“Even if I had stopped it (economy), if I had closed the city for 30 days, no one goes in and no one goes out. At some point I would have had to open and at some point the virus would have gotten here.”
Search results
The Cabin on the Mountain
“Sometimes, the mechanism of the answer is something ludicrously complex, a thing that must be pieced out bit by bit. Other times, the solution requires retooling your perspective.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Jane Mayer, Patricia Lockwood, Rachel E. Gross, and Theresa Okokon.
Longreads Best of 2021: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Covid Conversations With One of America’s Richest Men
When the pandemic hit, Max Abelson called the richest person he knew. In a series of conversations with this anonymous billionaire, we see life through the eyes of the privileged and wealthy.
Switch at Birth — But How?
Two women gave birth on the same day in a place called Come By Chance. Half a century later, their children made a shocking discovery.
The Gift Economy
In the desert at Burning Man, Joanne Solomon dissects the implicit transaction that defines her cross-cultural love affair.
Queens of Infamy: Isabella of France
Married off at age 12, Isabella put up with her husband’s shenanigans over decades. Eventually, the She-Wolf of France had had enough.
Some Inland California History Begins with an Orange
Even as California’s Inland Empire loses its citrus industry to urbanization, urbanites can still keep social ties by planting fruit trees in their yards.
Great American Wasteland
I am of that bit of earth. So I will not let it go. I show up in the small ways I can, which is talking to people, which is why I tell this to you.

