Uniquely shaped Cheetos go for big bucks online, but is anyone really buying?
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Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2020: Writing on COVID-19
Our top story picks in COVID-19 reporting this year.
Posted inHistory, Nonfiction, Quotes
They’re Good Mangoes, Mao
The fruit took on cult status in China after Mao gifted his workers a box of mangoes sent from Pakistan.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Mao Mango Cult of 1968 and the Rise of China’s Working Class
“Apparently, Mao didn’t like fruit. It was an easy re-gift.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
A Mystery Wrapped in an Engima, Then Shoved Under the Desk
Waste paper baskets: deeply symbolic, paradoxical items. Who knew?
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Existential Conundrum That Is the American Waste Paper Basket
“Until I read Paradox, I had not considered the possibility that waste paper baskets could be imbued with paradox, but Legrand has convinced me.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Essays & Criticism, Feature, Story, Writing
Find Yourself
From way back in ’80s Philadelphia, Elizabeth Isadora Gold remembers her first writing teacher, the mail art artist/lyricist Stu Horn.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Before the Avon Lady, There Were a Bunch of Monks With a Bottle of Vinegar
Meet the lifestyle and wellness hawkers of 13th century Italy: the Monks of Santa Maria Novella.
Posted inEditor's Pick
When Medieval Monks Couldn’t Cure the Plague, They Launched a Luxe Skincare Line
Whether you were European royalty desperately seeking a cure for impotence or a working-class neighbor looking for the latest deodorant, Santa Maria Novella was the place to go.
Posted inCommentary, Current Events, Discussions, Podcasts
Editors Roundtable: 170 Million Pieces of Trash Orbiting the Earth and No One Knows How to Use an Apostrophe (Podcast)
This week, Longreads editors discuss stories in Outside Magazine, Backchannel (WIRED), and The New York Times: Styles.
