I had no idea that the hot, tingly pain of blood returning to a frozen extremity is called the screaming barfies, until I read “What Is a Body For?” by Diana Saverin.
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It’s So Sublime, and Our Top 5
“When I listened, I didn’t know if it was something I entered, or something that entered me. If it was within me or if it was me. Do you remember being 16 and loving a song? Of course you do. It felt like that. It felt like everything.” This week, we’re featuring “On (the) Sublime,” […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories from Ryan Hockensmith, John Woodrow Cox, Ryan Nourai, Mary H.K. Choi, and Ferris Jabr.
Learning to Walk Again (and Our Top 5)
“The average U.S. public school has about 550 students. Imagine eight or nine schools in an area roughly the size of Philadelphia where every kid is missing at least one limb. Imagine also that their amputations happened alongside a torrent of other tragedies: the loss of family members, friends, neighbors, schools, houses.” In the latest issue of […]
10 Short Stories, The Power of Music, and Our Top 5
“I always admired how my father could play so delicately with such brutal hands. They were rough, mired with patches of psoriasis, calloused from playing the charango and the guitar, and scarred, scarred all over.” I have fond memories of playing the violin when I was a child, and over the years I’ve considered returning […]
A Butcher Shop Visit and Our Top 5
“More tellingly still, on the block in front of me are half a dozen dead pheasants. This is the butchery department, deep in the bowels of Waltham Forest College in North East London, UK, where I am the only female student.” For those who celebrate, Easter weekend can mean a big ol’ roast dinner. Some […]
Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Human ingenuity in the face of crumbling infrastructure. One man’s quest to save a bird that might already be extinct. The cultural schism dividing a major musical genre. A personal essay braiding space and family. And a jungle trek gone horribly, horribly awry. These are our editors’ favorite reads of the week. 1. The Balkans’ […]
The Heart of a Hunter and the Week’s Top 5
“Most of the time, I’m not as awake as I once was; danger, and hunger, no longer demand it. I’m grateful to feel safe, to have secure access to good food, and yet I also occasionally wonder: where has the hunter gone?” Happy Friday! We’ve got a compelling, thought-provoking feature for you this week. In […]
In Living Color: A Prismatic Reading List on Pigment, Paint, and Perception
Six stories celebrating color in all its beauty.
Imperial Eras: A Taylor Swift Studies Reading List
How Taylor Swift reflects every possible version of ourselves.


