“We were born a week apart, in the same hospital, to different mothers.”
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending stories from Mariana Serapicos, Camille Bromley, Devon Fredericksen, Georgia Brown, and Sarah Golibart Gorman.
Does Teaching Literature and Writing Have a Future?
“Learning that one’s job might soon be eliminated by the emergence of an overhyped new technology puts one in good company.”
Revisit 51 Years of Giant Pandas at the National Zoo, From Beloved Babies to Fun in the Snow
“The Panda House’s eight occupants have played a key role in conservation efforts over the decades.”
The Specters on Screen, The Monsters Among Us: An October Longreads Collection
In this Halloween-inspired reading list, dip into stories of monsters and ghosts, both literal and metaphorical.
Burgling the Rich, a Cat’s Life Lessons, and Our Top 5
“I learned to adore the way he sidled against me and to hate his momentary affection, just as he learned to detach from me in weariness and depend on me in hunger. Days with him were a quick education in a cat’s existence.” I once spent a year shadowing a musician I loved, whose body […]
The Evolutionary Reasons We Are Drawn to Horror Movies and Haunted Houses
“Scary play lets people—and other animals—rehearse coping skills for disturbing challenges in the real world.”
Up, Up, and Away to the Week’s Top 5
“Wallace was a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants sort. A 54-year-old Massachusetts lawyer and real estate developer, he couldn’t afford to fly conservatively. Gas ballooning, similar to jockeyship, favored lightweight pilots, who could stock their baskets with more sand. Compared with his slighter opponents, Wallace’s six-foot-five, 240-pound frame meant that the equivalent of three additional 30-pound bags of sand […]
Lucinda Williams and the Idea of Louisiana
“But if you asked for an explanation why I love this place, the only answer would be just the same as why I hate it.”


