Longreads Best of 2018: Food Writing By Longreads Reading List We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in food writing.
They Wanted Her Body By Rafia Zakaria Feature Thinking of Qandeel Baloch’s murder as an honor killing doesn’t capture the whole truth. She was silenced for revealing men’s hypocrisy.
Longreads Best of 2018: Sports Writing By Matt Giles Commentary We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in sports writing.
Seasonal Associate By Longreads Feature No longer able to live on her freelance writing income, German novelist Heike Geissler takes a holiday seasonal job at an Amazon fulfillment center.
A Stimulus Plan for the Mutual Aid Economy By Livia Gershon Feature Policymakers’ neglect of caregiving harms a major force in American labor.
James Baldwin and the Lost Giovanni’s Room Screenplay By Matt Giles Commentary In 1978, James Baldwin began working on a screenplay for Giovanni’s Room, his most beloved work. For the past forty years, though, the script has been shelved in a London flat.
When Richard Nixon Declared War on the Media By Matt Giles Commentary Jim Acosta isn’t the first reporter to be barred from the White House—when Stuart Loory reported on the possibility that Richard Nixon was bilking taxpayers, he found himself on the president’s enemies list.
The Man Who Would Be King By Krista Stevens Commentary At nearly age 70, Charles is the “longest-waiting heir apparent in history.”
“This Halloween is Something to Be Sure”: An Examination of Lou Reed’s New York By Matt Giles Commentary New York might be Lou Reed’s most politically active album, especially on tracks like “Halloween Parade,” which functions both as a dirge and call-to-action confronting societal torpidity.
I Remember When Rock was Young: Elton John at 71 By Krista Stevens Highlight “He’s sold 150 million albums and been famous for five decades. But do we really know Elton John?”
West Across the Sea By Sam Riches Feature Tryggvi Hlinason is a sheep farmer at the center of a new generation of Icelandic basketball talent. He’s trying to do something that only one other Icelander has done before — play in the NBA.
The Voyeur of Queen and Spadina By Krista Stevens Commentary But I’m a creep / I’m a weirdo / What the hell am I doing here? / I don’t belong here
How the Border Patrol Threatens Civil Liberties Far from the Border By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight While ICE makes headlines, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency continues to detain and search American citizens far from the actual border, and it doesn’t need a warrant.
Why Are We Still Ignoring Lee Krasner? By Matt Giles Commentary Lee Krasner wasn’t just instrumental to the evolution of Jackson Pollock as an artist. Her influence extended across the Abstract-Expressionist movement.
Remembering G. Dep, the Rapper Who Confessed to a 17-Year Old Cold Case By Matt Giles Commentary Lil Wayne’s reimagining of G. Dep’s “Special Delivery” has thrust the ex-Bad Boy rapper back into the pop culture spotlight.
The Meaning of “Aquemini” By Danielle Jackson Highlight OutKast’s masterful 1998 album “Aquemini” defined a bold and Black South and predicted today’s pop music landscape.
Did We Learn Nothing From the 2008 Crisis? By Matt Giles Commentary The continuation of the false narrative of what caused the 2008 financial collapse is alarming.
‘I Didn’t Have the Language to Call It Racism’: An Interview with Nicole Chung By Victoria Namkung Feature Nicole Chung wants white parents of transracial adoptees to grapple more candidly with the reality of racism in America.
Ugly, Bitter, and True By Suzanne Rivecca Feature After years of feeling hopeless and barely human, one talented writer manages to find her will to live.
How I Fell In Love With Ranch Dressing By Matt Giles Commentary The complexities of the “American dressing” are subtle.
Eight Days in September, A Decade Later By Matt Giles Commentary Looking back at the weekend that nearly destroyed America’s economy.
Putting a New Stone on the Grave: Sjón Brings the Golem to Iceland By Adam Morgan Feature Sjón’s “CoDex 1962” is the fulfillment of a pact he made with the Maharal of Prague in the Old Jewish Cemetery almost three decades ago.
Not Quite Democracy: Lucie Greene on the Civic Aspirations of Tech Giants By Bradley Babendir Feature Lucie Greene’s new book “Silicon States” is about the danger of concentrating so much power in so few hands.
Why Do Men Fight?: An Interview with Thomas Page McBee By Cooper Lee Bombardier Feature “When I started asking myself questions about my own notions of masculinity. I just felt so limited, so suddenly afraid of becoming the kind of man I’d grown up in fear of.”
Every Mission is a Suicide Mission By Nicholas Mainieri Feature Accompanying a contestant to a pro-level Galaga tournament to discover how many digital space bugs you have to destroy to find renown, community, and a modicum of inner peace.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett Was Born Today in 1862 By Danielle Jackson Highlight Pioneering investigative journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born July 16, 1862.
