This week, we’re sharing stories from Tana Ganeva, Garrett M. Graff, Janelle Monáe, Ellen Cushing, and Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder.
Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox.
1. Flimsy plastic knives, a single microwave, and empty popcorn bags: How 50 inmates inside a Michigan prison prepared a feast to celebrate the life of George Floyd
Tana Ganeva | The Counter | August 6, 2020 | 13 minutes (3,397 words)
Michael ‘Thompson came up with a way to mark Floyd’s death inside: a special meal that he’d share with the inmates in a “celebration” honoring Floyd’s life…After they returned their cells, each man sat in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. And then they began to eat.’
2. The Furious Hunt for the MAGA Bomber
Garrett M. Graff | Wired | August 12, 2020 | 32 minutes (8200 words)
“Scarred by trauma and devoted to Trump, a man began mailing explosives to the president’s critics on the eve of an election. Inside the race to catch him.”
3. Stacey Abrams and Janelle Monáe on the Fight for Democracy in an Election Season for the Ages
Janelle Monáe | Harper’s Bazaar | August 10, 2020 | 20 minutes (5,152 words)
‘The former Georgia Representative talks to singer and fellow Atlantan Monáe about voter suppression, Joe Biden, and whether Abrams herself will one day run for president. (The answer: “Absolutely.”)’
4. I Was a Teenage Conspiracy Theorist
Ellen Cushing | The Atlantic | May 13, 2020 | 15 minutes (3,881 words)
“Our minds work in particular ways that make us all receptive to conspiracy thinking,” says Rob Brotherton, a psychologist and the author of Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories. ”
5. The Way of the Goldfinch
Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder | Emergence Magazine | July 15, 2020 | 6 minutes (1,525 words)
“Watching a goldfinch sway on a blade of grass, Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder writes to her soon-to-be-born daughter about beauty, balance, and lessons of uncertainty.”
Get the Longreads Weekly Email