The Brazilian Healer and the Patron Saint of Impossible Causes

A personal essay in which Leigh Hopkins faces the hidden truth about the world’s most famous spiritual surgeon, and the irresistible desire to find “the cure.”

Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 3, 2019
Length: 24 minutes (6,131 words)

The Burdens We Carry

In this personal essay, Amy Scheiner reflects on her mother’s sudden death and what it means to be a woman in a world that is set up to bury them.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jul 1, 2019
Length: 10 minutes (2,695 words)

The Sorrowful Mysteries, or, Reasons I’m No Longer Catholic

A personal essay in which Kathleen McKitty Harris recalls the series of events which led to her departure from the Church.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 28, 2019
Length: 10 minutes (2,618 words)

How I Became ‘Rich’

During a rare opportunity to vacation in Hawai’i, Stacy Torres is forced to confront her status as better off than where she came from.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 20, 2019
Length: 10 minutes (2,629 words)

School for Girls

In this personal essay, years after recovering from anorexia, Jasmin Sandelson writes a letter to the high school friend she idolized, and explores how hunger, love, and envy shaped — and ended — their relationship.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 18, 2019
Length: 28 minutes (7,121 words)

Bearing the Weight of My Grandfathers’ Old Clothes

In adopting outerwear worn by the men who came before him, Aram Mrjoian considers his childhood misperceptions of traditional masculinity.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 14, 2019
Length: 13 minutes (3,320 words)

Father’s Little Helper

A personal essay in which, while under the influence of Valium, Scott Korb reflects on all the fathers he could have been and the father he has become.

Author: Scott Korb
Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 12, 2019
Length: 13 minutes (3,467 words)

Vacation Memories Marred by the Indelible Stain of Racism

A personal essay in which Shanna B. Tiayon recalls an interaction with a National Parks Service bus driver that cast a pall on a family trip to the Grand Canyon.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 11, 2019
Length: 9 minutes (2,384 words)

The 19th Century Lesbian Made for 21st Century Consumption

Jeanna Kadlec considers Anne Lister, the historical figure at the center of HBO’s Gentleman Jack, and the influence of other queer women who preceded her.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 6, 2019
Length: 12 minutes (3,114 words)

Talk Like an Egyptian

I this personal essay, Cary Barbor traverses language, culture, and class to connect with her new family.

Source: Longreads
Published: Jun 3, 2019
Length: 13 minutes (3,384 words)