Tens of thousands of people from across Asia have been coerced into participating in well-organized schemes that defraud people in the U.S. and around the world out of millions of dollars. Cezary Podkul’s investigation takes us deep into both sides of the operation: He tells the harrowing account of Fan, a young man from China, […]
Cheri Lucas Rowlands
Cheri has been an editor at Longreads since 2014.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Roll With It
Ian Mackay was paralyzed 14 years ago in a bike accident, leaving the active 26-year-old with the physical abilities of an infant. Today, he’s traversing hundreds of miles in an Invacare TDX SP2. For Sports Illustrated, Joseph Bien-Kahn tells Mackay’s inspiring story and offers an account of his latest challenge: breaking a world record for […]
Posted inNonfiction
‘We Deserve So Much More Than Police, Prisons, and Jails’: Scalawag Takes On Emmy-Winning Television
We recommend these incisive essays on Abbott Elementary, The White Lotus, and The Dropout in Scalawag’s series on pop culture and justice.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Failure to Launch
“Launch House promised young tech founders community. A Vox investigation found what happens when clout and cash are paramount, and protecting members falls by the wayside.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
To All the Brooklyn Brownstones I’ve Loved Before
“The brownstone stood for everything I wanted: solidity and urbanity, possibility and permanence. I could see it, stand inside it, even sleep there. But it wasn’t mine.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Milk Money
Reeves Wiederman reports on how the baby-formula shortage in the U.S. created an opportunity for new companies to enter an industry historically dominated by a few corporations. Laura Modi, a Google and Airbnb alum who founded the baby-formula startup Bobbie, is one such CEO hoping to transform an industry “that has grown complacent.” As Modi […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Coming Into Focus
ADHD diagnoses have spiked among adult women. In a thoughtful personal essay, Carla Ciccone describes what it’s been like to be diagnosed at nearly 40, and how it’s helped her reframe the way she sees herself — and her past. But women aren’t suddenly waking up with a neurological disorder. It’s likely been there all […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
As the World Moves On, Veterans of the Afghanistan Withdrawal Struggle to Join Them
“‘I feel like I’m still there,’ a Marine told me. ‘I feel like everything that happened, happened five minutes ago.’” Reporting for Task & Purpose, Haley Britzky spoke to 15 soldiers, Marines, and airmen who were part of the Afghanistan withdrawal mission in August 2021. It’s a difficult read, but also a raw and visceral account […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Humiliating History of the TSA
“I don’t really recognize the America that exists at a TSA checkpoint. It is overly paranoid, vindictive, and unaccountable to us as citizens.” Since 9/11, there isn’t really evidence that shows the Transportation Security Administration has made air travel any safer for passengers. For The Verge, Darryl Campbell dives into two decades of unnecessary security check […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Death Cheaters
“The members of Longevity House are united by two things: a willingness to hand over $100,000 and a burning desire to live forever. Inside the weird world of cryotherapy, biocharging and fecal transplants.”