The First Time I Moved to New York By Alexander Chee Feature The fantasies Alexander Chee had of New York before he moved there didn’t fully prepare him for what it was like to love the city. Friends: We Need Your Help to Fund More Stories
The Boy Who Wasn’t My Boyfriend By Allie Zenwirth Feature Allie Zenwirth falls in love within the confines of an all-male Chasidic school.
Announcing the 2018 Longreads Member Drive By Mike Dang Commentary Today we’re launching the 2018 Longreads Member Drive with the goal of raising $50,000 from readers by November 2.
Shelved: The Sound of Big Star’s Self-Destruction By Tom Maxwell Feature As the band dissolved, they managed to capture their destruction in some dark, powerful music.
On Blackface, Bert Williams, and Excellence By Danielle Jackson Commentary A complicated racial anxiety rests at the heart of American entertainment.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Natalie Kitroeff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg, Brendan I. Koerner, Eve Peyser, Darius Miles, and Bill Wyman.
Who Killed Canada’s Pharmaceutical Giants? By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The investigation into the murder of two Canadian pharmaceutical giants remains inconclusive.
The Others: Why Women Are Shut Out of Horror By Soraya Roberts Feature Horror movies give more screen time to strong female characters and attract a large female audience. But few female filmmakers get to work on them.
When a Missing Nickel Makes All the Difference By Krista Stevens Highlight “Yet money was a lie—pieces of paper and metal suggesting prices for goods, services, labor, and human beings themselves in a way that often had more to do with profit than with true value.”
“This Halloween is Something to Be Sure”: An Examination of Lou Reed’s New York By Matt Giles Commentary New York might be Lou Reed’s most politically active album, especially on tracks like “Halloween Parade,” which functions both as a dirge and call-to-action confronting societal torpidity.
Help Us Fund More Original Essays (and Great Art to Go with Them) By Sari Botton Highlight Member contributions help us to amplify diverse voices and give chances to new writers.
The State of the Bookstore Union By Rebecca McCarthy Feature The Strand, New York City’s largest independent bookstore, is owned by a millionaire — and the booksellers who work there are all broke.
Returning To the City That Made Us Refugees By Ana Baric Feature On a visit to Banja Luka, the city her family fled during the Bosnian War, Ana Barić encounters old wounds and alternate realities.
How to Burn a Book By Longreads Feature In an excerpt from ‘The Library Book’ — inspired by a historic California library fire — Susan Orlean challenges her respect for the printed word with a match and a copy of ‘Fahrenheit 451.’
Living with Dolly Parton By Jessica Wilkerson Feature Asking difficult questions often comes at a cost.
A Visit to Opioid Country By Aaron Thier Feature Aaron Thier contemplates the connections between privilege, addiction, and recovery.
When It’s Time to Say Goodbye to the Old House By Siddhartha Mahanta Feature Siddhartha Mahanta looks back at the small suburban starter house in Texas that helped his immigrant father redefine “home.”
The Return of the Face By Adrian Daub Feature Physiognomy is a discarded 19th-century pseudoscience. Why can’t we stop practicing it?
The Strongest Woman in the Room By Kitty Sheehan Feature A daughter recounts her family’s worst day, through her mother’s eyes.
Did We Learn Nothing From the 2008 Crisis? By Matt Giles Commentary The continuation of the false narrative of what caused the 2008 financial collapse is alarming.
When a Missing Nickel Makes All the Difference By Krista Stevens Highlight “Yet money was a lie—pieces of paper and metal suggesting prices for goods, services, labor, and human beings themselves in a way that often had more to do with profit than with true value.”
The State of the Bookstore Union By Rebecca McCarthy Feature The Strand, New York City’s largest independent bookstore, is owned by a millionaire — and the booksellers who work there are all broke.
How to Burn a Book By Longreads Feature In an excerpt from ‘The Library Book’ — inspired by a historic California library fire — Susan Orlean challenges her respect for the printed word with a match and a copy of ‘Fahrenheit 451.’
The Hospital Where By Longreads Feature When accompanying his father to the emergency room, a writer reflects on how he developed his talent — and why that’s a story he can never tell his father.
Reading with Kiese Laymon’s “Heavy” By Danielle Jackson Commentary “Heavy” confronts generations of Black art.
The Others: Why Women Are Shut Out of Horror By Soraya Roberts Feature Horror movies give more screen time to strong female characters and attract a large female audience. But few female filmmakers get to work on them.
The State of the Bookstore Union By Rebecca McCarthy Feature The Strand, New York City’s largest independent bookstore, is owned by a millionaire — and the booksellers who work there are all broke.
Returning To the City That Made Us Refugees By Ana Baric Feature On a visit to Banja Luka, the city her family fled during the Bosnian War, Ana Barić encounters old wounds and alternate realities.
Reading with Kiese Laymon’s “Heavy” By Danielle Jackson Commentary “Heavy” confronts generations of Black art.
The First Time I Moved to New York By Alexander Chee Feature The fantasies Alexander Chee had of New York before he moved there didn’t fully prepare him for what it was like to love the city.
The Boy Who Wasn’t My Boyfriend By Allie Zenwirth Feature Allie Zenwirth falls in love within the confines of an all-male Chasidic school.
Help Us Fund More Original Essays (and Great Art to Go with Them) By Sari Botton Highlight Member contributions help us to amplify diverse voices and give chances to new writers.
Returning To the City That Made Us Refugees By Ana Baric Feature On a visit to Banja Luka, the city her family fled during the Bosnian War, Ana Barić encounters old wounds and alternate realities.
The Strongest Woman in the Room By Kitty Sheehan Feature A daughter recounts her family’s worst day, through her mother’s eyes.