“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 […]
Search results
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 […]
Our Sister’s Netflix Hit and the Week’s Top 5
“But all was not well in the house on the corner of Lincoln Road and 52nd Street. It belonged to Dennis and Brenda Bowman, a married couple with two children. For the Bowmans, March 11 marked the last time they saw their 14-year-old daughter, Aundria, alive.” We’ve got some big news this week from our […]
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.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Froggie regrets. A precious ticket to a Chicago Bulls game. A conversation about AI and nature. A profile of the world’s most famous unknown writer. And to finish, a look back to last Friday and a St. Patrick’s Day tradition. 1. Frog Anne Fadiman | Harper’s Magazine | February 10, 2023 | 5,816 words “There […]
Heat, Wind and a Cruel Twist of Nature: Inside Oregon’s Nightmarish Wildfire Season
“Erwin, like many others, had a vague idea of where to go but no notion of when she would return and what would happen in between. Scarier still: a baby in tow, a pandemic.”
‘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.”
My Unlikely Existence
Is AI helping prospective parents game the fertility lottery? Should it?
Inequality’s Deadly Toll
“A century of research has demonstrated how poverty and discrimination drive disease. Can COVID push science to finally address the issue?”
Spiders as Unlikely Muses (and Our Top 5)
“When the spiders arrive in my dream, are they jolting me to risk vulnerability personally or creatively? I could stay inside collecting dust, or I could weave my web where others can see. If rejected, could I have the temerity to take the silk back, gobbling up my own words and trying again in some […]


