Bodies in the Borderlands

Rather than deterring unlawful entry, US border policy has helped create a humanitarian crisis, where untold numbers of migrants die or fall ill in the scorching Arizona desert. When concerned citizens, like Ajo’s Scott Walker, form groups to help gather migrants’ bodily remains and offer water and medical aid to the living, officials treats these humanitarians as criminals who help enable unlawful entry and commit conspiracy. And people keep dying in the desert.

Source: The Intercept
Published: May 4, 2019
Length: 49 minutes (12,493 words)

The Trees That Sail to Sea

You may see a piece of driftwood at the beach or on the shore and wonder about its journey from land to water, and back to land again. Driftwood is not only beautiful, it’s a critical piece of the marine ecosystem that offers vital sanctuary to breeding insects and invertebrates on shore and in the sea, who in turn feed species all the way up the marine food chain.

Source: Hakai Magazine
Published: Feb 6, 2018
Length: 14 minutes (3,500 words)

Where on Earth Is Sam Sayers?

After summiting Washington state’s Vesper Peak on a day hike in August 2018, Sam Sayers disappeared. At Seattle Met, Allison Williams reports on the conspiracy and true-crime enthusiasts, the social media frenzy, and the desperate search for a woman who hasn’t been seen since.

Source: Seattle Met
Published: Apr 23, 2019
Length: 20 minutes (5,235 words)

The Magic of Estate Sales

“To walk through an estate sale and finger the wares—as I’ve been doing regularly since I was a teenager—is to commune with the departed. If you’re paying attention, you can put together a story about who they were.”

Source: Curbed
Published: May 1, 2019
Length: 11 minutes (2,800 words)

Pull Over, I’m Having a Baby

“A few hours later, after giving birth in the car’s back seat, there was paperwork to do. In my bed at New York Methodist, my daughter’s buttery newborn skin against my chest, I tabbed through papers in a blue folder embossed with the hospital’s logo: birth certificate and social security forms, lactation support resources, a brochure asking, helpfully, “Can Your Baby Hear You?”

One line on an insurance printout caught my eye. PLACE OF BIRTH: EXTRAMURAL.”

Source: Topic
Published: May 6, 2019
Length: 19 minutes (4,800 words)

Game of Crones

It wasn’t entirely Laura Lippman’s idea to become a mother in her 50s. But when it happened, she leaned in hard.

Source: Longreads
Published: May 6, 2019
Length: 16 minutes (4,090 words)

The Race to Develop the Moon

The last person walked on the moon in 1972, but numerous countries and private interests have turned their attention back to the moon as a place to build bases, mine minerals and water, and launch explorers deeper into space.

Source: The New Yorker
Published: Apr 29, 2019
Length: 23 minutes (5,978 words)

Love on the Rocks

One young man finds lessons about what queer love is and is not from the marks that strangers carve into rocks and trees, and from the marks his sexual encounters leave on him.

Author: Thomas Dai
Published: Apr 18, 2019
Length: 21 minutes (5,364 words)

Lengua Tacos

In this personal essay, Feliz Moreno searches for an answer to the frequently asked question “Do you speak Spanish?” during a trip to Mexico.

Source: Longreads
Published: May 3, 2019
Length: 24 minutes (6,008 words)

What I Learned From Doing Amateur Porn

A personal essay in which Nancy Jainchill recalls a ’70s sexcapade that helped her make (one month’s) rent, and began her exploration into women’s pleasure and sexual parity.

Source: Longreads
Published: Apr 29, 2019
Length: 21 minutes (5,383 words)