Love, Identity, and Genderqueer Family Making

Maggie Nelson blends memoir and critical theory to explore the meaning and limitations of language, love, and gender in this excerpt from “The Argonauts.”.

Source: Longreads
Published: May 1, 2015
Length: 16 minutes (4,137 words)

Gentrification and Historic Preservation in LA’s ‘Black Beverly Hills’

Long known as the Black Beverly Hills, Los Angeles’s View Park park neighborhood is a symbol of African American success. A recent effort to put the neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places has blown up into a contentious fight, with some residents seeing the designation as a ploy to lure white buyers.

Published: Jul 18, 2015
Length: 8 minutes (2,067 words)

On Our Fascination with Twins

A brief history of twins in literature.

Source: Literary Hub
Published: Jul 14, 2015
Length: 7 minutes (1,893 words)

How Not to Be Elizabeth Gilbert

Jessa Crispin on the canon of female travel writers.

Source: Boston Review
Published: Jul 20, 2015
Length: 10 minutes (2,540 words)

What’s In a Name?

Heather Matarazzo reflects on a childhood search for her biological parents, and a tense confrontation with her mother that followed.

Published: Jul 21, 2015
Length: 7 minutes (1,770 words)

Cleveland Wants to Make Sure the Next Wright Brothers Come From the Rust Belt

Could the Rust Belt be the Silicon Valley of hardware?

Source: Next City
Published: Jun 22, 2015
Length: 11 minutes (2,842 words)

Go to Sleep

Homeless and searching for a bus driver named Mr. Wonderful: An award-winning 2005 Washington Post story by DeNeen L. Brown.

Source: Washington Post
Published: Sep 20, 2005
Length: 14 minutes (3,500 words)

You Just Got Out of Prison. Now What?

Mooallem follows two ex-convicts who pick up inmates the day they are released and help then navigate through their first day of freedom.

Published: Jul 16, 2015
Length: 26 minutes (6,606 words)

The Romantic Comedy Spectrum: A Reading List

Here, are a handful of stories centering on the creators and aficionados of the romantic comedy.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 19, 2015

The Zankou Chicken Murders

In the April 2008 issue of Los Angeles magazine reporter Mark Arax wrote about Los Angeles’ beloved Zankou Chicken chain, and how one owner tore the founding family apart by murdering two of its members and killing himself. The story is a compelling mix of family dynamics, fast food and the complex American dream.

Author: Mark Arax
Published: Apr 1, 2008
Length: 39 minutes (9,766 words)