Nico Opper

Breaking the News

A group of women and non-binary journalists, bucking the white male status quo, launch The 19th*—a digital news startup that asks who has been omitted from mainstream coverage and how they can be included.

Try Harder!

In a universe where cool kids are nerds, the orchestra is world class and being Asian American is the norm, seniors at Lowell High School compete for the top prize: admission to the college of their dreams.

What You’ll Remember

Homelessness in the United States takes many forms. For Elizabeth Herrera, David Lima and their four children, housing instability has meant moving between unsafe apartments, motels, relatives’ couches, shelters, the streets and their car. After 15 years of this uncertainty, the family moved into their first stable housing — an apartment in the San Francisco Bay Area — in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

When I Write It

During the last days of summer before college, two Oakland teens (Leila Mottley, Ajai Kasim) explore what it means to be young Black artists in their rapidly gentrifying city. An intimate feeling of eavesdropping permeates this sun-soaked tour of neighborhood sights and sounds, as they both realize they're on the cusp of personal and community-wide change.