Some 300,000 Jewish documents were hidden in a closet in Cairo for hundreds of years. They were discovered by the lady adventurer twins Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson and the legendary Rabbinical scholar Solomon Schechter. Here is their story.
Search results
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Profiles & Interviews, Story
The Perils of Writing About Your Own Family: A Conversation with George Hodgman
“Memoir is a total minefield, as you know. It’s best if you write the book and leave the country.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Life of a Police Officer: Medically and Psychologically Ruinous
The intensely challenging job of law enforcement is linked to many health issues. Erika Hayasaki met a former officer who tried to protect her high school friend and learned the effect her death had on him: Police officer Brian Post recognized the 16-year-old girl lying face down in the grass at the Whispering Pines apartment […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Yes, All Women Part II: A Reading List of Stories Written By Women
My last Yes, All Women reading list was a hit with the Longreads community, so here’s part two. Enjoy 20 pieces by fantastic women writers. 1. “When You’re Unemployed.” (Jessica Goldstein, The Hairpin, June 2014) “The first thing to go is the caring…You develop a routine: changing out of sleeping leggings and into daytime leggings.” […]
Posted inFiction, Nonfiction, Reading List
Yes, All Women: A Reading List of Stories Written By Women
This week, a lot happened. A misogynist went on a violent rampage. #YesAllWomen took off on Twitter. Dr. Maya Angelou, feminist author and all-around genius (and don’t get me started on her doctor honorary), died at 86 years old. This week, I present a long list of essays, articles and interviews written by women. Many […]
Posted inNonfiction, Story
The Cold Rim of the World
The rise and fall of Pyramiden, a Russian mining town located in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
Posted inNonfiction
‘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.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Subconscious Cues That Guide Visitors Through The World’s Busiest Airport
In a recent blog post for The Atlantic, David Zweig spoke with wayfinding expert and airport-sign designer Jim Harding about his work on the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson. According to Hartfield, the highest mark of success in Harding’s work is invisibility: if his job is perfectly executed, “you will never think of him or his work.” In Harding’s work, no […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Thoughts From the Sexual Spectrum: A Reading List
The following writers straddle the line between explanation and expression. Here is my piece. It is personal. Lauren Morelli’s piece especially touched me. An ex-boyfriend once told me he consulted with his pastor and his wife to see if he should be concerned; would my “healthy fascination with bisexuality” (his words, which I don’t necessarily […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
The Fault in Our Canon: A Reading List About Problems in the Literary Canon
This brief list is but a glimpse of the complex, crucial and ongoing discussion about the importance of inclusivity and the problems with privilege in the literary canon. Please share your recommendations: essays and articles in this vein, books you wish the canon could accept, etc. 1. “On ‘The John Green Effect,’ Contemporary Realism, and […]
