthcare?
“The problem is when you turn to an online community, you have no idea what information you’re really getting.”
Mountain Xpress
Worst Case Scenario: School Systems Plan for Deadly Threats
While every school year brings with it jitters about tests and homework, 2022 carries an additional burden: For many families and system staff, the nation’s continual threat of school violence has become impossible to ignore.
Mountain Xpress
The Hardest Choice: Local Woman Shares Experience of Abortion at 16 Weeks
The physician informed them their baby had extra fluid behind its neck, and referred Ashley to a doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. “I felt like I blacked out at that moment,” Ashley says.