The Mosul University Library: Reborn From the Ashes By Krista Stevens Highlight The Mosul University Library, once home to centuries-old books and documents, is rebuilding after ISIS destroyed it.
Poor, Gay, Black, and Southern: America’s Hidden H.I.V. Crisis By Krista Stevens Highlight If you have H.I.V in New York or San Francisco, you can life a long, healthy life. Not so if you live in the Southern United States and you’re poor, black, gay and/or bisexual.
Our Contemporary Notion of Self-Esteem Was Born — Surprise! — in 1980s California By Ben Huberman Highlight Apparently, feeling great about yourself does not improve your chances at success.
In Bed-Stuy, the Ghost of Robert Moses is Alive and Well By Ben Huberman Highlight Gentrification is about displacement — but also about marketing and invisibility.
For Ordinary Syrians, Is Backing Assad the Only Option? By Krista Stevens Highlight Sometimes the best choice is the devil you know.
Donald Trump As Bad Contractor By Danielle Tcholakian Highlight Most people who have lived through a renovation know the hallmark of a bad contractor.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Rebecca Solnit, Robert F. Worth, Margaret Talbot, Porochista Khakpour, and Frank Bures.
Found in the Attic: A Decade of Climate Data on Somalia By Michelle Weber Highlight The scientist whose research could help restore stability to Somalia was abducted there in 2008, and hasn’t been heard from since.
West Virginia: Still High on Hope By Krista Stevens Highlight The state with the highest overdose rate in the United States is the front line of the opioid crisis.
Schrödinger’s Convict: Actually Innocent, Actually a Felon By Michelle Weber Highlight An “Alford plea” gets an innocent man out of jail, but keeps him on the books as a convicted felon.
Teaching a Stone to Fly By Krista Stevens Highlight The perfect skipping stone has “lobes” that act as spokes, keeping the stone above the water.
‘Equality Keeps Us Honest’: Rebecca Solnit on the Ignorance of Privilege By Michelle Weber Highlight “This is why I always pair privilege with obliviousness; obliviousness is privilege’s form of deprivation.”
The Essay Will Feel Like It’s Killing You By Krista Stevens Highlight “Begin by writing about anything else,” says Porochista Khakpour, until she becomes conflicted about writing about being Iranian-American.
From a Hawk to a Dove By Ray Cocks Feature Vietnam Veteran Ray Cocks, who’d eagerly enlisted in 1967, was forever changed by the realities of war.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Alec MacGillis, Justin Heckert, Peter Vigneron, Michael Lista, and Anthony Breznican.
The Great, Ongoing California Nut Caper By Krista Stevens Highlight At Outside, Peter Vigneron reports on a spree of nut heists thought to be linked to a Russian organized-crime ring.
Learning to Swim in a Sea of Uncertainty By Katie Prout Feature Katie Prout was all set to teach her homeward-bound Navy Officer brother everything she learned in swim class. Then the Trump administration issued new orders.
Into the Woods: Three Personal Essays on ‘Twin Peaks’ By Ben Huberman Reading List The cult show returned this week. Here, three writers reflect on David Lynch’s effect on their lives.
Sometimes a Tortoise Is More Than a Tortoise By Michelle Weber Reading List Meet Fred. He’s cold-blooded, beady-eyed, a picky eater, and likely to outlive us all.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Renee Montagne, Nina Martin, Alex Tizon, Mary Mann, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, and Andy Newman.
How ‘International Airbnb Style’ Became the Dominant Aesthetic of Our Time By Ben Huberman Highlight From Beijing to Helsinki, quirkiness never looked more identical.
They’re (Almost) All Good Tweets, Brent By Michelle Weber Highlight Matt Nelson is a college sophomore who took WeRateDogs from spur-of-the-moment joke to data-driven fav-machine.
Not Really A Distant Aunt: My Family’s Slave By Krista Stevens Highlight “Once, when I was sick for a long time and too weak to eat, she chewed my food for me and put the small pieces in my mouth to swallow.”
The Tyranny of Free Time, or How to Be Bored In Fiji By Michelle Weber Highlight Mary Mann lays bare what most travelers are loathe to admit: it’s just as easy to be bored in Paris or on Bora Bora as it is at home.
Dorothy Allison on How America Devalues Those Who are ‘Other’ By Krista Stevens Highlight Dorothy Allison on how American culture “inherently devalues the poor, the working class, the darks, the queer, the other.”
Young African Artists Lead Nuanced Conversation about Race in America By Danielle Jackson Commentary Taiye Selasi, Yaa Gyasi, and Toyin Ojin Odutola expand notions of blackness with layered, nuanced artwork.
A Love Affair with a Prince Soundtrack By Danielle Jackson Highlight Veteran music journalist Michael Gonzales reflects on a long love affair and Prince’s deep, varied catalogue of hits.
It Was Like Nothing Else in My Life Up to Now By Josh Roiland Feature In searching for meaning behind a random encounter and his mother’s death, Josh Roiland explores compassion.
Playing Football to the Beat of Their Own, Literal Drummer By Michelle Weber Highlight Gallaudet University has tensions between its deaf and hearing students, but the deaf football team brings the campus together.
The Doctor Dolittle of the Upper West Side By Krista Stevens Highlight Bowel-obstructed bunnies, lame ducks, and festering iguanas at Manhattan’s only exotic animal vet.
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