“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. […]
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It’s Your Last Chance to Fight the Algorithm
Hi again, First off, thank you for opening this email. I know we’ve been showing up in your inbox a bit more than usual these days. But tomorrow is the last day of our Member Drive, so I wanted to reach out one final time to explain why Longreads is counting on your support. By […]
In the Ruins of Palisades Fire, Confronting My Elusive Malibu Life
“Memories, nostalgia and regret mix on a trek to find the old family home.”
Joni Mitchell’s Best Album Is Turning Fifty. It’s Not Blue
“She was done playing the starry-eyed hippie. She was tired of singing dirges.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending stories from Mariana Serapicos, Camille Bromley, Devon Fredericksen, Georgia Brown, and Sarah Golibart Gorman.
Burgling the Rich, a Cat’s Life Lessons, and Our Top 5
“I learned to adore the way he sidled against me and to hate his momentary affection, just as he learned to detach from me in weariness and depend on me in hunger. Days with him were a quick education in a cat’s existence.” I once spent a year shadowing a musician I loved, whose body […]
Spiders as Unlikely Muses (and Our Top 5)
“When the spiders arrive in my dream, are they jolting me to risk vulnerability personally or creatively? I could stay inside collecting dust, or I could weave my web where others can see. If rejected, could I have the temerity to take the silk back, gobbling up my own words and trying again in some […]
Up, Up, and Away to the Week’s Top 5
“Wallace was a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants sort. A 54-year-old Massachusetts lawyer and real estate developer, he couldn’t afford to fly conservatively. Gas ballooning, similar to jockeyship, favored lightweight pilots, who could stock their baskets with more sand. Compared with his slighter opponents, Wallace’s six-foot-five, 240-pound frame meant that the equivalent of three additional 30-pound bags of sand […]
How Far Can Running Take You After a Decade of Addiction?
“Ammons thinks his experiences as an addict help him endure the worst that running can dish out.”


