Mychal Denzel Smith’s musical upbringing sounds a lot like mine: copious amounts of hip-hop that was deemed “underground,” “backpack,” or (perhaps most conspicuously brandished) “conscious.” Elitism disguised as authenticity. Yet, with the recent returns of Black Star and Kendrick Lamar, Smith found himself unmoved — and in this crystalline essay, he unpacks exactly why. The […]
Search results
Posted inNewsletter
What Stories Offer, and What They Ask in Return
“Some thoughts demand to be pursued to their limits. We work with writers to help them go the distance, to satisfy their curiosity and yours.” The greatest appeal of Longreads is obvious; it’s right there in the name. But it’s worth considering, for a moment, what length enables in a story, and what those stories […]
Posted inFeature
We Got the Beat
How The Go-Go’s emerged from the Los Angeles punk scene in the late ’70s to become the first and only female band to have a number one album in Beauty and the Beat.
Posted inNewsletter
600? Is That Even Possible?
“There are bookshelves in every room of my home except the bathroom, and I often squirrel away small books as emergency reading to be carried in purses and backpacks, for buses, trains, and waiting rooms.” Well, here we are. We’ve been rounding up our five favorite stories of the week for more than 12 years […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
We Failed Amy Winehouse
“Dead for over a decade, the iconic singer-songwriter has never gotten the same due as her male counterparts.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘We’re Living in a Nightmare:’ Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town
“Ultimately, Granbury is just one canary of several in the proverbial mine.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill,” and the End of Music Charts As We Knew Them
Thanks to season four of Stranger Things, Kate Bush’s song, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God),” has topped the charts, 37 years after its release. Nate Rogers takes a look at how this happened, and what it means for the music industry, and especially older, legacy acts. Drenched in gated reverb and woozy […]
Posted inTop 5
Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Human ingenuity in the face of crumbling infrastructure. One man’s quest to save a bird that might already be extinct. The cultural schism dividing a major musical genre. A personal essay braiding space and family. And a jungle trek gone horribly, horribly awry. These are our editors’ favorite reads of the week. 1. The Balkans’ […]
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: metal medicine, hyped humanoids, carnival crossroads, divine defiance, and optimization obsession.
