“We’re making more data than ever. What can—and should—we save for future generations? And will they be able to understand it?”
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Posted inReading List
‘Actually Really Sacred’: A George Saunders Reading List
Nine essays and interviews from literature’s favorite laureate of compassion.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this week’s Top 5 we have lessons from apartheid, clever Claude, feeling bodies anew, the power of wax, and free mining.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Costco in Cancún
“This is the Costco psychology: quality over brand; value over status. To be ripped off is to be taken for a sucker. It is to have your resources wasted, your hard-earned cash sucked into a delusion of taste, timeliness, or class.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Soundscapes of the Silenced
“In late Renaissance Florence one in five women lived behind institutional walls whose rule was sensory mortification. Historians are struggling to recover their inexpressible secrets.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Absolute Darkness
“An unusual experience started me thinking even more closely about degrees of darkness, the nature of darkness, and darkness as a physical thing.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
At the Gates of Fortress Europe
“The story of Sajjad Mohammedhasan, who sought asylum but received a year in Lithuania’s border prisons.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending stories from Viola Zhou, Mina Tavakoli, Stephanie Krzywonos, Maggie Millner, and Joe Hagan.
Posted inReading List
Ten Outstanding Short Stories to Read in 2025
Kickstart your reading year with 10 short stories selected by longtime contributor Pravesh Bhardwaj.
