“After a crucial section of a California freeway collapsed, this formidable construction boss pulled off one of the fastest, riskiest, most high-stakes reconstructions in U.S. history.”
Cheri Lucas Rowlands
Cheri has been an editor at Longreads since 2014.
“It’s Time to Play Ball, British Style”
“A hot dog, a Pimm’s cup and two national anthems: The cultural dissonance of watching America’s pastime in London.”
The Mysterious, Deep-Dwelling Microbes That Sculpt Our Planet
“Earth’s crust teems with subterranean life that we are only now beginning to understand.”
Pooping on the Moon Is a Messy Business
“If humans are to return to the moon, space agencies and governments need to figure out the legal, ethical, and practical dimensions of extraterrestrial waste management.”
Harvard, the Human Remains Trade, and Collectors Who Fuel the Market
“At some point in Cedric Lodge’s almost 30-year career in the Harvard Medical School morgue, working mostly alone and far from the eyes of his supervisors, he allegedly decided to get a piece of this trade.”
Inside Snapchat’s Teen Opioid Crisis
“Law-enforcement sources and grieving families allege that the social media giant Snapchat has helped fuel a teen-overdose epidemic across the country. Now, their parents are fighting back.”
The Case of the Missing Chacmools
“Geoffrey Gray investigates the writer’s bizarre cult and finds himself entangled in a web of murky financial dealings, sex, possible foul play—and one death-defying supernatural being.”
The Titan Submersible Disaster Shocked the World. The Exclusive Inside Story Is More Disturbing Than Anyone Imagined
“A year after OceanGate’s sub imploded, thousands of leaked documents and interviews with ex-employees reveal how the company’s CEO cut corners, ignored warnings, and lied in his fatal quest to reach the Titanic.”
Four Lost Pregnancies. Five Weeks of IVF Injections. One Storm.
“A couple spent years and tens of thousands of dollars trying to have a baby. Then Hurricane Ian hit.”
The Delicate Art of Turning Your Parents Into Content
“Gen Z creators are learning the lessons of Scorsese and Akerman: putting mom and dad in your work brings pathos, complexity, and a certain frisson.”
