Michael Joyce’s Second Act
In 1996, David Foster Wallace profiled tennis player Michael Joyce in one of the most celebrated pieces of sports writing ever published. Who has he become since?
How Jokes Won the Election
“It’s the thrill of hyperbole, of treating the extreme as normal, the shock (and the joy) of seeing the normal get violated, fast. “Buh-leeve me, buh-leeve me!” Trump said in his act, again and again. Lying about telling the truth is part of the joke.”
I Work in the Restaurant Industry. Obamacare Saved My Family’s Life.
Baker Allison Robicelli on the difficulty of offering insurance (or being insured) in the service industry, and how the Affordable Care Act started to change things — and saved her and her husband’s lives.
The Exploitation Of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Legacy By White Supremacy
“The Martin Luther King Jr. that we celebrate every year is no longer a man or a movement. The annual holiday is no longer a remembrance.”
Obama’s Secret to Surviving the White House Years: Books
A profile of Barack Obama as a reader, which includes a link to Kakutani’s 3,015-word interview with the outgoing president. He discusses his love for reading, some authors he loves–plus short stories he’s written.
The Feels of Love
Yes, kids are cruel and adolescence is challenging, but when we equate sexual assault with the standard teasing of adolescence, we normalize rape culture, and that is not normal. Madden’s story of rape and redemption is still too familiar to the many young woman who men routinely victimize. If America is going to progress as a culture, we must talk openly about our sexual traumas, the victimizers who commit these assaults, and remove the victims’ shame. In this essay, Madden does that her for herself, and for us of all, masterfully.
My Dinners with Harold
How a reserved literature grad student named Harold McGee used a scientific approach to cooking that changed the way the culinary world speaks and thinks about food.
What Lies Beyond: A Reading List About Life and Death
The stories I’ve included this week are about eternal life and the fear we feel while contemplating the lack thereof.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Our top stories of the week, as chosen by the editors at Longreads.
A Trip of One’s Own
A review of Ayelet Waldman’s new memoir, A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage and My Life, that also serves as a personal essay about Vaye Watkins’ marijuana use as she weans off anti-depressants (she writes the piece “a little high”), and the tiny dose of LSD she’s got stashed for trying in the future.
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