The 19th Century Lesbian Made for 21st Century Consumption By Jeanna Kadlec Feature Jeanna Kadlec considers Anne Lister, the historical figure at the center of HBO’s Gentleman Jack, and the influence of other queer women who preceded her. Friends: We Need Your Help to Fund More Stories
How the Cosby Story Finally Went Viral — And Why It Took So Long By Longreads Feature A journalist who reported on the accusations long before they went viral wonders, “What kind of profession am I in, where stories have no logical reason for unfolding?”
Kristen Arnett on Taxidermy, Memory, and “Mostly Dead Things” By Tobias Carroll Feature “What’s considered high art? What’s lowbrow? What are those things? That’s something that, as a person who like, lives at 7-Eleven, I’m extremely interested in.”
The Gymnast’s Position By Dvora Meyers Feature Aimee Trepanier was proud to showcase the pose that started her 1993 gymnastics floor routine in a billboard ad off I-15 in Salt Lake City. But when Utahns looked up, that’s not what they saw.
Sing a Song of Hope: ‘Everything will be all right’ By Krista Stevens Highlight “Like, wow. This is another family I have found.”
Remembering Roky Erickson By Tom Maxwell Feature Despite ongoing personal struggle, the psychedelic rock pioneer left a singular body of work that continues to influence musicians and challenge listeners.
Mama Looks for Melanin By harmonyholiday Feature Harmony Holiday remembers her mother’s years of trauma-bonding in search of new love, after the death of her mercurial yet brilliant father.
Big Problems and Big Paychecks in West Texas Oil Country By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight As the current oil boom attests. West Texas’ oil deposits come with high social and environmental costs.
True Roots By Longreads Feature One woman quits coloring her gray hair and investigates the human and environmental costs of this contentious female beauty standard.
Editor’s Roundtable: Gossip, Dirt, and Reality (Podcast) By Longreads Commentary Longreads editors discuss stories in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, ESPN, Kotaku, and The Globe and Mail.
‘What if people found out?’ On the White Male Suicide Epidemic By Krista Stevens Highlight “I got home and went back to the fetal position for a week.”
How One Artist Publicly Dealt With the Aftermath of Her Rape By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight For one woman, holding her employer accountable meant painting the story of her rape on a billboard above a busy LA freeway.
Talk Like an Egyptian By Cary Barbor Feature Cary Barbor traverses language, culture, and class to connect with her new family.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from James Carroll, Cecilia D’Anastasio, Ben Steverman, Eva Holland, and Ian Brown.
Nestlé Is Sucking the World’s Aquifers Dry By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight The multinational corporation is gradually privatizing a natural resource.
Total Depravity: The Origins of the Drug Epidemic in Appalachia Laid Bare By Longreads Feature In an excerpt from his essay collection, Australian journalist Richard Cooke reports on the American opioid crisis through the astonished eyes of a foreigner visiting steel and coal country.
The Joy of Watching (and Rewatching) Movies So Bad They’re Good By Michael Musto Feature Michael Musto sings the praises of his favorite cinematic clunkers.
The Gymnast’s Position By Dvora Meyers Feature Aimee Trepanier was proud to showcase the pose that started her 1993 gymnastics floor routine in a billboard ad off I-15 in Salt Lake City. But when Utahns looked up, that’s not what they saw.
I Entered the World’s Longest, Loneliest Horse Race on a Whim, and I Won By Longreads Feature Somehow, implausibly, against all the odds, I became the youngest person and first woman ever to win the Mongol Derby. What made me so sure I was ready, when I was totally unprepared?
The Fraught Culture of Online Mourning By Rachel Vorona Cote Feature Nowadays, we live online, and so we grieve here too. But there are limits to the comfort digital mourning can provide.
How the Cosby Story Finally Went Viral — And Why It Took So Long By Longreads Feature A journalist who reported on the accusations long before they went viral wonders, “What kind of profession am I in, where stories have no logical reason for unfolding?”
Kristen Arnett on Taxidermy, Memory, and “Mostly Dead Things” By Tobias Carroll Feature “What’s considered high art? What’s lowbrow? What are those things? That’s something that, as a person who like, lives at 7-Eleven, I’m extremely interested in.”
True Roots By Longreads Feature One woman quits coloring her gray hair and investigates the human and environmental costs of this contentious female beauty standard.
I’ve Done a Lot of Forgetting By Jordan Michael Smith Feature When I was a kid, I wanted my antisemitic tormentors to accept me. I wanted to be their friend.
America Is Still Hard To Find By Lily Meyer Feature Kathleen Alcott’s latest novel is a dramatic reenactment of the ethical dilemmas posed in antiwar activist Father Daniel Berrigan’s ’60s manifesto.
Big Problems and Big Paychecks in West Texas Oil Country By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight As the current oil boom attests. West Texas’ oil deposits come with high social and environmental costs.
Editor’s Roundtable: Gossip, Dirt, and Reality (Podcast) By Longreads Commentary Longreads editors discuss stories in Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, ESPN, Kotaku, and The Globe and Mail.
I’ve Done a Lot of Forgetting By Jordan Michael Smith Feature When I was a kid, I wanted my antisemitic tormentors to accept me. I wanted to be their friend.
How Refugees Die By Longreads Feature Wars and heightened border security have created a humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean.
Editors Roundtable: 170 Million Pieces of Trash Orbiting the Earth and No One Knows How to Use an Apostrophe (Podcast) By Longreads Commentary This week, Longreads editors discuss stories in Outside Magazine, Backchannel (WIRED), and The New York Times: Styles.
The 19th Century Lesbian Made for 21st Century Consumption By Jeanna Kadlec Feature Jeanna Kadlec considers Anne Lister, the historical figure at the center of HBO’s Gentleman Jack, and the influence of other queer women who preceded her.
Mama Looks for Melanin By harmonyholiday Feature Harmony Holiday remembers her mother’s years of trauma-bonding in search of new love, after the death of her mercurial yet brilliant father.
Talk Like an Egyptian By Cary Barbor Feature Cary Barbor traverses language, culture, and class to connect with her new family.
The Artificial Intelligence of the Public Intellectual By Soraya Roberts Feature Today’s public intellectuals have their own version of the American Dream, where one person, on their own, can achieve anything — including being the smartest person in the room.
The Year of the Cat By Elisabeth Donnelly Feature Elisabeth Donnelly looks back at a relationship with a wily cat during a lonely time in upstate New York.
