“There is something about the heart. It beats until it doesn’t. I don’t give or withhold permission. To live my life is to accept—in this one, life-giving ongoingness that occurs right at the heart of me—that I am not the center of this story.” August is just around the corner, and as we fly through the year […]
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Award-Winning Writer Mayukh Sen Shines A Light On Food’s Hidden Figures
“Sen’s new book, Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America, which is out on November 16, is an extension of this mission. Sen profiles seven women—“seven immigrants who used food to construct an identity outside their home country,” as he describes them—and explores why the stories of these women and their achievements […]
Our 500th Edition! (And the Week’s Top 5)
“The alchemy between rescuer and rescued is strange: like a romantic relationship, only faster moving. The euphoria of starting simply at hello, I’m here to help before moving on and culminating at what feels like deep attachment.” We may be happy that this is the final newsletter of January (come on, spring!), but we’re thrilled that it’s […]
A banger of a Christmas story, best of 2023, and more
“I have enjoyed many happy Christmases and plenty of disappointing ones, like the one I spent eating alone at a Waffle House due to an ice storm, or the Christmas my father accused all the unmarried relatives of being gay. But of all the sad Yuletides of my life, the one I spent guarding $100,000 […]
Insatiable: A Life Without Eating
When my Crohn’s disease took away food, it took what it means to be human.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This edition features stories from Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski, Michael Hall, Ben Goldfarb, Meg Bernhard, and Angela Burke.
A Vigilante Murder in Grand Marais
How a shocking crime divided a small Minnesota town.
Best of 2025: All Our Number Five Story Picks
Every story we selected for the number five slot in our weekly newsletter, in a handy digest.
‘Stay Away From Him. He’s Dangerous.’
“For years, a mysterious figure preyed on gay men in Atlanta. People on the streets called him the Handcuff Man—but the police knew his real name.”


