Our top stories of the week, as chosen by the editors at Longreads.
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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.
Making Sense of Our Compulsions
Sharon Begley explores the behaviors we engage in to cope with unbearable anxiety.
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.
Little Government in the Big Woods
Melissa Gilbert’s lost bid for Congress and the forgotten political history of ‘Little House on the Prairie.’
The Diagnosis and Surgery I Had to Fight For
A series of doctors made it harder for me to learn about my severe uterine condition, and receive the hysterectomy I needed for it.
Little Government in the Big Woods
Melissa Gilbert’s lost bid for Congress and the forgotten political history of ‘Little House on the Prairie.’
Mourning the Low-Rent, Weirdo-Filled East Village of Old
An excerpt of Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost its Soul, by Jeremiah Moss.
Snow, Death and Politics
While snowed in on the West Coast, Frances Badalamenti grapples alone with her father’s death on the other side of what feels like a dying country.
Between Mom and Stepmom
Sarah Menkedick reflects on the very different—and complementary—ways in which her mother and her stepmother have nurtured her.

