“Four-minute miles are almost routine. Middle schoolers are beating college runners. Inside the youth track boom that’s turning kids and teens into speed machines.”
Brendan I. Koerner
Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we feature stories from Gordy Megroz, Max Blau and Zaydee Sanchez, Brendan I. Koerner, Lora Eli Smith, and Pat Cassels.
Posted inEditor's Pick
One Vigilante, 22 Cell Tower Fires, and a World of Conspiracies
“Inside the mind of the most prolific anti-5G arsonist in the world—and the incoherent, very online political violence of our era.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman
“He thought he’d make millions of dollars selling solar panels door-to-door. The reality was much darker.”
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
I Went Undercover as a Secret OnlyFans Chatter. It Wasn’t Pretty
“Your online influencer girlfriend is actually a rotating cast of low-wage workers. I became one of them.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Reads from Zefyr Lisowski, David Gessner, Susie Cagle, Brendan I. Koerner, and Athena Aktipis and Coltan Scrivner.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Watch This Guy Work, and You’ll Finally Understand the TikTok Era
“The creator economy is fragmented and chaotic. Talent manager Ursus Magana can (almost) make sense of it, with a frenetic formula for gaming the algorithms.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Hibernator’s Guide to the Galaxy
“Scientists are on the verge of figuring out how to put humans in a state of suspended animation. It could be the key to colonizing Mars.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Loneliness of the Junior College Esports Coach
“He tried to save his wife through the video game they loved—and nearly lost himself. Then he signed up to lead a fledgling team of gamers in Cheyenne, Wyoming.”