Today’s public intellectuals have their own version of the American Dream, where one person, on their own, can achieve anything — including being the smartest person in the room.
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Posted inBooks, Essays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Lean On
A declaration of dependence, excerpted from Briallen Hopper’s new essay collection.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction
From One Friendship, Lessons on Life, Death, AIDS, and Childlessness
S. Kirk Walsh reflects on her friendship with a gay man battling AIDS — how he taught her to grieve her own infertility, and live life more fully.
Posted inReading List
The 25 Most Popular Longreads Exclusives of 2018
The original reporting, personal essays, columns, and collaborations that were our most-read stories of the year.
Posted inNonfiction
Queens of Infamy: Eleanor of Aquitaine
Life gets busy when you have empires to build and marriages to annul.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
How I Got My Shrink Back
An entanglement with her shrink-stalking protege teaches Susan Shapiro something about forgiveness.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
What Shattered My Mother’s Mind
Winston Ross recalls the heartbreaking ordeal his family endured after his mother’s routine surgery led to post-operative delirium.
Posted inNonfiction
The Sorrowful Mysteries, or Reasons I’m No Longer Catholic
Kathleen McKitty Harris recalls the series of events which led to her departure from the Church.
Posted inEditor's Pick
America, Home of the Transactional Marriage
The disappearance of good jobs for people with less education has made it harder for them to start, and sustain, relationships.
