While most of the Old World was writing on papyrus, bamboo, and silk, Europe carved its own gruesome path through the history books.
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‘No One Should be Doomed to Just One Story’: An ‘S-Town’ Roundtable
How we feel about a person’s privacy seems to correlate with how much control they have in the decision to open up.
Late in Life, Thoreau Became a Serious Darwinist
But he died before he could finish his book on natural history. As Emerson put it, Thoreau “depart[ed] out of Nature before… he has been really shown to his peers for what he is.”
Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London
How women writers and artists, from Virginia Woolf to Sophie Calle, found inspiration and freedom by navigating cities on foot.
Snow, Death and Politics
While snowed in on the West Coast, Frances Badalamenti grapples alone with her father’s death on the other side of what feels like a dying country.
Longreads Best of 2016: Under-Recognized Stories
We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here, the best in under-recognized stories.
Who Gets to Be a Genius? A Reading List
Why does it often take decades, even centuries, for work by women to be “discovered” and appreciated?
Thank You, Jon Gnagy: An Appreciation of a Predecessor to Bob Ross
Ned Stuckey-French reflects on the host of Learn to Draw, the “middlebrow” instructional art show he loved as a kid.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle users, you can also get them as a Readlist. Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox. * * * 1. What Is Code? Paul Ford | Bloomberg Businessweek | June 11, 2015 | 152 minutes (38,000 words) Paul Ford and Bloomberg Businessweek collaborate on […]
I Can See Your Future: Six Stories About Psychics
Stories about looking for clues about the future.

