The Slate writer and Becoming Baba author reflects on Newark and mosques as home, making sense of Egypt on long flights, and becoming a father.
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Joan Didion’s Magic Trick
Caitlin Flanagan goes on a road trip through California — including Sacramento, Berkeley, and Malibu — visiting the homes of the late Joan Didion and exploring why her writing has had such a powerful effect on people. Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album created a new vocabulary of essay writing, one whose influence is […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Josefa Velasquez, Wufei Yu, Tom Foster, Tim Requarth, and Ellen Ruppel Shell.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend stories by Bushra Seddique, Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Laura Mauldin, Kathryn Miles, and Lucas Mann.
Both Sides of The Mirror
Introducing The Longreads Questionnaire, featuring Vauhini Vara.
Sitting in the Waiting Room
“We wait constantly, for a variety of outcomes and eventualities, some of which we can’t see coming.”
The Complicated Capitalism of Plastics
“It might not seem like the right time to talk about plastics…But it is. And the world doesn’t have a moment to waste.”
Seeking to Solve the Arctic’s Biggest Mystery, They Ended Up Trapped in Ice at the Top of the World
“In 1847, Sir John Franklin and a crew of 128 men disappeared while searching for the fabled Northwest Passage. A National Geographic team sought to find evidence of their fate—but the Arctic doesn’t give up its secrets easily.”
Trusting Your Gut and This Week’s Top 5
“I study the pinch pot in my hands. It seems suddenly urgent not to see them seeing me. Heat crawls from my cheeks to my hairline. I hear the furious thrum of blood in my ears. With my fingers I smooth down the walls of my pot. To my utter relief, no more questions follow.” […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend stories by Caitlin Dickerson, Samira Shackle, Mitchell S. Jackson, Roberto José Andrade Franco, and Ian Dille.


