‘Nobody in This Book Is Going to Catch a Break’: Téa Obreht on “Inland” By Ryan Chapman Feature ‘The history of the West is a deeply turbulent one… that kept the living population in a constant state of unrest. I thought this constant state of unrest must be true for the dead as well.’
When Running Toward Yourself Looks Like Running Away By Amber Leventry Feature Amber Leventry recalls how getting sober forced them to confront and reveal important truths about their identity.
The Reluctant Propagandist By Maija Liuhto Feature Massood Sanjer, Afghanistan’s most famous radio host, had an unlikely start to his career as a beacon of free speech. Under the Taliban rule, his voice used to carry Taliban propaganda all over the world.
White Looks By Soraya Roberts Feature Should white critics cover black culture? Only if they’re able to own their whiteness.
‘Victims Become This Object of Fascination… This Silent Symbol.’ By Jonny Auping Feature Rachel Monroe talks about the pitfalls of the true crime genre. “I had this feeling like I can see the whole thing and nobody else understands… That’s a real trap that we as reporters can fall in.”
Better Late By Summer Block Feature From straightening her teeth to finding her true love, Summer Block has reached the milestones in her life later than most.
Betting the Farm on the Drought By Longreads Feature Farmers like sixth-generation Illinois farmer Ethan Cox can’t wait for policymakers to protect them from climate change. To survive, they have to adapt their operations now, if they can.
Riding the Highs and Lows with My Mom By Valentina Valentini Feature On a night out in the Hollywood hills, Valentina Valentini’s lifelong role-reversal with her mother becomes upended.
‘The Survivor’s Edit’: Bassey Ikpi on Memory, Truth, and Living with Bipolar II By Naomi Elias Feature Bassey Ikpi discusses writing about mental illness. “I could count on the morning. It became the thing that existed without my input… without determining whether or not I was worthy of it.”
The Little Book That Lost Its Author By Amber Caron Feature How will artificial intelligence change literature?
Looking for Carolina Maria de Jesus By Tari Ngangura Feature For a brief period in the 1960s, the Afro-Brazilian author of the memoir “Child of the Dark” was one of the most well-known writers in the world.
Conversations with My Loveliest By Melissa Berman Feature Melissa Berman recalls what was said, and not said, between her and her beloved aunt as they approached her final year.
In Sickness, In Health — and In Prison By Mia Armstrong Feature Most people know prisoners can marry. Few remember the co-ed prison, the impromptu courthouse wedding and the Supreme Court ruling that allows them to do so.
It’s Getting Hot in Here, So Take Off All Your Constructs By Soraya Roberts Feature Hot Girl Summer has women subverting a feminine archetype, but only if they can embody it first.
What Does It Mean To Be Moved? By Jennifer Wilson Feature We can all remember a time when the wind touched us when we needed touching, pushed us along when we were unsure.
Pages You Can Dance To: A Book List By Brittany Allen Feature Either Martin Mull or Frank Zappa or Elvis Costello once said writing about music is as pointless as dancing about architecture. Which doesn’t account for how I’ve danced to all these books.
Woodstock: My Queer Love Story By Kate Walter Feature Kate Walter went to Woodstock in 1969 with her boyfriend. She went back in 1994 with her girlfriend. She’s not going back again.
Images Present Themselves: A Conversation With Photographer Burk Uzzle By Tom Maxwell Feature Some of the most iconic images get captured when you’re just out for a stroll. What you do with these images is a political act.
I’ll Be Loving You Forever By Rebecca Schuman Feature My best friend and the New Kids on the Block, 30 years later.
Flagrant Foul: Benching Teen Moms Before Title IX By Britni de la Cretaz Feature As a high schooler and new mom, Jane Rubel didn’t consider herself a feminist. She just knew that if husbands and fathers were eligible to play high school basketball, she should have been, too.
‘Horror Is a Soothing Genre … It’s Upfront About How Scary It Is To Be a Woman.’ By Laura Barcella Feature Sady Doyle discusses the connection she draws between society’s monstrous treatment of women and woman’s archetypal monstrosity.
The Young Man and the Sea Sponge By Darryn King Feature SpongeBob SquarePants turned 20 this summer. This is the story of how a marine biology teacher named Stephen Hillenburg gave life to an animated character who continues to delight fans worldwide.
Whiteness on the Couch By Natasha Stovall Feature Clinical psychologist Natasha Stovall looks at the vast spectrum of white people problems, and why we never talk about them in therapy.
Remembering Woodstock ’94 By Steve Edwards Feature On the concert’s 25th anniversary, Steve Edwards reflects on the mud, the music, and the myths he lives by.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor: An Anti-Hate Pop Culture Syllabus By Soraya Roberts Feature Media and entertainment grounded in empathy are a critical part of a saner culture — and we can all help by actively producing, seeking, and supporting it.
Mountains, Transcending By Ailsa Ross Feature “Ever since I was five years old,” wrote opera singer–turned–Buddhist lama Alexandra David-Néel, “I craved to go beyond the garden gate, to follow the road that passed it by, and to set out for the Unknown.”
When Friendship Fades But the Images Linger By Eryn Loeb Feature Eryn Loeb looks back on a summer spent taking pictures, and a friend she lost touch with.
Losing My Religion at Christian Camp By Katy Hershberger Feature Katy Hershberger recalls the way her decade at Christian summer camp both shaped and condemned her views of faith and girlhood.
Heartbreaker By Beatrix M. Rooney Feature Beatrix M. Rooney discovers a tragic secret that may explain her brother’s descent into cruelty and violence.