Muscle Memory: A Case History By Mariam I. Williams Feature While healing from a back injury, Mariam I. Williams learns to let go of the ways she has been taught to mistrust her body.
Why I Lied to Everyone in High School About Knowing Karate By Jabeen Akhtar Feature As a teen, Jabeen Akhtar discovered that trying to be an exceptional immigrant can make you do stupid things.
The Blue Ridge Country King By johnlingan Feature No one would have thought that Highland Ridge, Virginia was the center of anything. Then Jim McCoy’s honky-tonk came along.
Silence is a Lonely Country: A Prayer in Twelve Parts By Sadia Hassan Feature A poet reflects on finding her words in the face of injustice.
Oregon’s Racist Past By Longreads Feature Starting in the mid-19th century, and extending through the mid-20th century, Oregon was arguably the most racist place outside the southern states, possibly even of all the states.
Peterson’s Complaint By Laurie Penny Feature There’s no use debating a feeling. It’s time to change how we engage with Jordan Peterson.
Making Peace with the Site of a Suicide By Liz Arnold Feature One woman reconciles with her father’s death on her family’s property.
My Brother Comes to Moscow By Keith Gessen Feature ‘We had had many arguments, but he was my brother; he had always been my brother.’
The Country Where Fútbol Comes First By Candace Rose Rardon Feature Uruguay, a small nation with a deep-seated passion for soccer, is the inspiration for any underdog vying to win a World Cup.
Gone Gray By Jessica Berger Gross Feature Jessica Berger Gross reflects on what letting her roots grow in at age 45 has meant, in terms of feminism and resistance.
Getting Tricked by Helen DeWitt By Brittany Allen Feature Helen DeWitt’s hectic, disruptive style reflects the content of her stories: the difficulty of living an authentic life, or telling anything like a “story,” in a ruthlessly disruptive world.
The Wheel, the Woman, and the Human Body By Aaron Gilbreath Feature How the newly evolved bicycle helped liberate women and modernize America’s concept of fitness.
Eating Alone By Longreads Feature We’re eating alone more often than in any previous generation. But why should a meal on our own be uninspired? Why shouldn’t the French saying “life is too short to drink bad wine” still apply?
A Person Alone: Leaning Out with Ottessa Moshfegh By Hope Reese Feature Leaning in doesn’t work in real life. When I was writing, I kind of hoped that it would. I think I hoped that the answers are always within me. And when I reached the end of the book, it was like: there are no answers.
Letters from Trenton By Thomas Swick Feature While striving to become a travel writer in the years after Watergate, Thomas Swick discovered that although writing for a newspaper was educational, there was more to be learned through romance with a foreigner.
Queens of Infamy: Joanna of Naples By Anne Thériault Feature If you thought four (mostly) crappy husbands, vengeful Hungarian cousins, and the Black Death could cramp this queen’s style, think again.
Taming the Great American Desert By johnforristerross Feature By advocating for agriculture in the arid West, Major John Wesley Powell challenged the way America viewed its right to develop the continent.
How to Be Single By Shelly Oria Feature Shelly Oria shares a manual for life after you’ve left your husband and your girlfriend.
Pay the Homeless By Bryce Covert Feature It’s time to end the pernicious myth that giving money directly to panhandlers won’t help them.
El camino al asilo By Alice Driver Feature Las mujeres trans migran para escapar de la violencia y mantenerse con vida. Alice Driver acompañó a una de estas mujeres en su viaje.
The Road to Asylum By Alice Driver Feature Trans women migrate to escape violence and stay alive. Alice Driver accompanied one of these women on her journey.
Your Best Work Comes from Scaring Yourself By Ryan Chapman Feature Essayist Chelsea Hodson had to give herself permission to be uncomfortable.
Making Peace with Selective Reduction By Amber Leventry Feature When risks arise in her partner’s pregnancy with triplets, Amber Leventry discovers that letting go of one life doesn’t have to mean losing faith, or love.
A Music So Beautiful the Birds Fell from the Trees By Maija Liuhto Feature How two exiled Sufi musicians returned to make traditional music in postwar Kabul, Afghanistan.