Once upon a time, I wanted to be a doctor. Never mind my terrible grades in all things science. Never mind that I decided this in my second year of college, after deciding that the music school that I’d wanted for years wasn’t for me. It was 2006. It was the age of Dr. Gregory […]
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Posted inBooks
Around The Pit
Circling billions of gallons of toxic water at America’s largest Superfund site.
Posted inStory
Things That Able Me
Christy Tending | Longreads | February 2, 2023 | 14 minutes (3,768 words) There are things that able me. A chair. One person speaking to me at a time. Shoes that are not cute, but spare me nerve pain. A hot bath with epsom salts: so hot it would scald most, but my skin is like […]
Posted inCuration, Nonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Jeremy Redmon, Alex Perry, Jeremy D. Larson, Kevin Nguyen, and Egill Bjarnason.
Posted inFeature
Momo’s Deadline
Linda Button on her toughest writing assignment yet: her business partner’s epitaph.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Becoming a Parent During the Pandemic Was the Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done
“I spoke with a number of mental-health experts, many of whom told me that rates of postpartum depression have gone up significantly since the pandemic began. “It’s gotten really, really bad,” Juli Fraga, a psychologist in San Francisco, told me. “I hear about the isolation, and how it feels like Groundhog Day; the heartache of […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Snowy Countries Losing Their Identity
“Hartig’s research has linked unusually cool summer temperatures in Sweden to increased antidepressant use – an observation he says he would expect to apply to warmer winter temperatures too, which he suggests may exacerbate the already high incidence of depression during the winter. “We are really losing the qualities of the seasons that we value […]
Posted inReading List
Stories of Quarantine and Upheaval: A Reading List on the Power of Personal Narrative
During times of isolation and dramatic change, our stories from around the world are an essential global historical record.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Cruise Ship Suicides
Cruise crew members experienced a “more extreme version of the household lockdowns that have sent people tumbling into depression.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘I Couldn’t Do Anything’: The Virus and an E.R. Doctor’s Suicide
“I couldn’t help anyone. I couldn’t do anything. I just wanted to help people, and I couldn’t do anything.” Dr. Lorna Breen was “a consummate overachiever, one who directed her life with assurance.” Then the pandemic hit.
