Happy birthday, Dolly Parton! Here are seven longreads about the American singer-songwriter.
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The Fracking Lottery
“When I moved to Billtown, I worried most about whether fracking tainted groundwater. By the time I left the area, my biggest concern was whether the liberty granted to citizens to lease their land, or to otherwise act in ways that limits others’ access to environmental goods, taints democracy.”
Molly and the Unicorn
Emily Flake reflects on the shifting nature of magic and power in middle age.
McDonald’s CEO Wants Big Macs to Keep Up With Big Tech
The fast food giant is trying to modernize, but do its ambitious automation and data processing plans outstrip its stores’ abilities?
Doctors Without Patients: The Eritrean Physicians Stuck in American Licensing Limbo
“What was the whole point of your training if you cannot do something, even in a pandemic?”
I get one last Lent with my Mami. I’m using it to learn our family’s capirotada recipe
As his mother enters hospice care, Gustavo Arellano pays tribute to her life and to her cooking, trying to preserve the memory of his favorite dish.
How a Mom Penetrated the Pen to Hack the Warden’s Computer
Rita Strand, age 58, posed as a health inspector and got unrestricted access to South Dakota prison.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Michael Barajas, Evan Ratliff, Andrew Mckirdy, Raffi Khatchadourian, and Agnes Callard.
A History of Flavoring Food With Beaver Butt Juice
It’s called castoreum, and it does not actually come from a butt — it’s merely butt-adjacent.
Home Cooking: A Reading List
“In the following essays, writers interrogate the complicated pasts of place through food, express nostalgia for long-gone homes, and find belonging by sharing meals.”

