I Think, Therefore I Am Getting the Goddamned Epidural

On midwives, metaphysics, and intensely natural births.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 21, 2017
Length: 15 minutes (3,989 words)

How to Say You Maybe Don’t Want to Be Married Anymore

In this personal essay, Sarah Bregel takes a close look at her marriage after two kids, and wonders, how hard is too hard to keep going?

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 20, 2017
Length: 10 minutes (2,671 words)

The Third Life of Richard Miles

Richard Miles spent 15 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. The state of Texas compensated Miles for his wrongful conviction, but life after vindication has come with its own set of challenges.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 20, 2017
Length: 23 minutes (5,753 words)

Parenting Class Dropout

A personal essay in which Paulette Kamenecka recalls how, during her high-risk pregnancy, driven by a longing for normalcy, she tried out a class for parents-to-be.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 17, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,271 words)

The Lost Genocide

They have been stripped of their citizenship, prevented from having children, and systematically murdered. But the United Nations may never be able to prosecute the Rohingya genocide.

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 16, 2017
Length: 27 minutes (6,868 words)

Finally Seeing the Forest for the Trees

A personal essay in which, after a spate of trauma and loss, Maura Kelly retreats to the woods of the Hudson Valley. There, she is converted into “a nature person.”

Source: Longreads
Published: Nov 15, 2017
Length: 14 minutes (3,727 words)

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)

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)

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)