“So maybe the thing to teach isn’t a skill but a spirit.”
Search results
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
“Featuring reads from Grace Glass and Sasha Tycko, Max Graham, Alex Blasdel, James Somers, and Ben Goldfarb.”
Belting out Songs and Our Top 5
“There’s something about losing yourself in a communal experience that’s immensely appealing in this age of virtual meetings and not-so-social media. We want to see the artists we love in person. We want to believe they’re singing directly to us.” Elizabeth Blackwell, a regular commentator on cultural phenomena (check out her Reality TV and Pivotal […]
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.
When Theme Parks Bite Back (and the Week’s Top 5)
“Thrillseekers want their kinesthetic sense disturbed—that’s the whole point. But push the drama too intensely and a person may never come back again.” Happy Friday! With summer in full swing, we hope you’ve got something fun planned this weekend. If you’re an adrenaline junkie like Emily Latimer, that may mean heading to an amusement park. […]
Did You Happen to See the Most Interesting Man in the World? (He’s In Room 328)
Libraries contain more than books — they have archives, and the archivists want to help you explore them.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Caitlin Dickerson, Aaron Edwards, Alice Su, Jia Tolentino, and James Somers.
Keepers of the Secrets
Who are the most interesting women and men in the world? The archivists, guardians of our forgotten stories.
Rolling Down the Highway with the Sum Total of Human Knowledge
Google had a plan to scan every book in the world. 25 million books later, the project lost its way.
Torching the Modern-Day Library of Alexandria
“Somewhere at Google there is a database containing 25 million books and nobody is allowed to read them.”


