Steve Edwards revisits an early heartbreak to ask: “How do we find compassion for who we used to be?”
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A History of American Protest Music: ‘We Have Got Tools and We Are Going to Succeed’
Lead Belly, Lee Hays, and the hammer songs that powered the folk movement.
‘To Be Well’: An Unmothered Woman’s Search for Real Love
After years of strife with her mother, Vanessa Mártir finds unconditional love in a new, tender relationship.
Longreads Best of 2017: Arts & Culture Writing
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in arts and culture writing.
Teen Girls Finally Get to Touch Themselves
Pop culture loves to show teen boys jerking off, but girls never seemed to get the same attention. They are getting their happy ending now.
I’m Writing You from Tehran
A French-Iranian journalist writes a letter to her grandfather about the ten years she spent in Iran, trying to make sense of her identity and a country living very different public and private lives.
A History of American Protest Music: ‘We Have Got Tools and We Are Going to Succeed’
Lead Belly, Lee Hays, and the hammer songs that powered the folk movement.
The Young Man and the Sea Sponge
SpongeBob SquarePants turned 20 this summer. This is the story of how a marine biology teacher named Stephen Hillenburg gave life to an animated character who continues to delight fans worldwide.
Can Detroit’s Legendary Techno Scene Survive Gentrification?
On the growing tension between techno’s gritty origins and its current velvet-rope tendencies.
Mama Looks for Melanin
Harmony Holiday remembers her mother’s years of trauma-bonding in search of new love, after the death of her mercurial yet brilliant father.
