The Ego Trip author on the sea, the pull of South Africa, and how his ecology background shapes the stories he tells.
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Posted inEditor's Pick
I Tried to Be the Government. It Did Not Go Well.
“My five-month quest to monitor the weather, track inflation, and inspect milk for harmful microorganisms.”
Posted inFeature
A Year in Reading: The Dark Side of Progress
We’re moving farther, faster, than ever before. But we’re also destabilizing crucial areas of human experience.
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Haunting in Brooklyn
“At 25, I saw my grandfather’s ghost. At 52, I think of what it may mean to be a ghost.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How a Script Doctor Found His Own Voice
“For decades, Scott Frank earned up to three hundred thousand dollars a week rewriting other people’s screenplays. Finally, he decided to stop playing ventriloquist.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Mars Delusion
“Establishing a human colony on Mars is fraught with risk. Why are so many people obsessed with achieving it?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Thornton Wilder’s Last Play Vanished Into Thin Air. Or Did It?
“Decades after ‘The Emporium’ failed to open on Broadway in 1954, one man went on a quest to find it.”
Posted inFeature
Best of 2025: Our Most Popular Originals of the Year
Our 10 most-read Longreads essays of 2025.
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Road Trip With the Do-Gooding Cactus Smugglers
“Can poaching ever be ethical?”
