Both of Wilbert L. Cooper’s parents were cops. In this excerpt from his memoir, Cooper recounts how his mother got into the force—and what the department did to try to keep her out.
Search results
Posted inUncategorized
What’s in a Name, and Our Top 5
“At home, I was Spanish. At school, American. When mom got angry at us, the ultimate insult would be spewed: ‘Ay! That is so American!’ But outside of the house, while in the presence of my peers, I wanted that to be true. Being so American would mean I would be allowed to wear shorts to school. I would […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Black Physicist Is Borne Back Ceaselessly Into the Past
“I am forced to live in a parallel world to the one I wanted to live in, where I could have been a physicist without also constantly being asked to speak on or attempt to compensate for the persistent racism of institutions.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
It’s Been One Year Since Students Started Widespread Distance Learning
“Someday, there again will be high school proms, science fairs in the gym, and nighttime football games packed with students bathed under white lights. But who will be forgotten and left further behind?”
Posted inFeature
The Road to Becoming Enough
I began, if not to turn away from the mythical notion of a man to “complete” me, to accept that there was no love out there for me. I chose mountains instead.
Posted inBooks, Crime, Current Events, Highlight, Nonfiction, Quotes, Writing
‘Can You Imagine How That Felt?’: Blake Bailey’s Predations, As Told By His Students
The inside story of author Blake Bailey’s grooming of middle-school girls.
Posted inStory
Celebrating Bitch Magazine: A Reading List
A writer traces her own feminist journey as she reflects on the forthcoming shutdown of Bitch Media.
Posted inReading List
More Than Just an Object: A Collector’s Reading List
The bowerbird, which lives on the east coast of Australia, has an abiding eye for anything blue. Solitary males travel great distances to bring back all manner of blue objects to decorate their nests. Shells, flowers, plastic bottles, and feathers are all fair game, and bowerbirds have even been known to grind up blue pigments […]
Posted inFeature
Speaking for the Dead
A New York Times veteran considers the art of the obituary and how words give shape to legacies.
Posted inCuration, Nonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Nicole Carr, Cullen Murphy, Carrington J. Tatum, Matthew Bremner, and Nitasha Tiku.
