Celebrating the Trans Community: A Reading List
Every story is, of course, different, though the American media prizes a certain, clean-cut narrative of triumph over adversity. Trans is an umbrella term; it encompasses a variety of gender identities, a million stories.
How the Emperor Became Human (and MacArthur Became Divine)
The end of divine rule in postwar Japan, and the absolute power of General MacArthur.
Stories of Syrian Refugees: A Reading List
You’ll meet a teenager preparing for her wedding, queer lovers separated by bureaucracy, war and thousands of miles, and four women who defended their Kurdish city to the death. There are artists and activists and archeologists, all working together to preserve Syrian culture and the lives of its citizens.
Looking for Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles
Judith Freeman traces Raymond Chandler’s early days in Los Angeles and his introduction to Cissy Pascal, the much older, very beautiful woman who would later become his wife.
‘The Good Is Elusive and Transitory in This World’
Artist and illustrator Maira Kalman on mistakes, optimism, and how art (and dogs) warm the soul.
A Halloween Weekend Reading List
Boo! Read these stories about the scariest weekend of the year while getting over your candy hangovers.
The Broken Pop of James Bond Songs
What can the endurance of the messy, campy canon of James Bond theme songs tell us about contemporary popular music?
Hell—Nothing Less—And Without End: Six Days in Warsaw
An excerpt from A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising, by Miron Białoszewski, as recommended by Longreads contributing editor Dana Snitzky. Originally published in Poland in 1970, in this new edition translator Madeline G. Levine has updated her 1977 English translation, and passages that were unpublishable in Communist Poland have been restored.
Strange Magic: Four Stories About Disney’s Dark Side
Revisit Disney through the eyes of these authors and see the good, the bad, and the creepy.
Who Is Justin Trudeau?
Four stories about Canada’s next Prime Minister.