A Resourceful Woman

“Mary Mazur, 61, shrank into the blankets, muttering into the leaves, whispering to her only friend.” An Instagram essay by Jeff Sharlet.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 17, 2015
Length: 23 minutes (5,994 words)

Unusual Hobbies: A Reading List

In this collection, you’ll meet folks who look at planes, at compasses, at building blocks and at each other (in full Civil War uniform, no less).

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 15, 2015

The House Made of Sugar

“‘The House Made of Sugar,’ by the late Argentinian writer Silvina Ocampo, is a story about a woman named Cristina who is too superstitious to live in a house that had been previously occupied. Her husband deceives her and when they move into their dream home based upon his lie, strange and worrisome things start to happen that suggest Cristina’s fears were warranted. Newly translated into English by Daniel Balderston, with a preface by Borges, Ocampo’s stories are unsettling and off-kilter, revelatory and readable.”

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 14, 2015
Length: 12 minutes (3,235 words)

David Carr: 1956-2015

Here is a brief reading list of stories by and about Carr, his life and work. It doesn’t even begin to cover it. We will miss him.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 12, 2015

Giving Visibility to the Invisible: An Interview With Photographer Ruddy Roye

With over 100,000 Instagram followers, photographer Ruddy Roye came of age in Jamaica, and has lived in New York City since 2001. He has photographed dancehall musicians and fans, sapeurs of the Congo, the Caribbean Carnival J’ouvert, recent protests in Ferguson and in New York, and the faces of the many people he meets and observes every day.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 12, 2015
Length: 17 minutes (4,489 words)

Really Good Shit: A Reading List

As the Japanese children’s book author Tarō Gomi once wrote: “everyone poops.” But we don’t talk about this openly or often enough. In fact, talking and reading about poop might make you want to hold your nose — but it’ll also open your eyes. Here are eight pieces about shit, from a DIY mixture a woman used to treat her life-threatening infection, to prehistoric poo that brings us one step closer to understanding the origins of life after the dinosaur age.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 11, 2015

Glamorous Crossing: How Pan Am Airways Dominated International Travel in the 1930s

Starting with just a mail route, Juan Terry Trippe helped create a uniquely American luxury experience.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 10, 2015
Length: 17 minutes (4,383 words)

The Work of Inspiration: Five Pieces about Poetry

The best artists of any kind–poet, painter, performer–will inspire awe, not envy. They will make you want to make things of your own. When I’m feeling stuck, I’ll read about poets who inspire me/who are new to me, and today, I’ll share a few with you.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 8, 2015

‘It’s Yours’: A Short History of the Horde

How Ta-Nehisi Coates built the best comment section on the internet—and why it can’t last.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 4, 2015
Length: 9 minutes (2,458 words)

Taking the Slow Road: An Interview with Author Katherine Heiny

She published a short story in The New Yorker in 1992, then seemed to all but disappear. How author Katherine Heiny took her sweet time on the path toward publishing her new story collection.

Source: Longreads
Published: Feb 3, 2015
Length: 14 minutes (3,683 words)