Leadership Academy By Victor Wei Ke Yang Feature Victor Yang considers how his time as an immigrant rights organizer helped him understand his mother, and the guilt and obligation he carries from their relationship.
In Pocahontas County, Deep Divisions and a Gruesome Discovery By Longreads Feature In an excerpt from ‘The Third Rainbow Girl,’ Emma Copley Eisenberg interrogates various social conditions that might have contributed to a mysterious double murder in West Virginia in 1980.
Deconstructing Disney: The Princess Problem of ‘Frozen II’ By Jeanna Kadlec Feature Audiences wanted Disney to give Elsa a girlfriend. But the Frozen franchise is at the center of the corporation’s latest princess project, whose nationalist concerns are decidedly here for the gay agenda.
Through a Glass, Tearfully By Maureen Stanton Feature Maureen Stanton contemplates her history of crying in inappropriate moments, and considers tears from gender-based and political perspectives.
Telling Stories In Order to Live: On Writing and Money By Sarah Menkedick Feature Sarah Menkedick examines the perils inherent in trying to earn a living as a full-time writer.
10 Outstanding Short Stories to Read in 2020 By Longreads Feature Stories by Edwidge Danticat, Etgar Keret, Valeria Luiselli, and more.
Whatever Happened to ______ ? By Longreads Feature Envy over her success led her husband, also a writer, to become violent. She fights every day for her safety — and to avoid being relegated to obscurity like so many writers who are mothers.
Don’t Let Old Wounds Die Out By Longreads Commentary Our last editors’ roundtable of the season, with guest Nick Chrastil.
This Month In Books: What Did We Miss? By Dana Snitzky Commentary The end of the year is a time for regrets. What are the books we didn’t feature?
The Poetry We Need and the Chitchat We Don’t By Longreads Commentary What we all need to hear right now, with special guest Marisa Siegel, Editor in Chief of The Rumpus.
Telling About Auschwitz, Before It’s Too Late By Sari Botton Commentary His lover in Auschwitz helped him survive. Now he’s sharing his memories to help prevent the worst from happening again.
Longreads Best of 2019: Crime Reporting By Longreads Reading List We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year. Here is the best in crime reporting.
Longreads Best of 2019: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks By Longreads Reading List Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Reporting Crime or Turning to Crime By Longreads Commentary Diligent reporters revisit the histories of two conmen, and how their actions have risked others’ lives in the balance.
The Longreads 2019 Holiday Gift Book Guide By Dana Snitzky Commentary Let Longreads help you with your holiday shopping! We’ve made a catalog of books we featured in 2019 that we think would make great gifts for everyone on your list.
Obsession and Release: 10 Years to Write a Longread By Longreads Commentary A Longreads Podcast interview with journalists James K. Williamson and Tim Requarth on writing about family.
Happily Never After By Soraya Roberts Feature By protecting ourselves and no one else, we destroy ourselves along with everyone else.
Searching Sephora for an Antidote to Aging — and Grief By Abby Mims Feature Five years after her mother’s death, while still grieving and suddenly middle-aged, Abby Mims turns to beauty products to cure what ails her.
The God Phone By Leora Smith Feature What happens when ordinary people play God to strangers? Leora Smith explores the history of one of the oldest art installations at Burning Man and the conversations that unfold there.
The Price of Dominionist Theology By Eve Ettinger Feature After leaving fundamentalism, Eve Ettinger grapples with the loaded theological heritage of evangelical personal finance teachings.
Violence Girl By Longreads Feature How a young bilingual Latina became one of punk’s enduring icons and helped create a new musical universe.
What I Did for (Strange) Love By Laura Bond Feature As a teen, Laura Bond went all out to meet Depeche Mode — and to hang onto her best friend.
Addiction’s Seismic Effects on a Family By Sarah Evans Feature A mother confronts the painful truths of trying to save a son who’s a danger not only to himself, but to the rest of the family as well.
Infatuation By Deena ElGenaidi Feature Deena ElGenaidi considers the ways in which adoring Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine from afar in her teens and early 20s provided a safe outlet for expressing desire.
(Who Gets to) Just Up and Move By Nicole Walker Feature Nicole Walker contemplates the nature of migration, and realizes there are two places you can never escape: the planet and your own head.
Deconstructing Disney: The Princess Problem of ‘Frozen II’ By Jeanna Kadlec Feature Audiences wanted Disney to give Elsa a girlfriend. But the Frozen franchise is at the center of the corporation’s latest princess project, whose nationalist concerns are decidedly here for the gay agenda.
If My Scars Could Talk By Tega Oghenechovwen Feature Tega Oghenechovwen contemplates the ways in which acute childhood trauma can infect and compromise relationships later in life.
Jersey Girl By Longreads Feature Too Japanese for Americans and too American for the Japanese, one New Jersey native traces the influence of racism on her parents’ careers and her own life.
The 25 Most Popular Longreads Exclusives of 2019 By Longreads Feature The original reporting, personal essays, columns, and collaborations that were our most-read stories of the year.
Witness Mami Roar By Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez Feature Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez remembers growing up undocumented in the shadow of her mother and father’s tumultuous relationship.
Renovating a Family By Christine Kalafus Feature After her husband’s infidelity, Christine Kalafus re-architected her marriage. Now she needs to let her son in on the plans.
What the World’s Most Controversial Herbicide Is Doing to Rural Argentina By Longreads Feature After enormous lobbying efforts, Monsanto’s GMO soybeans, treated with Roundup, became the country’s largest export, as cancer rates and other health issues skyrocketed.
The Christmas Tape By Wendy McClure Feature Wendy McClure recounts how an old audio tape of holiday music becomes a record of family history, unspoken rituals, and grief.
Still Waters By Soraya Roberts Feature The muted response to Todd Haynes’s “Dark Waters” is depressingly similar to our culture’s muted response to climate change
An Addict, a Nurse, and a Christmas Resurrection By Suzanne Ohlmann Feature Working the night shift on an intensive care unit, Suzanne Ohlmann brushes up against death, Jesus, and her biological father.
Seedy By Elizabeth Logan Harris Feature Elizabeth Logan Harris recalls an incident in ’70s-era Radio City Music Hall when unwanted attention to her teenage body put her in league with her father.
In Jo’s Image By Jeanna Kadlec Feature Jeanna Kadlec considers the impact of Little Women’s matriarchy — and its heroine — on the formation of her own queer identity.
A Woman’s Work: Becoming a Home of One’s Own By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson considers what it takes to recover from grief, build strength for the future, and become one’s own center of gravity again.
Audiences wanted Disney to give Elsa a girlfriend. But the Frozen franchise is at the center of the corporation’s latest princess project, whose nationalist concerns are decidedly here for the gay agenda.