In the 16th & 17th centuries, “nightwalking” was a transgressive act in a city still on the brink of total nighttime illumination, but with complex implications depending on your social status.
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Posted inBooks, Nonfiction
Theorizing the Drone
What does the rise of the drone mean for justice, for the ethics of heroism, for psychology? Most important of all, who is dying and why?
Posted inBooks, Fiction, Profiles & Interviews
Taking the Slow Road: An Interview with Author Katherine Heiny
She published a short story in The New Yorker in 1992, then seemed to all but disappear. How author Katherine Heiny took her sweet time on the path toward publishing her new story collection.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle users, you can also get them as a Readlist. Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox. * * * 1. The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit Michael Finkel | GQ | August 20, 2014 | 30 minutes (7,500 […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Spy Who Loved Frogs
A young scientist retraces the work of Edward Taylor, a prolific herpetologist (a zoologist who studies reptiles and amphibians) who also led a double life as a spy: “Taylor was called to duty again in 1944, when he was 54 and war raged in the Pacific. According to records in the US National Archives, he […]
Posted inMember Pick, Nonfiction
A Resourceful Woman
“Mary Mazur, 61, shrank into the blankets, muttering into the leaves, whispering to her only friend.” An Instagram essay by Jeff Sharlet.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction
The Rise of Joan of Arc: How a Visionary Peasant Girl Defied a Dress Code and Challenged the Patriarchy
Following the guidance of the voices only she could hear, Joan, a peasant girl living in a world dominated by aristocrats and men, left her home to convince the dauphin—and many men along the way—that only she could save France and make him king.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
The Things In Our Diaries: A Reading List
Age 7: Dear Diary, Today I went to Clarisse’s house. It was fun. Age 13: Dear Diary, We are leaving for Mom-mom’s funeral soon. Mom and Dad are fighting and THE WORLD IS FALLING OVER. Age 23 [written on this laptop, not my Moleskine]: I am fulfilling my daydream of feeling like a Privileged Artist […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Missing American, on an Unapproved Mission for the CIA
An Associated Press investigation reveals that Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran and has become the longest-held American hostage, was working for the CIA at the time of his disappearance, despite denials by the U.S. government. The full story of how it all happened: In an extraordinary breach of the most basic CIA rules, a […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Booz Allen, the World’s Most Profitable Spy Organization
How the United States came to outsource its intelligence operations: “Yet conversations with current and former employees of Booz Allen and U.S. intelligence officials suggest that these contractors aren’t going anywhere soon. Even if Snowden ends up costing his former employer business, the work will probably just go to its rivals. Although Booz Allen and […]
