Soul and gospel singer Candi Staton let no hardship stand in the way of her voice, one that helped define the music of her generation.
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Posted inEditor's Pick
Jesus Christ is Born in Texas
“70,000 believers arrive at the Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas to witness America’s greatest Christmas pageant.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How to Start a Professional Sports Team, Win Games, and Save the Town
“After the A’s announced they were leaving Oakland, a pair of lifelong fans set out to do something audacious: start a beloved pro baseball team of their own. Remarkably, they pulled it off. Now the Oakland Ballers need to survive.”
Posted inQuestionnaire
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Maria Popova
The creator of The Marginalian and author of the new book Traversal responds to 25 questions on writing, reading, and creativity.
Posted inNonfiction
The Dark and Stormy Tale of a ShantyTok Band
When a scraggly band of folk musicians arrived to tour the UK, residents of a small Welsh town were enamored—until they learned that the band’s leader ruled with an iron fist.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Confessions of a Conscious Rap Fan
Mychal Denzel Smith’s musical upbringing sounds a lot like mine: copious amounts of hip-hop that was deemed “underground,” “backpack,” or (perhaps most conspicuously brandished) “conscious.” Elitism disguised as authenticity. Yet, with the recent returns of Black Star and Kendrick Lamar, Smith found himself unmoved — and in this crystalline essay, he unpacks exactly why. The […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
We Failed Amy Winehouse
“Dead for over a decade, the iconic singer-songwriter has never gotten the same due as her male counterparts.”
Posted inNewsletter
What Stories Offer, and What They Ask in Return
“Some thoughts demand to be pursued to their limits. We work with writers to help them go the distance, to satisfy their curiosity and yours.” The greatest appeal of Longreads is obvious; it’s right there in the name. But it’s worth considering, for a moment, what length enables in a story, and what those stories […]
Posted inFeature
We Got the Beat
How The Go-Go’s emerged from the Los Angeles punk scene in the late ’70s to become the first and only female band to have a number one album in Beauty and the Beat.
