Brené Brown: ‘I think we’re looking for each other.’ By Krista Stevens “In a country where nobody can agree on much, we seem to agree on Brené Brown.”
Yes, The US Government Spies on US Journalists By Krista Stevens “If we do not know what our government is doing, we cannot hold it accountable. If we do know, our enemies know too. That can be dangerous.”
What Happens When You Go Offline By Aaron Gilbreath The Information Age is also the age of information overload. Here’s what one person learned about the human brain after cleansing himself of screens.
How to Pitch Personal Essays to Longreads: An Updated Guide By Sari Botton New submissions guidelines, plus information about our new essay series.
The Can That Was Supposed to Help Save a City By Aaron Gilbreath The story of Chill-Can is the story of Youngstown, Ohio’s troubled approach to economic development.
The Lonely World of Family Life By Carolyn Wells “The boundaries between the worlds of families and everyone else in society seem to be getting more and more entrenched, and transgressing them is frowned upon.”
The ‘Accidental Hero’ Who Saved the Internet from WannaCry By Krista Stevens “That’s when her son came upstairs and told her, a little uncertainly, that he seemed to have stopped the worst malware attack the world had ever seen.”
Five Longreads Stories Selected for 2020 Editions of the ‘Best American’ Series By Sari Botton Congratulations to Matthew Salesses, Tim Requarth, Mojgan Ghazirad, Shanna B. Tiayon, Joe Fassler, and The Counter, our partner in co-publishing Fassler’s piece.
Sharing Food to Feed A Family’s Soul By Aaron Gilbreath Food feeds the body, but cooking for other people feeds human connections.
From Russia, With Malice By Krista Stevens “But there is another reason for the government’s alarmingly inadequate response: a president who sees attempts to counter the Russia threat as a personal affront.”
What Do We Do Without Live Music? By Aaron Gilbreath Those of us who live for musical performances must find other ways to temporarily live without them.
RIP Little Richard, the ‘Self-Proclaimed King and Queen of Rock & Roll’ By Krista Stevens There are miracles everywhere if you know where to look. And know how to listen: A wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!
How Covid-19 Could Reshape Urban Life By Aaron Gilbreath Cities were vibrant, culturally rich places to live before the pandemic. We can only speculate about how cities will be after.
How China Censored Citizens and the Press on COVID-19 By Krista Stevens China maintains its swift, open response to coronavirus bought time for the world. Journalists, had their stories not been deleted, will tell you otherwise.
The Function and Language of Ancient Sexual Texts By Aaron Gilbreath A fascinating look at so-called obscenity, then and now.
‘Hand to hand to hand’: How Coronavirus Spread Aboard the Diamond Princess By Krista Stevens “…the ship…provided the world’s best data set on the virus, confirming crucial facts about how the disease spread, especially through asymptomatic carriers.”
Scrap the To Do Lists By Carolyn Wells “If we’re lucky enough to be able to shelter in place and we’re not using that time to launch podcasts and personal projects and life-hack our way to some cargo-cult pastiche of normality, are we somehow letting the side down?”
Where ‘Strangers Whisper Secrets in Your Ear’ By Krista Stevens “Is there anyone who doesn’t sometimes imagine an audience for even the most unremarkable moments of her life?”
Collecting Rare Sneakers from Japan By Aaron Gilbreath Japan began producing limited edition sneakers in the 1990s. Now a new global wave of sneaker enthusiasts have begun seeking its rarities.
“Different Days” for Jason Isbell By Krista Stevens “I’m grateful that I was a drunk. I’m grateful that I know what all those things are like, what those feelings are like, how bad it can hurt, how great it can feel.”
The Shopper’s Dream of an Optimized Life By Aaron Gilbreath The subscription-based business model saves customers time, but it doesn’t help you use that extra time for anything beneficial. In a way you’ll feel good about.
The Streaming Service of the Moment By Carolyn Wells “So yes, I admit it. I subscribed to Disney+ on the pretext of occupying my kids, but of course – of course – I actually bought it for myself.”
How Margaret Atwood is Passing Time During the Pandemic By Krista Stevens “I present some of my more bizarre self-isolation activities. You can do some of them at home. Though perhaps you won’t wish to.”
How A Nonagenarian Insists We Can Avoid The Age of Loneliness By Krista Stevens “He frames what we don’t know about our planet and what lives on it as a thrilling mystery, an opportunity to learn rather than a problem too daunting or, worse, too late to confront.”
9,000 Seconds, With Only 47 to Spare By Krista Stevens “As he would later tell me, running was the rare sport where you mostly competed against yourself. You could learn without having to lose.”
“All The Best”: Rest Easy, John Prine By Krista Stevens I wish you love / And happiness / I guess I wish you / All the best
Let’s Not Talk About Estrangement By Krista Stevens “I’ve always had the sense that my mother’s side of the family is, in fact, diminished by my uncle’s absence. Or at least diminished in their quiet response to it.”
Genius, Interrupted By Krista Stevens “As the pathological process advanced, it was carving a different person out of Lee’s raw substance.”
Photographing the Collective Experience of Self-Isolation By Krista Stevens “The photographer hopes his brief visits…can help break the oppressive monotony of a seemingly endless day, stretching on without distractions from the outside world.”
On Dolly Parton and Being Seen By Krista Stevens “Perhaps I’m taking this too personally, but the idea of being inexplicably drawn to a phenomenon that is ultimately destructive is, well, heartbreaking and uncomfortably relatable.”
