Between the Wolf in the Tall Grass and the Wolf in the Tall Story “It’s hard to escape the conclusion that the unconscious is laboring under a moral compulsion to educate us.” —Cormac McCarthy, “The Kekulé Problem,” Nautilus, April 20, 2017 I. The Smartest Person in the Room I often say that one of the […]
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My Journey to the Heart of the FOIA Request
Fifty years ago, the Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to government secrets — all you had to do was ask. How a simple request became a bureaucratic nightmare.
Mary Beard’s Voyage Into ‘Herland’
In “Women in Power” Beard uses Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “Herland” to look at why powerful women don’t appear in our collective imagination.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Our top stories of the week, as chosen by the editors at Longreads.
The Salmon’s Identity Crisis
Matthew Berger explores the evolution and the history of salmon aquaculture for Nautilus.
Disguised in Plain Clothes, but No Superman
After a shooting at Iowa State leaves him feeling inept at protecting his students, Chris Wiewiora becomes a campus bus driver instead.
American Sphinx
Civil War monuments in the North erased an emancipated Black population. But the Sphinx looked to a new world: an integrated Africa and America.
High Crime in California Dairy Country
In the California Sunday Magazine, Tessa Stuart writes the gripping story of a criminal who worked the people who work the fields in California’s rural interior, and the detective agency who raced to catch him. The story has all the markings of a Netflix original series, except in place of drugs or gold, the loot is […]
The Arsonist Was Like a Ghost
It was the thirtieth fire in less than two months. Who was trying to burn down Accomack County?
The Future of Restaurateuring in Portland
This “safer bet” is where the second generation of Portland’s food industry intersects with the region’s commitment to density in the face of growth. Micro restaurants and food halls celebrate small spaces. Their inherent informality appeals to diners who treat dining out as an everyday form of entertainment. The small, turnkey spaces make it easier […]

