One common thread across the enthralling work in this issue is the unfulfilled promise of choice, or perhaps what it means to extol freedom while maintaining unequal options across a range of contexts. In this vein, you’ll read about the “optional illusions” faced by cisgender Black women under the spectre of CPS, by residents navigating consumer choice in mixed-income neighborhoods, and by parents struggling to balance budgets and keep their kids diapered. You’ll find a story about the binds that result in unwanted heterosex, and another about how researchers’ choices affect what we can know about phenomena like mass shootings.