“There have been times in my life when I wouldn’t have taken seriously the possibility that a South American psychedelic could help ease the horror of systems collapse.”
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The Secret Lives of MI6’s Top Female Spies
“For the first time ever, SIS officers reveal why women often make the best spies for our times.”
My Impossible Mission to Find Tom Cruise
“The action star has gone to great lengths to avoid the press for more than a decade. But maybe our writer could track him down anyway?”
Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we’re sharing stories from Nick Bowlin, Rachel Priest and Emily Strasser, Rachel Yoder, Jake Skeets, and Willa Paskin.
How the 1% Runs an Ironman
“Inside the world of Ironman XC, which makes the endurance contest a little more endurable — for executives who can afford to pay.”
A Year in Reading: Power to the People
Incorrigible, insightful, inspiring: the incredible people of 2024.
‘Maya Blue’: The Mystery Dye Recreated Two Centuries After It Was Lost
“A ceramicist in Mexico retraces his Maya roots to recreate a long-lost pre-Hispanic pigment for the first time in more than two centuries.”
‘Dying Inside’: Chaos and Cruelty in Louisiana Juvenile Detention
Repeated abuse, prolonged lockdowns, overlooked complaints, and a surge in suicide attempts at a juvenile detention center.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories from Blake Ellis, Melanie Hicken, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Audrey Ash, Kyung Lah, Anna-Maja Rappard, Casey Tolan, Lou Robinson, and Byron Manley; Lindsey Liles; David Gauvey Herbert; Laura Trethewey; and Abe Beame.
Harmony
“You can practice a song a thousand times and still its first note sends you into the unknown.”

