The bowerbird, which lives on the east coast of Australia, has an abiding eye for anything blue. Solitary males travel great distances to bring back all manner of blue objects to decorate their nests. Shells, flowers, plastic bottles, and feathers are all fair game, and bowerbirds have even been known to grind up blue pigments […]
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Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we’re recommending stories by Andrew R. Chow, Jonathan Blake, Maurice Tamman, Laura Gottesdiener, and Stephen Eisenhammer, Drew Anderson, and Ben Buckland.
Posted inBooks, Highlight, Science & Nature, Story
‘The Fledglings Are Out!’
“Peering in, I see that last week’s eggs are now chicks. Tiny bright-yellow beaks, mouths opening and closing silently. This is the magic.”
Posted inUncategorized
Found Poetry, Marital Musings, and our Top 5
“I peeled the list off the windshield and held it like an artifact: evidence of a life I didn’t know but suddenly cared about. It read like a poem. A confession. What was the story behind this list, I wondered—and what would come for this stranger after the checkout aisle?” I love making lists. They […]
Posted inUncategorized
Fabulous Fungi and Our Top 5 of the Week
“To a reading list on these mind-bending entities at a planetary tipping point, welcome. What you see here are only some fruiting bodies, the rest lies underneath.” I first learned about the parasitic fungus that takes over a bug’s body and commandeers its brain back in 2023, when I picked Zhengyang Wang’s “The Last of […]
Posted inUncategorized
Exploring Public Lands and the Week’s Top 5
“Though we were only a few miles into our walk, already the surprise of my surroundings was overwhelming. The surreal lakebeds. The pink skies. Beauty Peak. The pronghorn. We were left in one of those mindless trances that comes when nature completely engulfs you. No amount of planning or research can prepare you for an […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Last Two Northern White Rhinos On Earth
“What will we lose when Najin and Fatu die?”
Posted inNonfiction
The Edge of Emptiness
Lena Rowat skied 1,600 grueling miles across the Coast Range to quiet her demons. But she didn’t begin to silence them until tragedy struck.
Posted inReading List
Not Just Communes: A Reading List on Intentional Communities
Six stories highlighting communal lifestyles, past and present.
Posted inNewsletter
Reading Lists, The Staff Who Gave It All, and Our Top 5
“My uncle was one of the lucky ones who, in a new city, found community and love from people outside the medical complex—people who had no reason to provide it other than the purity of their hearts.” Another week has rolled by, and once again, we are here to offer you your weekend reading! This […]
