“Though we were only a few miles into our walk, already the surprise of my surroundings was overwhelming. The surreal lakebeds. The pink skies. Beauty Peak. The pronghorn. We were left in one of those mindless trances that comes when nature completely engulfs you. No amount of planning or research can prepare you for an […]
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Congratulations, You Now Own a Newspaper
“’I think if the town survives, the newspaper will survive. I think we’re so intertwined. It’s not going to be one without the other. Our fates are going to be the same.'”
The Joy of Sweat and the Week’s Top 5
“To move in spin class only for the sake of moving, of the joyful challenge itself, of sweating and pushing and dancing, is cool water in my throat. To be loved, simply for showing up, is pure golden sun in my chest.” Happy Friday and welcome to (unofficial) autumn! If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere […]
(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.” […]
Why Creative Work Still Matters and the Week’s Top 5
“The implication is that to exist within a community or to practice a craft out of passion and joy is not success. To many, maybe, that is true. But how limited is our potential, our community, our creativity when success is defined like that?” Does anyone remember that this week started out with an extra […]
Between the Lines with Neal Allen, Anne Lamott, and Kory Stamper
The Longreads questionnaire with Neal Allen and Anne Lamott, a book excerpt from Kory Stamper, and our Top 5 Longreads of the week.
A Butcher Shop Visit and Our Top 5
“More tellingly still, on the block in front of me are half a dozen dead pheasants. This is the butchery department, deep in the bowels of Waltham Forest College in North East London, UK, where I am the only female student.” For those who celebrate, Easter weekend can mean a big ol’ roast dinner. Some […]
Burgling the Rich, a Cat’s Life Lessons, and Our Top 5
“I learned to adore the way he sidled against me and to hate his momentary affection, just as he learned to detach from me in weariness and depend on me in hunger. Days with him were a quick education in a cat’s existence.” I once spent a year shadowing a musician I loved, whose body […]
Svetlana Alexievich Reminds Me of How to Be Human
Sometimes I need to forget I’m an introvert.
Walking on Faith and the Week’s Top 5
“Most people here were trying to find a way to live with events that could have broken their lives: absence, illness, loss, death. How could I fault them for something I also wanted, which was to wring meaning from things that have none?” “Why was I stumbling alongside this mass of the devout?” This is […]

