Weighing Justice With a Jury of Her ‘Peers’

While serving as foreperson on a grand jury in Alabama, Susana Morris confronts power and privilege in the criminal justice system.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 8, 2017
Length: 19 minutes (4,997 words)

I Was a 9-Year-Old Playboy Bunny

A personal essay in which Shannon Lell recalls discovering her father’s porn collection when she was 9.  Looking back on her childhood longing to be a sex-symbol,  she grapples with a lifetime of self-objectification.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 6, 2017
Length: 9 minutes (2,345 words)

Disguised in Plain Clothes, but No Superman

After a shooting at Iowa State, Chris Wiewiora let his teaching contract there expire, and chose to instead drive a municipal bus. His passengers were often former students.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 4, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,328 words)

On NYC’s Paratransit, Fighting for Safety, Respect, and Human Dignity

A personal essay in which civil rights attorney Britney Wilson recalls a ride home from work on NYC’s paratransit that exposed her vulnerabilities as a Black disabled woman.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 1, 2017
Length: 17 minutes (4,410 words)

American Sphinx

Civil War monuments in the North erased an emancipated Black population. But the Sphinx looked to a new world: an integrated Africa and America.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 31, 2017
Length: 13 minutes (3,380 words)

How the NBA Failed Royce White

He was compared to basketball superstars like Charles Barkley and LeBron James. But without comprehensive mental health treatment, Royce White found himself fighting for a new cause.

Author: Sam Riches
Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 31, 2017
Length: 18 minutes (4,650 words)

Reflections of an Accidental Florist

When a painter stumbles into a floral career, she sees the ugly truth behind a colorful, fragrant industry.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 1, 2017
Length: 21 minutes (5,375 words)

America’s First Addiction Epidemic

The alcohol epidemic devastated Native American communities, leading to crippling poverty, astonishingly high mortality rates, the desperate exodus of entire nations — and a successful sobriety movement.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 29, 2017
Length: 30 minutes (7,526 words)

Can Love Sparked at Burning Man Last in Everyday Life?

While grieving her brother’s suicide, Maria Finn went to Burning Man and fell in love. Afterward, she learned why festival regulars caution against making big decisions or commitments until at least three months back into “default life.”

Author: Maria Finn
Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 28, 2017
Length: 17 minutes (4,403 words)

Wrapping the Sunday Paper for the Last Time

As a teen in Cincinnati in the 90s, Andrew Bockhold hated having to give up much of each weekend to help his father out with his paper route. In this personal essay, he looks back with new appreciation for a business than helped his family survive, before it was shut down.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 25, 2017
Length: 12 minutes (3,182 words)