Morgan Jerkins tells the story of Henrietta Wood — a woman sold back into slavery after being freed — who in 1878 was awarded $2,500, the largest known sum of restitution for enslavement by a United States court.
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It’s Not a Clinic, It’s a Caste System
Surely, there is a happy medium between “delightful” concierge healthcare and no healthcare at all that we as a society are smart enough to figure out. (Also, no one ever had a delightful pap smear, no matter how tasty the infused water in the waiting room was.)
Lost in Summerland
At the world’s largest gathering of psychics and mediums, two brothers confront a painful secret.
The Optics of Opportunity
Hafizah Geter sets the record straight on outrageous displays of racism and white privilege in a literary fellowship she took part in, after The New Yorker frames the story “as a quirky tale of wealth and nepotism.”
Hysterical! The Body that Bleeds
As she gleefully prepares to undergo a much-needed hysterectomy, Samantha Irby recalls the mess and agony of her menstrual cycle.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Jonah Engel Bromwich, Ryan Goldberg, Meghan Daum, Alison Osius, and Joel Mowdy.
Who You Were Is Who You Are Is Who You Will Be
Some of the trappings might change, but you at 27 is fundamentally you at 37 is you at 47. La plus ça change!
Species of Grief
In the wake of losing both her father and her dog in the space of six months, Meghan Daum muses on different experiences of loss, grief, time and aging.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Molly Redden, Sarah Schweitzer, Andrew Dickson, Namwali Serpell, and Lukas Hermsmeier.
Inside the Secret Sting Operations to Expose Celebrity Psychics
A glimpse into the world of skeptics creating false Facebook profiles to bust celebrity mediums who do “hot reads” of their clients by first scanning the details of their lives on social media.

