Parenting Class Dropout By Paulette Kamenecka Feature During her high-risk pregnancy, driven by a longing for normalcy, Paulette Kamenecka tried out a class for parents-to-be.
The Lost Genocide By Longreads Feature Why the United Nations may never be able to prosecute the Rohingya genocide.
Finally Seeing the Forest for the Trees By Maura Kelly Feature After a spate of trauma and loss, Maura Kelly retreats to the Hudson Valley where she is converted into a ‘nature person.’
The True Story of Refugees in an American High School By Longreads Feature The politics of immigration ignores the reality: a classroom of young people adjusting to life in the United States, and a teacher driven to help.
Bootlegging Jane’s Addiction By Aaron Gilbreath Feature Aaron Gilbreath considers the impact a live Jane’s Addiction recording has had on him, and the effect heroin had on the band’s — and his own — creativity.
An Elegy for DNAinfo, Local Media’s First Responders By Danielle Tcholakian Feature We were the watchdogs, showing up when no one else did.
Living in the Aftershock of Someone Else’s Earthquake By Ashley Abramson Feature A decade after her mother’s death, Ashley Abramson reflects on being raised by a parent addicted to opioids.
The Dead Man Fund By Longreads Feature How the world’s worst investor fleeced clients who couldn’t complain.
The Problem of Pain By Leslie Kendall Dye Feature Pain is indeed inherited, but treating it as an affliction need not be handed down from generation to generation.
An Urban Planner Against the Developer Presidency By Longreads Feature An urban planner examines the worldview of high-stakes commercial real estate developers, with a special focus on our new developer-in-chief.
The Unforgiving Minute By Laurie Penny Feature Men, get ready to be uncomfortable for a while. While forgiveness may come one day, it won’t be soon.
Cast by Chronic Illness Into a Limiting Role By Maris Kreizman Feature Maris Kreizman dreamed of attending performing arts camp, but she ended up homesick at diabetes camp instead.
When a Mother and Daughter Reverse Roles By Marlene Adelstein Feature An obsession with an orphaned sea otter helps Marlene Adelstein process her grief over her Alzheimers-afflicted mom.
How Much is Too Much to Save a Dying Cat? By s.e. smith Feature A series of losses prompts s.e. smith to wonder why, if it’s inevitable, we tend to view death as failure.
The RNC, Revisited By Longreads Feature Last year, when Jared Yates Sexton went to Cleveland, the ugliness he saw there was a harbinger of much to come.
How to Replace a Ghost By Alana Massey Feature En route to a wedding, Alana Massey is haunted by the ghosts of relationships past.
The Itch and the Touch By Aaron Gilbreath Feature Families are complicated. Caring for Grandpa John was even more so.
Language Acquisition By Diana Spechler Feature Diana Spechler recalls fleeing her life in New York City for a new one with a painter in his village in central Mexico.
“No Fatties”: When Health Care Hurts By Carey Purcell Feature A fat person walking into a doctor’s office can expect lectures, condescension, and misdiagnoses from a medical culture that chalks every health issue up to weight.
How Does It Feel? An Alternative American History, Told With Folk Music By Longreads Feature On Guthrie, Robeson, Seeger, Lomax, Dylan, the Red Scare, the fall of labor, and what folk music had to do with it.
The Ghosts of the Tsunami By Aaron Gilbreath Feature The 2011 earthquake and tsunami killed thousands in Japan. Those left behind were haunted by the dead, and some were possessed by them.
We’re All Mad Here: Weinstein, Women, and the Language of Lunacy By Laurie Penny Feature “He has demons.” The language of madness is the last resort for a society that can no longer deny the evidence of structural oppression and violence.
The Doctor Will See You Now By Sarah Miller Feature Sarah Miller eulogizes a close (but not close) relative.
Judging Books By Their Covers By Jason Diamond Feature Jason Diamond analyzes his obsession with Vintage Contemporaries paperbacks from the 80s.
We Should Be Talking About the Effect of Climate Change on Cities By Longreads Feature But we’re not. Instead, the effects on cities tend to be edited out or statistically minimized.
An Interview with MacArthur ‘Genius’ Jason De León By Matt Giles Feature The anthropologist studies the objects left behind by migrants as they cross the border.
My Date with Hollywood By Monica Drake Feature Monica Drake recalls a brush with fame, when a famous actress took an interest in making a movie from her novel.
My Half-Sister’s Half a Life By Longreads Feature Jeannie’s father never spoke of his daughter who had died at 16, the mysterious half-sister who shared her name.
An Interview with MacArthur ‘Genius’ Viet Thanh Nguyen By Catherine Cusick Feature 2017 MacArthur fellow Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses questions of justice, diversity in literature, and empathy across cultures.