Recommending memorable pieces by Seth Freed Wessler, Stuart McGurk, Jon Mooallem, Ben Lerner, Kiese Laymon, and Amelia Tait.
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Michael Stipe Is Writing His Next Act. Slowly.
“How do you reinvent yourself after being a global superstar? The former R.E.M. frontman is still figuring that out.”
On the Hollow Highs of Hallmark Holiday Films (and More)
“Filmmakers use a character’s grief to evoke viewers’ sympathy and cravings for a quick fix. The Christmas widower trope exploits these very human tendencies, triggering sadness for the sake of sadness and making the cheap promise of a neat resolution tied up in a pretty bow.” We hope you enjoyed last week’s story, “Christmas on […]
I Had a Chance to Travel Anywhere. Why Did I Pick Spokane?
“After 18 months of pandemic parenting isolation, the writer Jon Mooallem knew just where the cure might lie: a minor-league baseball game in eastern Washington.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Becca Andrews, Désiré Nimubona, Jon Mooallem, Jesse Lee Kercheval, and Kathryn Borel.
Tragedy in the Making: A Reading List About Unnatural Disasters
A list of stories that dig into the “ingredients” of recent natural hazard-related disasters.
This Week In Books: Too Small For the Occasion
He screamed, and I mean really screamed, to no one and to every one of us who was peeking at him out our windows: “What are we even doing out here!!??”
Longreads Best of 2019: Science and Nature
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year. Here is the best in science and nature.
Near-Death Experience as Training to Care for the Dying
In The New York Times Magazine, Jon Mooallem has a moving profile of doctor B.J. Miller, a triple amputee since an accident in his sophomore year of college, who’s now developing something he’s calling The Center for Dying and Living.
One Man’s Quest to Change the Way We Die
A profile of Dr. B.J. Miller, a triple amputee whose own near-death experience in college–and his return to life afterward–inform his approach to palliative care.


