Back in the USSR: A Reading List

The stories in this reading list — from a haunting travelogue through an abandoned Soviet mining town in the Arctic to Boym’s account of Moscow’s 850th anniversary celebrations in 1997 — take us on a ride through the park’s gaudily uncanny landscapes.

Source: Longreads
Published: Sep 1, 2015

On Learning & Losing Language: A Reading List

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 30, 2015

Breaking the Mold

Social scientist Bella DePaulo’s research reveals a broader array of lifestyles—from our relationships to our living spaces—than many of us could dream up.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 27, 2015
Length: 17 minutes (4,402 words)

Coming Sept. 24: A Special Longreads Live Storytelling Night in New York City

Save the date! On Sept. 24, Longreads is presenting a night of live storytelling with the theme of “Change: stories about change and the stories that have changed us.”

Author: Editors
Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 25, 2015

The Lost Summer

Every year America’s schools shut down for nearly three months—leaving families like single mother Olympia and her 6-year-old daughter Raina struggling to keep up.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 25, 2015
Length: 15 minutes (3,841 words)

Our Sex Education: A Reading List

Here are nine stories about modern-day sex education and our history with bad sex ed classes.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 23, 2015

A Reading List for My 25-Year-Old Self

This list is a birthday gift to myself and, I hope, of use to you, too. It’s a mix of practical advice for freelancing, things that make me feel good, and examples of excellent writing. I included advice from professional women who get shit done, slideshows, links to YouTube videos, interviews with my favorite celebs, and other stuff.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 16, 2015

Hygge: The Dark Side of Danish Comfort, a Story by Dorthe Nors

“I first came across the intriguingly sparse work of Dorthe Nors in the pages of the literary magazine, A Public Space. And then the magazine went on to publish her first short story collection translated into English, Karate Chop, in partnership with Graywolf Press, and it became one of my favorite books last year. Although her stories are quite short, they are flashes of sharp and bright light into the otherwise obscure and dark corners of life.”

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 15, 2015
Length: 7 minutes (1,904 words)

A San Francisco Story

Princess Anastasia was homeless, and lived and died in the Castro. Two different families piece together a life.

Author: Leah Rose
Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 13, 2015
Length: 11 minutes (2,876 words)

Travel, Foreignness, and the Spaces in Between: A Pico Iyer Reading List

These seven reads reveal Iyer as a perpetual wanderer of both place and time: navigating spaces in flux or forgotten, meditating on finding one’s place in an ever-shifting world, and, as part of this journey, exploring that which is deep within us.

Source: Longreads
Published: Aug 12, 2015