Skip to main contentSkip to navigation
Print subscriptions
Sign in
Search jobs
Search
The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian

Jessa Crispin

Jessa Crispin is a writer. She was the editor-in-chief of Bookslut between 2002 and 2016.

December 2023

  • A photo of a rainy city street, boldly striped with the reflections of purple, white, red and lights, and a single person crossing the street.

    Christmastime can be a sad reminder that many towns in the US are left behind

    Jessa Crispin
    The trains and buses that once connected my childhood hometown to the larger US have long since disappeared

January 2023

  • ‘Noma officially blamed its closing on the difficulty of executing such consistently high work for so long under grueling conditions.’

    Noma is closing. Are we seeing the death of ‘fine dining’?

    Jessa Crispin
    Some of the world’s most famed restaurants face business problems or accusations of abuse and deception. What next?

November 2021

  • A couple in front of an ad for Singles’ Day sales at a shopping mall in Shanghai. Singles’ Day is known in China as ‘11.11’ and considered the day of the most online shopping in the world.

    I’ve been introduced to a new holiday called ‘Singles’ Day’. I wish I hadn’t been

    Jessa Crispin
    Singles’ Day is a Chinese holiday turned online shopping bonanza. But Americans, too, love to buy things to fill our gaping existential despair

October 2021

  • Image of a person's hands typing on a laptop.

    US schools gave kids laptops during the pandemic. Then they spied on them

    Jessa Crispin
    According to one survey, 81% of teachers in America said their schools monitor devices. Students are not always aware

September 2021

  • Entrepreneur Marc Lore, left, at a high-tech aviation expo in Hawthorne, California. Lore wants to build a ‘city of the future’ in the desert.

    A billionaire wants to build a utopia in the US desert. Seems like this could go wrong

    Jessa Crispin
  • ‘Studies on work-from-home programs tend to show that people are actually more productive, but employers are still terrified that their time is being wasted. Little concern, of course, is displayed when employers waste their employees’ time.’

    Employers are spying on Americans at home with ‘tattleware’. It’s time to track them instead

    Jessa Crispin

August 2021

  • Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and others use virtual reality headsets during an awards ceremony in Berlin, February 25, 2016.

    Move over, space. Tech billionaires have a new utopian boondoggle: the ‘metaverse’

    Jessa Crispin
    Imagine a massive, invisible world that surrounds you but which you cannot see or engage unless you own the correct – expensive – technology

July 2021

  • ‘For now, and for the foreseeable future, my access to doctors is tied to my partner, and his to his employer.’

    Like millions of Americans, I can never leave my spouse. I’ll lose my healthcare

    Jessa Crispin
  • An Amazon Flex driver loads her personal vehicle with packages outside the 1.2m sq ft BWI2 Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore, Maryland.

    Welcome to dystopia: getting fired from your job as an Amazon worker by an app

    Jessa Crispin

June 2021

  • ‘I thought they were joking. I thought the pandemic resolutions would end up like the kind made on New Year’s Eve, pursued with optimism and vigor for two weeks, then shoved in a drawer never to be thought about again.’

    Did I use the pandemic for ‘self-improvement’? Nope. And that’s fine

    Jessa Crispin
  • An employee prepares a package for shipment at an Amazon logistics center near Magdeburg, Germany.

    Stressed-out Amazon workers can now access ‘mindfulness’ training. Gee, thanks

    Jessa Crispin

March 2021

  • ‘Amazon is putting cameras in the trucks of its delivery drivers, monitors on the bodies of its warehouse workers, and security cameras both inside and outside its facilities.’

    Amazon is a disaster for workers. Nomadland glosses over that

    Jessa Crispin
    The film doesn’t glamorize life at an Amazon warehouse. But it’s undeniably useful to the corporation to have a prestigious film to give political cover
  • ‘Employers like these sorting applications because it gives them the sheen of pure objectivity. But algorithms, which are created by humans, recreate human bias.’

    Job-hunting is stressful and humiliating enough. Now robots judge our résumés

    Jessa Crispin
    Algorithms decide which applications reach human managers’ eyes. But they sort out people with unusual work histories or who lack college degrees
  • ‘The Republican party is in the midst of an identity crisis, brought on by a big shift in voting demographics and a new generation of more radical and paranoid politicians.’

    Millions in the US don't feel seen by either political party. My dad is one of them

    Jessa Crispin
    Like many people, my father feels politically homeless – unable to stomach toxic Trumpism, but too conservative for the Democratic party

December 2020

  • Volunteers at Catholic Charities of Washington sort food items to distribute to those in need, December 2020.

    In 2020, Americans helped each other out – because our government wouldn't

    Jessa Crispin
  • ‘Once the family Zoom call is over, it’s back to being just you and the little mouse gnawing his way through your box of crackers in your inadequately heated apartment.’

    Does Covid mean you're spending your first Christmas alone? Let me guide you

    Jessa Crispin
  • This image released by Netflix shows Owen Asztalos, left, and Amy Adams in a scene from “Hillbilly Elegy.” After two weeks in select cinemas, Ron Howard’s film begins streaming Tuesday on Netflix. (Lacey Terrell/Netflix via AP)

    Hillbilly Elegy uses personal experience to promote the same old bootstrap nonsense

    Jessa Crispin
  • ‘Dolly Parton was one of 12 children born to illiterate parents who lived in a one-room cabin. She went without a lot – and it seems to have guided her to the decision that no one else should have to.’

    Dolly Parton helped fund a Covid vaccine. This isn't the first time she's saved us

    Jessa Crispin

October 2020

  • Rusty Parrotfish (Scarus ferrugineus) feeding coral, Red Sea, Egypt<br>RTFAE2 Rusty Parrotfish (Scarus ferrugineus) feeding coral, Red Sea, Egypt

    The world's on fire, our nerves on edge: the merchants of Calm have just the fix

    Jessa Crispin
    Religion is no longer the opiate of the masses. It’s ASMR videos, low-stakes nature documentaries and ‘mindfulness’ apps

September 2020

  • This image released by HBO Max shows Haley Lu Richardson in a scene from "Unpregnant." (Ursula Coyote/HBO Max via AP)

    A new film tries nobly to 'de-stigmatize' abortion. So why does it leave me cold?

    Jessa Crispin
    In its effort to be sympathetic, Unpregnant flattens abortion into a simple and palatable narrative
About 76 results for Jessa Crispin
1234
Explore more on these topics