Senior Editor at Longreads Brendan’s writing has appeared at Smithsonian, Literary Hub, and The Morning News, where he wrote the “Press Pause” column. From 2016 through 2022, he was senior editor of Columbia Journalism Review. He is interested in narrative features and essays, particularly those that involve reporting. The subject could be almost anything, so long as […]
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Posted inEditor's Pick
Elevate Me Later
“Highbrow horror cinema has won respectability—but sold its soul.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Grandpa, the Fascist?
“An old family album sent me on a journey through Italy’s dark past in Libya.”
Best of 2025
Welcome to December, readers! Once again, we’re revisiting the favorite nonfiction stories that defined our year—the pieces that moved us, reframed our thinking, or even nudged us to action. Each week, it’s a joy to read and recommend writing that lingers long after we’ve closed our tabs. This year-end collection celebrates the most thoughtful storytelling […]
Posted inNewsletter
Help Us Stay a Home for the Weird
“Invite writers and readers in—magic will follow.” Six years ago, I published my first essay as an editor for Longreads. Margot Harris’s “Under the Knife” opens with a scene of cupcakes shaped like private parts (and goes on to discuss the guilt of having cosmetic surgery as a feminist). What a privilege, I thought at […]
Cheri Lucas Rowlands
Senior Editor at Longreads Cheri Lucas Rowlands is a founding editor at Automattic and has worked on Longreads since 2014. Stories she’s edited have won ASJA Awards and a Pushcart Prize, been named a James Beard Award finalist, and received notable mentions in Best American Essays and The Best Women’s Travel Writing. Writers have landed agents and […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Brain Finally Broke
“Much of what we see now is fake, and the reality we face is full of horrors. More and more of the world is slipping beyond my comprehension.”
