Connor Donevan

Nigel Munyati, the director of the Zimbabwean International Film and Festival Trust, launched a film competition based on a single question: "What does it mean to be Zimbabwean?" The submissions came in slowly at first. "Young Zimbabweans are still tentative about taking advantage of that freedom of speech," he says. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

Savanna Madamombe rides on the back of her brother's truck in Harare. She says she wants to seize this moment in Zimbabwe to show people they can hold their leaders accountable. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption

(Above) Janet Folkerts, curator for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial museum collection, holds a container of unidentified cremains at the Museum Resource Center in Landover, Md. (Below) A 3-foot-tall model of a U.S. watercraft (left) and a traditional Vietnamese dress are among the artifacts left at the wall that have become part of the permanent collection. Eslah Attar/NPR hide caption

Crystal Joyce's son — her youngest child — is in his senior year of high school, headed to college in the fall. Joyce (left) gets advice on the transition to being an empty nester from Ana Machado, whose children have all left home. Courtesy of Stephen Joyce and Wilmar Machado hide caption

James Carmody has Asperger's syndrome and is a freshman at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He sat down with Elizabeth Boresow, who graduated from the University of Kansas and also has autism. Courtesy of James Carmody; Allison Marcus hide caption

Before anorexia, Maddy Rich (left) says she never thought she was the kind of person who would struggle with an eating disorder. She gets advice on recovery from Julia Sinn. Image Courtesy of Samantha Hackett; Elizabeth Birnbaum hide caption

Houses in the Florida Keys damaged by Hurricane Irma are seen from a Coast Guard flight Monday. Matt McClain/AP hide caption

After 23 years, Cameron Cook (left) is leaving the service. Jarrad Turner (right) left in 2010. Courtesy of Cameron Cook/Courtesy of Jarrad Turner hide caption

Carmen Black (left) took over a farm in Iowa last year. Don Bustos has been farming in New Mexico for decades. Maja Black/Courtesy of Carmen Black; Courtesy of Don Bustos hide caption

K.T. Nicolaides' (left) husband died late last year, two days before their fifth wedding anniversary. Larry Treadwell was widowed in 2011, when his wife Amanda died suddenly. He's now remarried. Courtesy of K.T. Nicolaides/Courtesy of Larry Treadwell hide caption

Sara Leibold (left) at the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail in 2011. Rhys Hora is thru-hiking the trail this year. Courtesy of Sara Leibold/Courtesy of Rhys Hora hide caption

Julian Harris (left) tells Tor Des Roches what he can expect as he begins medically transitioning from female to male. Courtesy of Julian Harris; Andrew Jones/Courtesy of Tor Des Roches hide caption

Charles Johnson (left) is a new city councilman in Baytown, Texas. Ryan Coonerty (right) knows that feeling well; he served in city government in Santa Cruz, Calif., for nearly a decade as a councilman and mayor. Courtesy of Charles Johnson; Crystal Birns/Courtesy of Ryan Coonerty hide caption

Author Garson O'Toole has a simple explanation for why quotes are often wrongly attributed to Mark Twain: "If you preface a quotation by saying it's from Twain, then people are prepared to laugh at it." Ernest H. Mills/Getty Images hide caption

An excerpt from the comic "It's going to be okay" in The Oatmeal. Courtesy of Matthew Inman hide caption