You may remember the Syrian government’s chemical attacks on civilians. You may also remember the international deal struck to destroy President Bashar al-Assad’s weapons’ stockpile. What you almost certainly don’t know is how the deadly chemicals were actually destroyed, or who figured out how to do it. This is the behind-the-scenes story. The unlikely solution […]
Search results
Posted inFeature
Magical Mystery Toads
The long, tangled, and mostly wrong history of the psychedelic toad.
Posted inNewsletter
Turf War
Seeing alternatives makes you realize how ubiquitous turfgrass is—though anyone who’s ever wrestled with their own Kentucky bluegrass doesn’t need to be reminded.
Posted inEditor's Pick
I Once Fell for the Fantasy of Uploading Ourselves. It’s a Destructive Vision.
“In the early 2000s, I spent hundreds of hours trying to upload my mind to the web.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: Twin Cities resistance, psychedelic self-reinvention, guardians of the ranch, a file of fragments, and Pantone’s political white.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Aaron Parsley, David Peisner, Leah Zani, Joseph Earl Thomas, and Matt Reynolds.
Posted inEditor's Pick
False Passives
As she travels north through Ethiopia, Anna Badkhen speaks with people who are looking for a way to escape — to cross the Gulf of Aden toward Yemen — and ruminates on the plight of refugees and vulnerable populations around the world. When does a journey begin? When droughts parch the land, or mudslides take entire farms […]
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week’s edition highlights stories by Chris Walker, Katie Prout, Tim Requarth, Michael Schulman, and Celia Bell.
Posted inNewsletter
A Forgotten Deportation, a New Questionnaire Series, and Our Top 5
An essay about a forgotten deportation and the reckoning it left behind, a glimpse into Maria Popova’s writing and reading life, and our five recommended stories of the week.
