The Pleasures of Protest: Taking on Gentrification in Chinatown

Working as a tenant organizer in New York’s Chinatown opened Esther Wang’s eyes to the ugly—and complicated—realities of gentrification in New York City.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 6, 2016
Length: 16 minutes (4,223 words)

Back To School: A Reading List

Bullies, teachers, classmates—it’s time to head back to school with these six stories from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Los Angeles Times and more.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 5, 2016

‘Exposure Is Bullshit’: Who Should Get Paid for Live Storytelling Events?

Rick Paulas on the thin margins of the IRL economy.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 29, 2016
Length: 11 minutes (2,986 words)

The Spectacle of Crime: On Detectives, Mysteries, and Dead Girls

A reading list about fictional detectives and the authors who mastermind their literary crime-solving, as well as real-life detectives searching for the truth.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 29, 2016

The Mask of Deception: The Ultimate Test to My Recovery From Porn Addiction

Novelist Ben Obler was feeling secure in his recovery from porn addiction. Then along came Franny, to test it.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 22, 2016
Length: 23 minutes (5,908 words)

On Beauty: A Reading List About Makeup

Beauty criticism analyzes the ways we can subvert a society that would have us subsumed by self-loathing. We use the tools we’ve been given. Makeup, then, can be a weapon. And it can be damn fun.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 21, 2016

Living With a World on Fire: A Reading List

It’s fire season again. So far, nearly 30 major wildfires have torn through 12 states. As this year’s blazes seem to reach their yearly peak, here are four stories about risk and resilience in the face of fire. They’re a glimpse into the lives of those who fight fires, those who flee them, and those who rebuild, literally, from the ashes.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 18, 2016

The Life and Murder of Stella Walsh, Intersex Olympic Champion

Eighty years ago, in Berlin, Stella Walsh won her second Olympic medal. Decades later, Walsh’s murder and subsequent autopsy threw the legacy of track’s first female superstar into turmoil.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 18, 2016
Length: 63 minutes (15,868 words)

On Barbs and Demogorgons: A Stranger Things Reading List

Whether you’re still high on the show’s well-calculated nostalgia or already experiencing symptoms of Upside Down withdrawal, here’s a two-part selection of stories to keep you going: from deep dives into the design of the show’s title sequence to a sprawling interview with its creators.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 17, 2016

Looking at Alaska: Seven Stories About The Last Frontier State

Alex Tizon investigates a bizarre missing persons case. Eva Holland goes snowshoe-to-shoe with some of Alaska’s boldest babes. And newly minted memoirist Blair Braverman talks about her writing process and her team of sled dogs.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 15, 2016