Lonni Sue Johnson was a successful illustrator, when the herpes simplex virus attacked her brain; she lost almost her entire lifetime of knowledge, along with the ability to form new memories. Michael Lemonick describes how she’s invaluable to neuroscientists working to understand how we make and store memories.
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Posted inEditor's Pick
Living In the Now
Lonni Sue can paint, but not name a painting; learn new music without knowing a tune. Scientific American opinion editor Michael Lemonick explore what she’s is teaching us about memory.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
In Makeover Culture, Authenticity Doesn’t Come Cheap
If the “real” self is inside us, why do we constantly seek to transform our outer surfaces?
Posted inReading List
A Reading List Inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins
I used the seven deadly sins–lust, gluttony, envy, greed, sloth, pride, and anger — as the springboard for choosing these stories. 1. LUST: “Eileen Myles on the Excruciating Pain of Waiting for Love.” (Eileen Myles, The Cut, February 2016) Poet and novelist Eileen Myles muses on a summer fling that should’ve lasted forever. 2. GLUTTONY: […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
What Lies Beyond: A Reading List About Life and Death
The stories I’ve included this week are about eternal life and the fear we feel while contemplating the lack thereof.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
What Lies Beyond: A Reading List About Life and Death
The stories I’ve included this week are about eternal life and the fear we feel while contemplating the lack thereof.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
A Reading List for Thanksgiving
None of the following stories were written in 2016, but the themes of our contemporary American Thanksgiving traditions—family, identity, history—remain relevant.
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2016: Science Writing
We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here, the best in science writing.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
A Reading List for Thanksgiving
None of the following stories were written in 2016, but the themes of our contemporary American Thanksgiving traditions—family, identity, history—remain relevant.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
The Way We Walk: A Reading List
In the following essays, Antonia Malachik discusses the cultural implications of our aversion to walking; Garnette Cadogan relates how his walks are coded by his skin color, depending on where in the world he is; Adee Braun praises the New York eat-and-walk, and more.
