Letter Imperfect

One woman faces the ghosts of her sorority past.

Source: Oxford American
Published: Sep 3, 2019
Length: 15 minutes (3,926 words)

The Wonder Valley Desert of Gram Parsons

A week alone in a California desert cabin leads one woman to the music of the legendary country rock songwriter and a sense of metaphysical perspective under the stars.

Source: Off Assignment
Published: May 31, 2018
Length: 6 minutes (1,567 words)

After Three Children, Reclaiming My Body and My Mind

In the wake of childbirth and postpartum complications affecting her mental health and her marriage, Ukamaka Olisakwe picks herself up and starts over — in grad school.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 11, 2019
Length: 22 minutes (5,546 words)

What I Wish I’d Known About Sexual Assault in the Military

Sandra Sidi recalls the rampant sexual assault and harassment she and other female colleagues experienced when she worked as a civilian public affairs analyst for the military in Iraq in 2007.

Source: The Atlantic
Published: Sep 9, 2019
Length: 26 minutes (6,650 words)

Shithole Country Clubs

Nina Sharma wrestles with her father’s support of Donald Trump, his membership at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster near her family’s home in New Jersey, and his suggestion that she hold her Afro-Indian wedding there.

Published: Aug 26, 2019
Length: 21 minutes (5,264 words)

How German Wine Found Its Sweet Spot

After decades turning their noses at sweet wines with umlauts, Americans are embracing them. One American takes readers on a tour of German wines and wineries as climate change and youthful entrepreneurship alter their styles and reputations.

Published: Sep 5, 2019
Length: 15 minutes (3,894 words)

In Search of the ‘White Jaguar’: Archaeologists Travel Deep into the Jungle to Find a Lost Maya City

In the ancient Mayan city named Sac Balam, Indigenous people resisted Spanish incursions for a century longer than their conquered neighbors. Now the very location that protected residents keeps the ruins hidden from archaeologists.

Source: Science
Published: Sep 5, 2019
Length: 14 minutes (3,587 words)

The Scourge of Worker Wellness Programs

“The rise of the worker wellness program, along with the visceral backlash to it, has revealed the limits and small humiliations of this neoliberal approach to health care. It offers, in implicit contrast, an argument for a more humane strengthening of the social safety net—while demanding a collective worker-based response to the various ways employers affect our daily well-being.”

Author: Lena Solow
Published: Sep 2, 2019
Length: 10 minutes (2,519 words)

Hot for Teacher

When a student in her writing workshop submits a piece suggesting his character could “take” a teacher just like her “atop her desk,” Courtney Zoffness is flooded with memories of men touching her against her will.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 10, 2019
Length: 11 minutes (2,795 words)

Exilium Vita Est: The Island Home of Victor Hugo

Emma Jacobs takes us on an illustrated journey of Hugo’s writing life in exile on Guernsey, where he completed Les Misérables.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 9, 2019
Length: 8 minutes (2,229 words)