“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.”
Search results
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend stories by Yessenia Funes, Carl Elliott, Courtney Shea, Jillian Steinhauer, and Ed Simon.
Blue Daniel
“The more the Editor and I talked, almost daily, at this point, the more I sought ways to create space between us—asking about his children, talking about my boyfriend.”
City of Glass
“Meet the dedicated cadre of experts and volunteers working to protect birds from glass in the window-strike capital of the United States.”
How Social Media Apps Could Be Fueling Homicides Among Young Americans
“Taunts that once could be forgotten now live on before large audiences, prompting people to take action.”
A Colorful Addition and the Week’s Top 5
“Humans are besotted with color and we always have been. We love it so much we will breathe it, eat it, drink it, and look at it until our eyes roll back in our heads. We will paint with it, paint the world with it, paint ourselves with it. We will go to the ends […]
‘We Have Fire All Around Us and We Can’t Get Out’
“What happened when two experienced hikers got caught in the Bolt Creek Fire.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: the appeal of the surreal, decoding AI dreck, goop relations, learning to think, and pigeon racing pitfalls
In Search Of The Continent’s Largest Shorebird
“Transcendent experiences, after all, are rare.”


