Three of these pieces look at what mealtime is like on the inside, from an examination of chow hall food to stories of inmates’ ad-hoc cell-made meals to an in-depth look at a commissary food that’s both dietary supplement and currency for thousands of inmates. A fourth adds a different dimension, revealing how some of the foods on our own tables are the product of prison labor.
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The 2015 National Magazine Award Winners: A Reading List
This year’s National Magazine Awards were handed out Monday night in New York, with General Excellence honors going to publications including The New Yorker, Glamour, Garden & Gun, Nautilus and The Hollywood Reporter.
Slither and Hiss: Four Stories About Snakes
This week, I’m sharing four stories about snakes and the people who love, hate, and tolerate them in equal measure.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Our favorite stories of the week, featuring, The Atlantic, California Sunday Magazine, Pacific Standard, a co-investigation by NPR and ProPublica, and The New Yorker.
Can ‘Mad Maps’ Offer Patients a Way to Take Charge of Their Psychiatric Care?
Like advanced directives for the dying, DuBrul explained, mad maps allow psychiatric patients to outline what they’d like their care to look like in future mental health crises. The logic is: If a person can define health, while healthy, and differentiate health from crisis, that person can shape his or her own care. The maps […]
Committed: Stories About Stays in Psychiatric Facilities
In this week’s list, I wanted to share the experiences of those committed—voluntarily or not—to a psychiatric facility.
The 2015 National Magazine Award Winners: A Reading List
This year’s National Magazine Awards were handed out Monday night in New York, with General Excellence honors going to publications including The New Yorker, Glamour, Garden & Gun, Nautilus and The Hollywood Reporter.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Our favorite stories of the week, featuring The Big Roundtable, Down East, The Believer, Pacific Standard, and The Atlantic.
Slither and Hiss: Four Stories About Snakes
This week, I’m sharing four stories about snakes and the people who love, hate, and tolerate them in equal measure.
Our Sex Education: A Reading List
Here are nine stories about modern-day sex education and our history with bad sex ed classes.

