Every story we selected for the number five slot in our weekly newsletter, in a handy digest.
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Posted inNewsletter
A Trip to Twin Peaks and the Week’s Top 5
“I’d taken for granted how strange his work is—in the defiantly non-naturalistic performances he elicits from his actors and the surreal sheen of his stories and characters—until I started trying to explain the plot of Twin Peaks to Riley on our drive to Washington.” This week, we pay homage to director David Lynch, with Katherine […]
Posted inNewsletter
Our Attraction to Disaster and the Week’s Top 5
“Deep in the valley below us, in the middle distance, gaped the great black cauldron of Litli-Hrútur, its insides awash in a churning fiery stew. We stood in silence on the observation mound with our hands on our hips, faces cast in childish masks of wonder and awe.” Last week, I hit the natural hazard […]
Posted inUncategorized
(Alleged) Kings of the Con and the Week’s Top 5
“[T]he most compelling tales of grift aren’t the ones that depend on technology: the bottomless library of fraud-ready photos; the platforms that let anyone claim to be an epidemiologist or electoral fraud whistleblower; the software that can plop your face onto another person’s. No, the tales that captivate us most almost always reveal a person’s longing.” […]
Posted inFeature
Letter from Manhattan 2
On trying to be a “world citizen”—and how expat life rarely delivers on its promises.
Posted inNewsletter
Ice Cream Panic, Airship Catastrophe, and our Top 5
“But, for me, the classic is an oyster: a scalloped, hinged wafer dipped in mallow and chocolate, with desiccated coconut at the edges, piped full of vanilla soft serve and squiggled madly with monkey’s blood (OK, raspberry sauce).” This summer, I have spent a lot of time in England, and a particular vehicle has been […]
Posted inFeature
Creation of Woman: Evangelical and Transgender in the Bible Belt
How a spouse’s confession freed a young couple from gender expectations in the Deep South.
Posted inBooks
Around The Pit
Circling billions of gallons of toxic water at America’s largest Superfund site.
Posted inNonfiction
Queens of Infamy: Isabella of France
Married off at age 12, Isabella put up with her husband’s shenanigans over decades. Eventually, the She-Wolf of France had had enough.
Posted inNonfiction
Best of 2022: Reported Essays
Our list of some of the great reported essays published this year includes reads on grief, veganism, the geology of Mexico City, and British real estate.
