“There has never been an anti-racist majority in American history; there may be one today in the racially and socioeconomically diverse coalition of voters radicalized by the abrupt transition from the hope of the Obama era to the cruelty of the Trump age. All political coalitions are eventually torn apart by their contradictions, but America […]
Cheri Lucas Rowlands
Cheri has been an editor at Longreads since 2014.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Waiting to Be Thrown Out
Following the story of one Cameroonian, Gaby Del Valle dives deep into how video teleconferencing technology in the U.S.’s immigration courts fuels the deportation machine.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Weird Space That Lies Outside Our Solar System
Launched in the 1970s, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 — the first two spacecraft and human-made objects to leave our solar system — have reached interstellar space and now beam back images from this mysterious region.
Posted inEditor's Pick
For the Love of Mail: Letter Writing in a Pandemic
“To mail a letter is to send something out in the world with a faith that it will reach its destination. Writing is the same way. We write with hope that our work, like a letter, will find its way to where it needs to go.” Lauren Markham muses on the magic of the U.S. […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
When Children’s COVID-19 Symptoms Won’t Go Away
Some parents are reporting that their kids’ COVID symptoms have been lingering for months.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Sent Home to Die
In New Orleans, hospitals sent infected COVID patients into hospice facilities or back home to die — to family members untrained and unprepared to care for them — and in some cases discontinuing treatment against the family’s wishes.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Oysters That Knew What Time It Was
“Are we autonomous, self-running machines, or is life in constant, subtle communication with the Earth, sun, moon, and even stars?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Extreme Heat Is Here, and It’s Deadly
“For many, the present is already feeling pretty dystopian.” Arizona and regions across the U.S. are seeing record-high temperatures — and the heat will only intensify. At High Country News, Jessica Kutz reports that climate fiction, Indigenous architecture, and a robot named MaRTy are a few key things that can prepare us for a hotter […]
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
‘It’s An iPad, Not An usPad’: Douglas Rushkoff on Digital Isolation
“There’s no Dropbox plan that will let us upload body and soul to the cloud. We are still here on the ground, with the same people and on the same planet we are being encouraged to leave behind.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Privileged Have Entered Their Escape Pods
“There’s no Dropbox plan that will let us upload body and soul to the cloud. We are still here on the ground, with the same people and on the same planet we are being encouraged to leave behind.” Author and media theorist Douglas Rushkoff asks: how much are we allowed to use technology and our […]