What the history of folktales reveals about the role storytelling played in human evolution.
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Posted inEditor's Pick
Forensic Science Put Jimmy Genrich in Prison for 24 Years. What if It Wasn’t Science?
Forensic science — the kind that traces the grooves in bullets, the mark of a shoe, or the scrape of a tool — emerged in the early 20th century as a way to professionalize police work. But once its findings made their way into the court system, it became almost impossible to divide the good […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes, Science & Nature
When Your Child’s Life Depends on it
Amber Olsen needs to raise one million additional dollars to fund life-saving research for her daughter, Willow.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, History, Nonfiction, Science & Nature
The Possessed: Dispatches from the Third Trimester
On pregnancy, demons, and Stranger Things.
Posted inCulture, Food, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes, Science & Nature
Some Like It Hot
The history of the chili pepper is entwined with the history of Chinese Communism and the fiery temperament of the Sichuanese people, but why?
Posted inHighlight, Quotes, Science & Nature
Take Two $275 Herbal Supplements and Don’t Call Me in the Morning
Looks like you’ve got late-stage Patriarchal Medicine Syndrome. I’m so sorry.
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Shannon Gormley, Jasmine Sanders, Esmé Weijun Wang, Kevin T. Baker, and Gabrielle Bellot.
Posted inNonfiction
Borrowed Babies
Five months into her first pregnancy, one writer pursues a research project about the history of home economics, as she struggles with her own concerns about motherhood.
Posted inCurrent Events, Feature, investigations, Nonfiction, Story
Inside the Chaos of Immigration Court
Gabriel Thompson takes us into San Francisco Immigration Court and the labyrinthine system that asylum seekers—and attorneys and judges—are up against.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Across the World in 80 Days
People are building rockets to propel themselves miles high so they can look down and confirm the disk-shaped flatness of our planet.
