“What do I care for seeing these legends (insofar as MMA even has “legends”), in a sport not their own, at ages that seem criminally old? It’s sadder than any strung-out rocker strumming bloated and hoarse-throated to a braying audience. You can’t, in good conscience, want these men to play their hits again.”
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Iconic Comics of a Cuban Cartoonist and the Week’s Top 5
“If an image is the idea of an idea, then a franchise is that second idea in perpetuity, because the image is the thing you can sand down and actually sell. You can’t profit off of history unless you rewrite it.” Welcome to the weekend! Our newest Longreads feature, by writer and culture critic Gyasi […]
Eminem Found Himself in “Lose Yourself.” Will We Ever Let It Go?
“It also spawned his biggest hit—an underdog anthem that lives on through commercials and sports arena sound systems to this day.
Andrew Luck Finally Reveals Why He Walked Away From the NFL
“He had no idea what came next, or how hard it would be to find out. All he knew was that he didn’t have to pretend anymore.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we have stories from Suzy Hansen, Raksha Vasudevan, Linda Kinstler, Erica Berry, and Dave Denison.
Inside Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Great Wrexham Gambit
“What happens when two Hollywood actors who know nothing about soccer buy a middling pro team in Wales?”
Sex, Scandal, and Sisterhood: Fifty Years of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
A fascinating look at the evolution of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders — a history that reflects how attitudes have changed through the decades. What they introduced was sex and glamour into the gladiator arena of modern sports. They launched a wave of imitations across the NFL, creating a blueprint for beauty that’s practically branded on […]
Loneliness, Power, and the Top 5 of the Week
“I want to be left alone, but I don’t want to be lonely.” Hanif Abdurraqib writes this about a tension that dominated the career of singer Phyllis Hyman—but it also feels like a familiar plea in this dim, early-January week, when many of us leave the chaos of extended family and drift back into our own homes, our own jobs, and perhaps our own small pockets of solitude.
Sliding into the Future: A Reading List on Snowsports
Pointless elitism, or an urgent dress rehearsal for the climate crisis?
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring standout reads from Ian Urbina, Hanif Abdurraqib, Sallie Tisdale, Brad Rassler, and Adam Reiner.


