Tar Bubbles By Melissa Matthewson Feature Melissa Matthewson remembers the flights of fancy that kept her company as a young girl, and bears witness to her daughter’s.
Cross Talk By Jacqueline Alnes Feature Jacqueline Alnes wrestles with identity, belonging, and privilege after a crisis of faith at a Missouri-based Christian Kamp 9,000 miles from her Indonesian home.
‘By Choice, and Not By Choice…Time Is Going To Change You.’ By Zan Romanoff Feature Nina MacLaughlin discusses her retelling of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. “[In] my very vague high school memories…there was no discussion of the fact that this book is just rape after rape after rape.”
The Speaking Length By Josh Roiland Feature What we mean never fully transmits into what is understood.
Stumbling Into Joy By Kate Hopper Feature The electric bass chose her, but it took 44 years to heed the call.
Every One of Us Is Other: Looking Back on Representation in “Heavenly Creatures” 25 Years Later By Alex Difrancesco Feature Alex DiFrancesco reflects on Peter Jackson’s nuanced approach to representation in the critically acclaimed film.
Burning Out By Sarah Trent Feature Search and rescue teams train for the worst conditions. But the worst conditions are getting worse. Are they ready for the next big disaster?
Under the Influence: Deeper Than Beauty By Soraya Roberts Feature Influencers who break type, like Mina Gerges or Jakiya Brown, have more than just an image. They have a story — and a plan.
When It Comes to the Climate Crisis, Don’t Forget the Power of the States By Livia Gershon Feature Even with the federal government in chaos, there’s still plenty of opportunity to solve a global problem.
Brigid, Magdalene, My Mother, and Me By Carmel Mc Mahon Feature Carmel Mc Mahon contemplates the legacy of trauma passed down through generations of Irish women.
Why Lhasa de Sela Matters By Longreads Feature Raised in a school bus by itinerant hippie parents, with one foot in Mexico and one in the US, the singer blossomed into her true multicultural self in bilingual Montreal.
The Spiritual Path at Fat Camp By Mona Kirschner Feature After a ten-year relationship ends painfully, Mona Kirschner finds herself searching for emotional and physical healing at a weight loss center in Brazil.
‘I’m a Big Fan of Writing To Find Out What You Don’t Know.’ By Adam Morgan Feature Mark Haber discusses “Reinhardt’s Garden” and its protagonist’s quest for a true understanding of melancholy: “not a feeling but a mood, not a color but a shade, not depression but not happiness either…”
Kissed a Girl By Longreads Feature Vickie Vértiz maneuvers her way around teenage love, friend envy, and being outed by her Mexican mother.
‘I Was Trapped Forever In This Present Tense’: Carmen Maria Machado on Surviving Abuse By Hope Reese Feature “She was always afraid of my voice. That was the defining factor of our relationship — fear of what I would say and write and do. She’s afraid of … the narrative that I possess.”
California Burning By Tessa Love Feature A year after the Camp Fire, Tessa Love contemplates home, California’s undoing, and what it means to belong.
Whose Boots on the Ground By Kiley Bense Feature We invest a great deal of collective energy in commemorating our war dead. But do we remember them?
The Art of Losing Friends and Alienating People By Laura Lippman Feature Laura Lippman, admittedly a rotten friend, is bummed by the ways in which friendships end as one gets older.
Walking Across California By Longreads Feature To understand what the Golden State is compared to what it was, one solitary hiker follows the trail of the first overland Spanish expedition into California 250 years later.
Lindy West is Preaching to the Choir By Sara Fredman Feature Sara Fredman talks to author Lindy West on women and likability, the evolution of pop culture, and navigating conversations in a complex, messy world.
Under the Influence: White Lies By Soraya Roberts Feature When you read “influencer,” do you think “white woman”? That’s not a surprise: the stereotypes originally established offline are reaffirmed on social media by the same systems.
B is for Bastard By Brian Gresko Feature As a boy, after the trauma of learning he is not his father’s biological son, Brian Gresko finds his sense of himself is shattered.
A View of the Bay By Aimée Lutkin Feature A family’s losses after Hurricane Sandy didn’t come in the usual order or with the usual speed.
The Name Change Dilemma By Hannah Howard Feature Hannah Howard considers tradition, identity, and love as she navigates the decision whether to keep her name after her wedding.
Learning from Perimenopause and a Kpop Idol By Wendy Gan Feature Struggling with fluctuating hormones, Wendy Gan is inspired by the musician Mino to stop muting herself and return to writing.
I Never Wanted my Hemangioma to Define Me By Emily Weitz Feature Emily Weitz looks back at a childhood filled with surgeries, harsh stares, and proving she was more than just the skin on her face.
Carrying Histories of Protest By Longreads Feature Jaquira Díaz witnesses her father’s rebellious fight for a better life, and her homeland’s fight for its place in the world.
Beautiful Women, Ugly Scenes: On Novelist Nettie Jones and the Madness of ‘Fish Tales’ By Michael Gonzales Feature Edited by Toni Morrison, the 1983 novel ‘Fish Tales’ by Nettie Jones was supposed to set the literary world on fire. It didn’t.