“Deep in the valley below us, in the middle distance, gaped the great black cauldron of Litli-Hrútur, its insides awash in a churning fiery stew. We stood in silence on the observation mound with our hands on our hips, faces cast in childish masks of wonder and awe. ” This week, we have two beautiful essays […]
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Odes to the Heart and the Week’s Top 5
“There is something about the heart. It beats until it doesn’t. I don’t give or withhold permission. To live my life is to accept—in this one, life-giving ongoingness that occurs right at the heart of me—that I am not the center of this story.” August is just around the corner, and as we fly through the year […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we have stories from Christopher Johnston and Erin Quinlan, Dan McQuade, Crystal Wilkinson, Simon Akam, and Nicholson Baker.
Weighing Big Tech’s Promise to Black America
“Floyd’s killing sparked widespread protests in the streets and calls for racial justice in Fortune 500 boardrooms. But while corporate America’s official responses often felt like crisis PR disguised as philanthropy, Netflix’s approach stood out.”
Eyes on the Prize: A Treasure Hunting Reading List
Every quest holds at its heart a puzzle to solve—and that puzzle can become an obsession.
Rabbit Holes Aplenty and the Week’s Top 5
“What could have fizzled out as a weekend infatuation turned into a full-blown obsession, an online epic quest. After the festival, I decided that a dulcimer was something I really needed, but I never just need things; I also crave learning about them deeply from the people who already know.” Who among us has never fallen into […]
A Couple’s Awakening and the Week’s Top 5
“Both marriage and religion had required exile from ourselves, a systematic suppression of our true identities. It was an adaptation that felt necessary for survival. But as I watched D explore, interrogate, and reinvent womanhood, changing the rules before my eyes, I wondered if I had been wrong.” Happy Friday, even if (in the Northern […]
40 Days in a Jungle and Our Top 5
“The skies were blue that day, and there was a light wind. For around half an hour all was well. But as the Cessna approached Caquetá, a Colombian department that contains one of the densest, wettest, most remote corners of the Amazon, something went wrong.” Pat yourselves on the back: you’ve made it through January. […]
Christmas on the Moon
Baby, it’s cold outside! Especially when you spend the holidays in a tent full of explosives.
Going into Starbucks to Order Butter Tea
“Pema wants to ask Jamal, Have you seen the news? But of course he hasn’t. He’s got other things to think about and now so does she.”


