Blackstars

A personal essay in which Michael Gonzales reflects on the deaths of a dear friend, and a bookworm he idolized: David Bowie.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jan 10, 2019
Length: 12 minutes (3,186 words)

The Egg Thief

“We’ll go into the Rhondda Valley and see how many peregrines we can get—right under Andy McWilliam’s nose. You do the climbing. We’ll make millions.”

Source: Outside
Published: Jan 7, 2019
Length: 27 minutes (6,995 words)

‘They’re Gonna Rock It’: The First Day Native Women Served on Capitol Hill

In a nation stolen from Indigenous people, Deb Haaland and Sharice David, the first two Native American women elected to Congress, represent the potential for a new chapter in Indigenous life.
Source: The Nation
Published: Jan 7, 2019
Length: 8 minutes (2,247 words)

Running Away From Drinking Myself to Death

In this moving essay, Robyn Kanner reflects on achieving 90 days of sobriety at the end of 2018. After realizing that alcohol was not helping her cope with her personal sadnesses and professional disappointments and that everything wasn’t at all fine, she decided to make a change and went for a run. Seeing the beautiful minutia of others’ lives helped inspire her to get to AA, get a sponsor, and above all, stay sober.

Source: Broadly
Published: Jan 7, 2019
Length: 7 minutes (1,859 words)

Padma Lakshmi, Scars and All

“It was only because Helmut Newton happened to find me and happened to love scars that all of a sudden everybody wanted me for their fashion shows… It took another person who had power to look at me another way, to give me permission, that that was even available to me.”

Published: Jan 3, 2019
Length: 17 minutes (4,435 words)

The Mysterious Life (and Death) of Africa’s Oldest Trees

Baobab trees are as integral a part of the Botswana ecosytem as they are a part of local culture. Unfortunately, the scientists who discovered that ancient baobabs are dying have no clear explanation why.

Author: Jaime Lowe
Source: Topic
Published: Jan 7, 2019
Length: 23 minutes (5,763 words)

On Being a Woman in America While Trying to Avoid Being Assaulted

“Sometimes, I’ll read a novel written by a man in which a woman walks home alone, late at night, in America, without having a single thought about her physical safety, and it’s so implausible that I’ll put the book down.”

Author: R.O. Kwon
Published: Jan 7, 2019
Length: 4 minutes (1,205 words)

In My Own Voice, Redefining Success and Failure

In this personal essay, Lauren DePino looks back at her ambitions as a singer, and re-evaluates the rejections she once allowed to define her.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jan 7, 2019
Length: 20 minutes (5,245 words)

On the Experience of Entering a Bookstore in Your Forties (vs. Your Twenties)

“Are books to us as leaves are to trees, feeding us while we hold them, then decomposing and feeding us again after we’ve let them go?”

Source: LitHub
Published: Jan 3, 2019
Length: 6 minutes (1,722 words)

How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation

“Burnout and the behaviors and weight that accompany it aren’t, in fact, something we can cure by going on vacation. It’s not limited to workers in acutely high-stress environments. And it’s not a temporary affliction: It’s the millennial condition.”

Source: BuzzFeed
Published: Jan 5, 2019
Length: 32 minutes (8,033 words)