In this pandemic-inspired variation on the Goodbye to All That essay, Glynnis MacNicol writes about what it’s like to have stayed in the current ghost town version of New York City when so many other New Yorkers have departed for greener pastures, and considers the city’s, and city-dwellers’ history of resilience through hard times.
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Curiosity FTW
Stay open to the obvious, and you may just learn more than you expect.
Searching for the Mountaintop in Upstate New York
A family confronts its racial past along the Appalachian Trail.
Letter from Manhattan 2
On trying to be a “world citizen”—and how expat life rarely delivers on its promises.
Naked City
Here, everyone hurries but no one arrives, everyone shows up but no one gets in, everyone’s a member but no one belongs.
The Plot Thickens (and the Week’s Top 5)
“Accommodating the dead, like accommodating the living, has always entailed a head-on collision with the awkward reality that we have a finite amount of physical space.” Okay, yes, sure, maybe you weren’t expecting a quote about dead bodies to kick off your Friday morning. But I assure you that our new feature, “Disneyland of the […]
Holograms of the Holocaust (and Our Top 5)
“Over many decades, my grandmother gave responses to thousands of questions, wrote tens of thousands of words, and spoke for hours and hours while tapes rolled. She would be, in other words, the perfect candidate for AI reanimation.” In my household, the transition from summer to fall has been tough. Lately, to help my daughter […]
Abdul Sharifu Was Buying Milk For A Neighbor’s Baby. A Snowstorm Killed Him.
“How the tragic death of one man during Buffalo’s historic snowstorm in December highlights both the city’s close-knit immigrant community and its systemic failures.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: the cuckoo’s nest, fruitful work, keys and locks, commander in fief; perfect sound forever, and more.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we are featuring stories from Fletcher Reveley, Susan Freinkel, Nick Paumgarten, Dana Salvador, and Kathryn Hughes.


