The Atlantic
The Atlantic Daily: It’s Okay to Feel Burned Out
Our lives are different now. One year in, you might’ve picked up some weird pandemic habits, or maybe you’re just battling chronic burnout. It’s all okay.
March 16, 2021
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The pandemic has made our lives strange, small, and stressful. No wonder so many of us feel like we have “spent the past year being pushed through a pasta extruder,” as my colleague Ellen Cushing memorably put it.
How an Epic and Violent Family History Fuels Fiction Oliver Munday
Editor’s Note: Read Paul Yoon’s new short story, “Person of Korea.”
“Person of Korea” is a new short story by Paul Yoon. To mark the story’s publication in
The Atlantic, Yoon and Oliver Munday, a design director of the magazine, discussed the story over email. Their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Oliver Munday: Your short story “Person of Korea” is set partially in a village of Korean laborers near the southeastern edge of Russia. It takes place shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. What about this location and time period drew your interest?