“Calvin Gimpelevich writes on the history and politics of public bathrooms.”
Search results
Dark Matter
“Frank realized that people needed a way to talk about the messy topics often off limits in everyday conversation.”
Here’s to What’s Real and True: Support Writing that Matters
“It’s becoming rarer to get to work on writing that’s real and true, a story idea conceived by a human brain and reported by a human heart, a piece of writing that helps us understand others, and ourselves, a little better.” While I’ve followed Longreads since it started as a hashtag in 2009, I’m proud […]
Why Creative Work Still Matters and the Week’s Top 5
“The implication is that to exist within a community or to practice a craft out of passion and joy is not success. To many, maybe, that is true. But how limited is our potential, our community, our creativity when success is defined like that?” Does anyone remember that this week started out with an extra […]
An Exclusive Look Inside the Largest Effort Ever Mounted to Keep the Great Barrier Reef Alive
“Australia is doing absolutely everything to protect its most iconic ecosystem — except, perhaps, the one thing that really matters.”
Nightmare in Mission Hill
“The untold story of the Charles and Carol Stuart shooting.”
Longreads Needs You, Reader
“Stories matter. And in a moment when people so rarely take the time to think before they speak, they matter more than ever.” Hi there, It’s pretty rare for us to send out an email that isn’t our Weekly Top 5 newsletter. In fact, I think the last one was almost a year ago. But […]
The Last Face Death Row Inmates See
“The Rev. Jeff Hood has made a career of fighting to save men the state wants to kill — and it doesn’t matter if they’re innocent.”
Announcing Our 2025 Member Drive
It’s easy to think that thoughtful longform journalism is an endangered species. We refuse to believe that—and we need your help.
Our Best of 2024, and a Question for You
Hi there, Somehow, this is the thirteenth year of our annual “Best Of” series. As usual, we’ll be sharing our favorite reads across several categories—but this week, we wanted to try something a little different. Starting yesterday and for the remainder of the week, you’ll find an essay from each of the Longreads editors, reflecting […]

