An excerpt of Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost its Soul, by Jeremiah Moss.
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The Teenage Dreamland of ‘Twin Peaks’
Discovering the show when she was a teenager in 1990 helped A.N. Devers navigate the grief of losing her grandparents—and her girlhood.
Late in Life, Thoreau Became a Serious Darwinist
But he died before he could finish his book on natural history. As Emerson put it, Thoreau “depart[ed] out of Nature before… he has been really shown to his peers for what he is.”
How to Get Away with Spying for the Enemy
How does someone get away with helping a foreign adversary? Writer Sarah Laskow digs into the gonzo story of an American acquitted of spying for the Soviets—even after he confessed to it.
My Journey to the Heart of the FOIA Request
Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask. How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.
A Heart That Watches and Receives
“Please don’t give up on the truth.” A commencement address by author and historian Hampton Sides.
The Elements of Bureaucratic Style
The bureaucratic voice presents governments and corporations as placid, apologetic, and unmovable. It also makes their victims as active as possible.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Our favorite stories of the week as chosen by the Longreads editorial team.
Michael Joyce’s Second Act
In 1996, David Foster Wallace profiled tennis player Michael Joyce in one of the most celebrated pieces of sports writing ever published. Who has he become since?
Late in Life, Thoreau Became a Serious Darwinist
But he died before he could finish his book on natural history. As Emerson put it, Thoreau “depart[ed] out of Nature before… he has been really shown to his peers for what he is.”

