This week, we’re sharing stories from Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Elizabeth Weil, Jeannette Cooperman, Ryan Katz, and Madeleine Watts.
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On Resilience and Our Top 5
“It is hard, I think, to learn as an adult. This is not some profound statement. It just is. But it is not hard because of the fact of it; it is hard because learning anything means learning again how to learn. It’s not that riding a bike is hard; it’s that learning is hard. […]
Enduring Battles, a Musical Childhood, and Our Top 5
“I felt like a rat trapped in a maze with no finish, running into walls and getting electrocuted at every turn. I wanted out of the hellscape I’d created, but I had formed a whole identity around the latticework of visible bones and tendons; my days were structured around the denial of food. To give […]
The Power of a Good Cry
“Tears are central to great acting. A lifetime of weeping at the movies has taught me how much letting it all go in real life can matter, too.”
Speaking for the Dead
A New York Times veteran considers the art of the obituary and how words give shape to legacies.
Diving into 2024 with an Excerpt and Our Top 5
“She did live. She had to wear a catheter for several weeks, but she got better. The long recovery gave Debra time to think on what she wanted to do about the man who had hurt her.” Welcome to 2024! We are back for another year of editors’ picks, stirring originals, and inspiring reading lists. Kicking […]
Extraordinary Circumstances
Kenneth Watkins’s son, Kenny, was 6 days old when he was taken away by ACS, New York City’s child-welfare agency. Kenny was then placed with an affluent foster family. To regain custody, Watkins had to prove that being poor didn’t make him a bad father. Despite Watkins’ constant efforts, it took years to get Kenny […]


