Dear James
James Parker tackles reader’s existential worries: what’s ailing, torturing, or nagging you.
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan I Have a Huge Crush on a Writer
Should I reach out to her?
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan My Phone-Call Anxiety Is Out of Control
I fear I’m on the road to serious isolation.
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan My Boyfriend Is About to Move In With His Ex
Am I wrong for thinking this is a deal-breaker?
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan Why Are My Neighbors Screaming at Me?
Everyone seems so on edge.
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan I’ve Been Left Off My Friends’ Group Chat
How do I get over feeling excluded?
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan My Friend Outed Me to Her Conservative Parents
Now they think I’m a “bad influence”—and it hurts.
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Miguel Porlan Since the Election, I Fear Men
How do I get over this anxiety?
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan My Home Is a Horror of Unfinished Tasks
Why can’t I get anything done?
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan I Used to Have Friends. Then They Had Kids.
How do I rebuild my broken social life?
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan How Can I Find More Satisfaction in Work?
My job consumes and torments me. There has to be a better way.
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan I Love to Drive Fast, and I Cannot Stop
Is my bad habit going to be my demise?
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan My Colleague Repeats Herself Constantly
And I’m losing my mind.
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan The Worst Insult I Ever Heard as an Opera Singer
I’m not sure how to recover from this.
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan Should I Break Up With My Trump-Loving Partner?
It’s a great relationship in nearly every other way.
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I Love Secrets Too Much
Whenever a friend tells me something, I blab about it to other people. Why can’t I stop?
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan Cold Showers Are Free
So is meditation. And push-ups. And breathing.
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan Dear James: I Hate My Post-college Life
I’m utterly lost.
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Illustration by Miguel Porlan Dear James: I See Every Tiny Problem as a Social Injustice
I’m totally exhausted with myself.
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Illustration by Gabriela Pesqueira / The Atlantic Introducing “Dear James,” a New Advice Column
For all your existential worries
