In this edition: ICE fighter, tectonic researcher, prairie preserver, regal grandmother, wild timekeeper.
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There Are No Seasons: A Reading List on Loss, Love, and Living with Fire in California
Six personal essays about or inspired by wildfire.
Did a Legendary Trout Really Ride the Rails from California to Missouri?
“Scientists use DNA to solve genetic puzzles in waters around the world. But in Crane Creek, the mystery got deeper.”
The Last Glimpses of California’s Vanishing Hippie Utopias
“Half a century ago, a legion of idealists dropped out of society and went back to the land, creating a patchwork of utopian communes across Northern California. Here, the last of those rogue souls offer a glimpse of their otherworldly residences—and the tail end of a grand social experiment.”
Homegrown and Homeless in Oakland
“Leonard ‘Pumpkin’ Ambrose lives just down the street from the house where he grew up. Derrick Soo lives 2 miles from his former family home, Delbra Taylor is a mile from hers and Gwyn Teninty can walk the distance in 15 minutes. All four grew up here, in Oakland. And they succeeded in their own […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: subsea storytelling, a preservation paradox, achieving serpentine symbiosis, an investigation into infinity, and a marijuana mystery.
How the State of California Failed Noah Cuatro
“Before a 4-year-old boy’s killing, authorities wavered on rescuing him.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: Eschatolgy, Texas style; dancing like nobody’s watching; the men, they myths, the legends; monumental responses; and notes fit for a King.
Jacked
“How Tulsa cops brought down a $500 million catalytic converter crime ring.”
Futures From Ruins
Bombay Beach was once a vibrant resort town on the Salton Sea until agricultural pollution, drought, and toxic air led to its demise. Today, an art movement and emerging community hope to bring it back. In this Noema essay, writer Johanna Hoffman and photographer Tao Ruspoli show how a town in ruins is experiencing a […]

