A Birth Plan for Dying By Hanna Neuschwander Feature Hanna Neuschwander grapples with ending a wanted pregnancy, and finds that “right” or “wrong” fail to describe the moral reckoning. Friends: We Need Your Help to Fund More Stories
Queens of Infamy: The Rise of Catherine de’ Medici By Anne Thériault Feature Kings and popes thought she was their pawn. The Merchant’s Daughter begged to differ.
Falling in Love with Chicago at Night: An Interview with Jessica Hopper By Ashley Naftule Feature In “Night Moves,” Jessica Hopper is 80% on her bike and 20% at a show, memorializing a young adulthood spent in just one of “a million Chicagos” — but one that shaped a wide network of artists and writers.
Ugly, Bitter, and True By Suzanne Rivecca Feature After years of feeling hopeless and barely human, one talented writer manages to find her will to live.
Still Celebrating the Greatest Day in Hip-Hop By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight On one summer day in 1998, XXL magazine gathered 177 hip-hop artists for one of the greatest musical photographs of all time: A Great Day in Hip-Hop.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Jane Mayer, Michael J. Mooney, Elisa Gabbert, Nicole Chung, and Ashley Fetters.
It’s Time to Stop Painting Joyce Maynard as an ‘Oversharer’ Already By Sari Botton Highlight In the #metoo era, there’s no excuse for continuing to deride women like Maynard who speak out about their experiences with men who had much more power.
How Does It Feel To Be Unwanted? By Longreads Feature And how many times can you start your life all over again from zero? If there’s anyone who knows the answer, it’s Claudia Amaro.
Trouble By Jill Talbot and Max Feature Two women share a history of daring, of lost direction, of dark bedrooms, and an enforced silence they finally break.
Disney World: A Surprisingly Good Place to Grieve By Krista Stevens Highlight “To my surprise, Disney World was not a difficult place to be while in mourning. To me it didn’t feel like an escape from grief, so much as a continued break from unendurable real life.”
We’re Fat, Not Stupid By Michelle Weber Highlight Oh, did you think we didn’t realize that we’re fat? We’re all set, thanks, because the world never lets us forget it.
The Writer Alone By Tajja Isen Feature A woman out of her mind, locked in an apartment. This, I believed, was the optimal, and probably only, condition under which art could be made.
No, I Will Not Debate You By Laurie Penny Feature Civility will never defeat fascism, no matter what The Economist thinks.
Mr. Rogers vs. the Superheroes By Longreads Feature One of the few things that could raise anger — real, intense anger — in Mister Rogers was the willful misleading of children. Superheroes, he thought, were the worst culprits.
The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Perfume By Katy Kelleher Feature Sometimes it takes a touch of darkness to create something alluring.
Losers’ Lunch By Ben Rothenberg Feature Dining out with courtsiders, a rogue, impish species in the tennis ecosystem.
The Miracle of the Mundane By Longreads Feature In an excerpt from her new essay collection, Heather Havrilesky calls for tuning out the online cacophony telling us we aren’t enough, and tuning in to the soul-affirming, quiet truth of the present moment.
How Does It Feel To Be Unwanted? By Longreads Feature And how many times can you start your life all over again from zero? If there’s anyone who knows the answer, it’s Claudia Amaro.
Falling in Love with Chicago at Night: An Interview with Jessica Hopper By Ashley Naftule Feature In “Night Moves,” Jessica Hopper is 80% on her bike and 20% at a show, memorializing a young adulthood spent in just one of “a million Chicagos” — but one that shaped a wide network of artists and writers.
The Writer Alone By Tajja Isen Feature A woman out of her mind, locked in an apartment. This, I believed, was the optimal, and probably only, condition under which art could be made.
‘The Very Top Guy in the Stasi was Personally Involved in Figuring Out How to Destroy Punk.’ By Will Hermes Feature Author Tim Mohr talks about East Germany’s dissident punk rock scene, and its role in bringing down the Berlin Wall in 1989 — the story behind his remarkable new book, ‘Burning Down The Haus.’
How Does It Feel To Be Unwanted? By Longreads Feature And how many times can you start your life all over again from zero? If there’s anyone who knows the answer, it’s Claudia Amaro.
Speak Truth to Power By Longreads Feature We must speak truth to the power of all that threatens to keep women and girls silent in the face of sexual violence.
Hating Big Pharma Is Good, But Supply-Side Epidemic Theory Is Killing People By Zachary Siegel Feature New books about the opioid crisis — “Dopesick,” “Fight for Space” and “American Fix” — have different ideas about who’s to blame and what to do next. Our critic says regulating supply can have deadly consequences, and we need to address users’ pain.
Did We Learn From Anita Hill? By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary Or will Democrats sell out Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, too?
It’s Time to Stop Painting Joyce Maynard as an ‘Oversharer’ Already By Sari Botton Highlight In the #metoo era, there’s no excuse for continuing to deride women like Maynard who speak out about their experiences with men who had much more power.
A Birth Plan for Dying By Hanna Neuschwander Feature Hanna Neuschwander grapples with ending a wanted pregnancy, and finds that “right” or “wrong” fail to describe the moral reckoning.
Trouble By Jill Talbot and Max Feature Two women share a history of daring, of lost direction, of dark bedrooms, and an enforced silence they finally break.
Disney World: A Surprisingly Good Place to Grieve By Krista Stevens Highlight “To my surprise, Disney World was not a difficult place to be while in mourning. To me it didn’t feel like an escape from grief, so much as a continued break from unendurable real life.”
The Writer Alone By Tajja Isen Feature A woman out of her mind, locked in an apartment. This, I believed, was the optimal, and probably only, condition under which art could be made.