When We Are Afraid
On teaching in a red state, the silences in our history lessons, and all I never learned about my hometown.

Follow Longreads:
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re highlighting stories by Meagan Gillmore, Teju Cole, Maureen Ryan, Katie Baker, and Imogen West-Knights.
Return to the Saddle Club: A Reading List on Horse Girls
Celebrating the girls with an equine obsession.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week’s installment features stories by Lee van der Voo, Adam Gopnik, Surabhi Ranganathan, Masha Udensiva-Brenner, and Mikey O’Connell.
Editors’ Picks
Essays and Features
Reading Lists

Get the Longreads Top 5 Email
Kickstart your weekend by getting the week’s best reads, hand-picked and introduced by Longreads editors, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning.