The True Story of Refugees in an American High School

The politics of immigration ignores the reality: a classroom of young people adjusting to life in the United States, and a teacher driven to help.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 14, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,444 words)

When Bergdorf Served Chitlins and Champagne

The place of overpriced soul food inside luxury retailers reveals a lot about the historical appropriate of black culture and racial politics in America. Blackness, as the author says, “has become both valued and devalued by dominant culture.”
Author: Rikki Byrd
Source: Racked
Published: Nov 8, 2017
Length: 14 minutes (3,648 words)

Reach Out and Touch Faith

On venerating Uncle Vincent and the saints who can never be saints.

Published: Nov 8, 2017
Length: 12 minutes (3,151 words)

Free Money: The Surprising Effects of a Basic Income Supplied by the Government

A new study on the Eastern Band population of Cherokee, North Carolina — a group of people who receive hefty bi-annual payments from the local casino — indicates that yes, a basic guaranteed income can be a very positive thing that has no influence on the number of people who work full time.

Source: Wired
Published: Nov 12, 2017
Length: 17 minutes (4,344 words)

Bootlegging Jane’s Addiction

In this personal essay, Aaron Gilbreath considers the impact a live Jane’s Addiction recording has had on him, and the effect heroin had on the band’s — and his own — creativity.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 13, 2017
Length: 25 minutes (6,465 words)

In the Land of Vendettas That Go On Forever

For some northern Albanians, justice comes from vengeance. Sometimes vengeance keeps killing for generations.

Source: VQR
Published: Nov 8, 2017
Length: 31 minutes (7,871 words)

The Theory of Visitors

Sam Lansky writes about dating and his conflicted feelings about love and relationships.

Author: Sam Lansky
Source: Medium
Published: Nov 10, 2017
Length: 26 minutes (6,527 words)

“I Thought It Would Be Better for You” : A Mother, Daughter, and Racism in America in 2017

In a stirring personal essay for Vogue, novelist Brit Bennett writes about the compression of time and the emotional toll of the months since the election of President Trump.

Source: Vogue
Published: Nov 8, 2017
Length: 8 minutes (2,172 words)

Living in the Aftershock of Someone Else’s Earthquake

A personal essay in which, a decade after her mother’s death, Ashley Abramson reflects on being raised by a parent addicted to opioids.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 10, 2017
Length: 15 minutes (3,939 words)

The Problem of Pain

Pain is indeed inherited, but treating it as an affliction need not be handed down from generation to generation.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 9, 2017
Length: 11 minutes (2,770 words)