Donald Trump’s War On African Women By Annie Hylton Feature Under the Global Gag Rule, medical professionals cannot counsel a woman to seek an abortion — even in cases where it will save her life.
Uncovering Hidden History on the Road to Clanton By Lance Warren Feature Documentary filmmaker Lance Warren interrogates the silence around lynching in the American South.
Two Brothers, Two Earthquakes By Jesus Jimenez Feature On Sept. 19, 2017 a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Mexico, sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets. For two brothers the fear was familiar—they had experienced this exactly 32 years before.
The Woman Who Smashed Codes: America’s Secret Weapon in World War II By Longreads Feature How “know-nothings” Elizebeth Smith Friedman and William F. Friedman became the greatest codebreakers of their era.
The Creator of Bitcoin Comes Clean, Only to Disappear Again By Longreads Feature The mysterious creator of bitcoin asks a journalist to help reveal his identity.
The Horizon of Desire By Laurie Penny Feature Laurie Penny wants a new conversation about women, men, consent, desire, and autonomy.
What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About By Michele Filgate Feature Michele Filgate reflects on her teen years with an abusive stepfather and a mother whose silence protected him.
Can a Sports-Crazed City Turn a Theater Person into a Baseball Person? By Shannon Reed Feature Shannon Reed thought she knew what kind of fan she was, until she moved back home to Pittsburgh.
‘This is the Most Inexplicable Story in Sports of the Last 20 Years’ By Matt Giles Feature An interview with Erik Malinowski, author of ‘Betaball,’ which details the improbable rise of the Golden State Warriors.
A History of American Protest Music: This Is the Hammer That Killed John Henry By Tom Maxwell Feature How a folk hero inspired one of the most covered songs in American history.
A History of American Protest Music: ‘We Have Got Tools and We Are Going to Succeed’ By Tom Maxwell Feature Lead Belly, Lee Hays, and the hammer songs that powered the folk movement.
How Food Can Be a Platform for Activism By Shakirah Simley Feature Food activist Shakirah Simley lays out her philosophy for a ‘good food movement’ that prioritizes racial equality.
Is the Internet Changing Time? By Longreads Feature “Fragments of the past are for the first time on tap, not stored away in boxes,” writes Laurence Scott.
Roast Duck Soup for the Chinese-American Daughter’s Soul By Su-Jit Feature Food writer Su-Jit Lin contemplates the role of a favorite dish in her relationship with her immigrant chef father.
Take Me Home By Kathryn Kefauver Goldberg Feature While teaching English to communist party officials in post-war Laos, Kathryn Kefauver Goldberg reflects on silence and the legacy of trauma.
On American Identity, the Election, and Family Members Who Support Trump By Nicole Chung Feature Nicole Chung reflects on the burden of engaging with racism and educating white people, including some in her own family.
You Can See the Battle Scars By Christian Borys Feature How Venezuela’s resistance movement — and the country’s democracy — reached a breaking point during one week in July.
Harnessing His Superpowers for Peace in the Middle East By Howard Lovy Feature As an 8-year-old with OCD, Howard Lovy hoped his magical thinking might persuade God to end the Yom Kippur War.
The Death of an Heir: Adolph Coors III and the Murder That Rocked an American Brewing Dynasty By Longreads Feature More than fifty years ago, one man tried to hold the Coors brewery CEO for ransom. Things went very badly.
A Short Distance from Southie, but a World Away By tmerrigan Feature Tara Wanda Merrigan recalls navigating between the very different realms of Harvard and home.
Camping with Kids: A Non-Primer By Reid Doughten Feature Reid Doughten revises his simple equation for combining camping with parenting toddlers.
‘What Do You Say To People Who Think They Have Nothing to Hide?’ By Longreads Feature Nathan Wessler, a lawyer with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, monitors a government that increasingly monitors its citizens.
A High-End Mover Dishes on Truckstop Hierarchy, Rich People, and Moby Dick By Longreads Feature On the beauty and burdens of the long haul.
My Journey to the Heart of the FOIA Request By Spenser Mestel Feature Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask. How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.
From Ghost Town to Havana: Two Teams, Two Countries, One Game By Rick Paulas Feature Two baseball teams — one from the tough streets of West Oakland and the other from Havana — decide to play each other. When they meet in Cuba, a Berkeley documentary filmmaker captures it all.
Writing the Monsignor By maryoconn Feature Mary O’Connell recalls her college efforts to write about a scandalized priest from her youth.
Taking Up Smoking at the End of the World By John Sherman Feature In his late twenties, John Sherman finds a new fondness for cigarettes, despite everything he was ever taught about them.
The Oldest Restaurant in Kabul: Where Tradition Trumps Rockets By Maija Liuhto Feature For over 70 years, Bacha Broot, located in the center of the Old City of Kabul, has been serving chainaki — savory lamb stew — despite Soviet occupation, civil war, and the Taliban.