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 […]
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Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Science & Nature
Why Some Protected Natural Areas Should Remain Off-Limits
One of the best ways to protect the world’s oldest, largest trees is to conceal their location.
Posted inBooks, Profiles & Interviews, Science Fiction, Story
Working Through the Apocalypse: An Interview with Ling Ma
In Ling Ma’s “Severance” — a novel she began to write after getting laid off, while living partly on severance pay — the characters keep going to work, even though they know it’s the end of the world.
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 inCrime, Quotes, Science & Nature
You’re Putting My Brain Where, Exactly?
When you donate your body to science, you don’t get a whole lot of say over what happens to your parts.
Posted inBooks, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Story
A Song for the River
In the mountains of southwestern New Mexico, a seasoned fire lookout watches as his beloved forest and his personal life burn, and he tries to imagine what will arise from their ashes.
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 inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes, Science & Nature
The Scientist at the Center of a Heated Scientific Feud
When one female scientist’s thirty years of research contradicted the established theory of dinosaur extinction, people started calling her a bitch that should be burned at the stake.
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
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.
