Issue No. 13 | Trigger Warnings

Under the Gun

Guns are a way of life—a tool for some, a terror for others. Our July issue opens with a Monologue featuring Senator Kirsten Gillibrand railing against the greed of the NRA and continues with the documentary Awakening: After Parkland, in which students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School prepare to perform Spring Awakening, a musical in which young people find their voices in a world ravaged by the mistakes of adults. Our storytelling package continues with pieces about how the lack of police presence in Puerto Rico has residents taking up arms, the history of African American gun rights, and a photo essay depicting Revolutionary War soldiers wielding modern weaponry. Guns are now more lethal and readily available than ever. But what are we using them to fight against, and who are we really fighting for?

COLLAGE & ANIMATION BY MICHAEL TUNK

Monologue

Kirsten Gillibrand: Guns, Greed, and the NRA

By Kirsten Gillibrand, Emily Flake, and Caitlin Fogarty

New York State’s junior senator says that money has blinded the NRA to the real consequences of gun violence.

Automatic for the People

By Whitten Sabbatini, Rebecca Onion, and Heather Greene

Armed militias were essential to the creation of America. But times have changed, and so has the firepower.

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Awakening: After Parkland

By Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster

When a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, several students had just started rehearsal for Spring Awakening, the musical in which a group of troubled teenagers take on a repressive adult world, singing out the things they can’t otherwise say.

A Conversation With Spring Awakening’s Steven Sater

By Anna Holmes

The writer and lyricist looks back on the creation of the musical in the wake of Columbine.

Weapons of Mass Production

3 Parts | 29 min A town built by fighter jets, a group of Quaker pacifists, and homesick Yemeni refugees are all effected by the arms business in Britain.

The residents of Freckleton, home to Britain’s largest manufacturer of aircraft and munitions, live with the hum of war in their backyards.
British Aerospace
10 mins
British Aerospace
A group of Quaker activists risk arrest to protest Britain’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Activists
11 mins
Activists
Yemeni refugees adjust to life in a country that contributes to the destruction of the home they left behind.
Refugees
9 mins
Refugees

Off Topic

A Few Good Mutants

By Brian McMullen and Jackson Krule

A father and his sons melt, smoosh, carve, and reshape little green army men into “Super Soldiers.”

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The New Guard

By Loulou d'Aki and Kira Josefsson

Why Sweden, the country that’s been at peace longer than any other, embraces its military.

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Puerto Rico, Up in Arms

By Ricardo Arduengo and Jhoni Jackson

Is buying a gun the only way to feel safe in post-hurricane San Juan?

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The Unequal History of African American Gun Rights

By Chelsea Saunders and Manisha Claire

When it comes to firearms, some Americans are more equal than others.

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Adapted

Circuit City

By J. Robert Lennon and Corey Olsen

In this short story, three employees of a big-box electronics store prepare for the heist of a lifetime.

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Mixtape

Trigger Warnings Mixtape

4 Parts | 38 min To wage war is human, and none of us are divine.

A series of dares turns into a history of violence.
White Morning
13 mins
White Morning
A group of white kids with fake guns try to reenact the LA riots.
Riot
4 mins
Riot
When the fog of war is a sandstorm.
Confusion Through the Sand
10 mins
Confusion Through the Sand
The rise, fall, rise, fall, and rise of a civilization hell-bent on its own destruction.
Bendito Machine V
12 mins
Bendito Machine V
caretcaret

Scenes from a Gun Show

By Julia Rothman

Except it looked a lot more like an AR-15 surplus depot.

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Becoming Private Nelson

By Sarah Blesener

For this patriotic American teenager, joining the military isn’t a choice—it’s a calling.

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Off Topic

It Takes a Fake Military Village

By Anna Merlan and Tod Seelie

Deep in the Mojave Desert, the US military lets tourists play soldier in a camouflage Disneyland.

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About the Cover: Trigger Warnings

By Michael Tunk

Collage artist Michael Tunk on the process he used to make the cover for our July issue, “Trigger Warnings.”

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