An investigation into a heinous (and lurid) crime. A look at the spirited world of competitive cheer. A visit to the world’s creepiest motel. An empathic eye on assisted dying. And the true planetary cost of your beloved cat. Our favorites of the week, pulled from all of our editors’ picks. 1. What Happened to Heather […]
American West
Posted inUncategorized
In the American West, a Clown Motel and a Cemetery Tell a Story of Kitsch and Carnage
“In Tonopah, Nevada, the victims of a ‘Death Harvest’ rest in the shadow of a haunted lodge.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
How a California Archive Reconnected a New Mexico Family with Its Chinese Roots
Amid a surge of anti-Asian hate in America, Aimee Towi Mae Tang, a fourth-generation Chinese New Mexican, wanted to know more about of her own identity and how her family settled in Albuquerque. Born in China and new to Albuquerque himself, journalist Wufei Yu decided to help the Tangs learn more about their history, and […]
Posted inBooks, Fiction, History, Profiles & Interviews, Story
‘Nobody in This Book Is Going to Catch a Break’: Téa Obreht on “Inland”
‘The history of the West is a deeply turbulent one… that kept the living population in a constant state of unrest. I thought this constant state of unrest must be true for the dead as well.’
Posted inNonfiction
A Once and Future Beef
Beef is a major culprit of the climate crisis, but if you want to consider beef’s future, then look to its past. The industry’s tactics have not changed as much as you might think.
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
The Ways of a Wandering Spirit
For many of us, road trips are also trips through the self.
Posted inCrime, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Story
‘I Saw My Countrymen Marched Out of Tacoma’
It started in Eureka, then it spread. Up and down the Pacific Coast, white mobs turned on Chinese-Americans.
Posted inBooks, History, Science & Nature, Story
Taming the Great American Desert
By advocating for agriculture in the arid West, Major John Wesley Powell challenged the way America viewed its right to develop the continent.
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction, Quotes, Science & Nature
Does Outdoor Recreation Correlate With Environmental Values?
Being an outdoorsy person doesn’t make you a conservationist, sadly.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
The Dying Days of the New West
Recent books about the American West turn the old frontier myth into a mirage.