Esteemed journalist and activist Barbara Ehrenreich died Sept. 1, at the age of 81. A prolific author, Ehrenreich wrote seminal books and essays about economic inequality, feminism, and many other topics. But among her most celebrated works is a deeply personal one, which she wrote after being diagnosed with breast cancer: I could take my […]
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The Meaning of Tattoos and Our Top 5 of the Week
“When my father-in-law was growing up in Baltimore and misbehaved in Hebrew school with his friends, their teachers would calmly unbutton their cuffs and roll up their sleeves, revealing their tattoos from Auschwitz. I’ve seen worse, the tattoos said. Or perhaps, This could happen to you.” What does your tattoo mean? It’s a question often asked of […]
Posted inReading List
Ten Outstanding Short Stories to Read in 2025
Kickstart your reading year with 10 short stories selected by longtime contributor Pravesh Bhardwaj.
Posted inEditor's Pick
An Open Palm
Fowzia Karimi moved from Oakland, California to Denton, Texas in 2014, deep in grief following the death of her mother. In Texas she found an unexpected, pervasive warmth and kindness among the community, one that not only helped her to navigate the “vast foggy wilderness” of grief, but also to face her own cancer diagnosis […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Power and Peril of the ICU
“…sometimes ICU care doesn’t buy time; it imposes burdens on what time we have left.”
Posted inReading List
‘This Was Our Life’: A Reading List on Multigenerational Caregiving
Five stories on the overwhelming, profound art of caring for other people.
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An English Murder Mystery, an Antarctic Romance, and Our Top 5
“I know this land is far from sinister, I know it is appreciated by those who live here, but I also see that the life of a dairy farmer is often a hard, unforgiving existence. And no family saw that solitude and struggle more than the Luxtons.” In the late summer of 1975, deep in […]
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: loving a killer; GRASE under fire; the marvelous mundane; Texas on two wheels; and the man who would be T. rex king.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Scar Stories: The Toll of Colon Cancer
“When Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer, Ibram X. Kendi, one of the country’s most renowned historians of racism, felt moved to speak up about his own fight against a disease that disproportionately afflicts Black men. He decided to reveal the scars from his own surgery—to wear them as visible signs of triumph over adversity. […]
Posted inReading List
Dead Moms Club: A Mother’s Day Reading List
Eight thoughtful reading recommendations for those who’ve lost their moms.
