How do you bring yourself to plan for a baby after three miscarriages in a row?
Catapult
Posted inHighlight, History, Nonfiction, Quotes
“99 Luftballons” and the Grim Fairy Tales of ’80s West Germany
On storytelling in the shadow of Chernobyl, U.S. military planes, and not-so-distant German history.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Children of ‘The Cloud’ and Major Tom: Growing Up in the ’80s Under the German Sky
“In the sky you could watch history happen as though on the world’s most massive TV, and history’s wreckage could rain down on you at the park with your friends.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Renee Montagne and Nina Martin, Michael Hobbes, Rebecca Traister, Naima Coster, and Kristen Roupenian.
Posted inEditor's Pick
My Editor Was Black
“Debut author Naima Coster on working with Morgan Parker, the whiteness of publishing, and literary self-determination.”
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Anand Gopal and Azmat Khan, Claire Dederer, Dale Maharidge, Leslie Jamison, and Nina Coomes.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Nonfiction, Quotes
Giving Thanks, Silently
Nina Coomes recalls her family’s Thanksgiving vows of silence at a Catholic retreat center in Illinois.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why My Family Takes a Thanksgiving Vow of Silence
“The silent retreat gives us all time away from the bewilderment we tend to experience around American holidays.”
Posted inNonfiction
On Identity, Miyazaki, and Japanese Bathhouses
On belonging — and not belonging — in two worlds at once.
Posted inEditor's Pick
What Miyazaki’s Heroines Taught Me About My Mixed-Race Identity
On the wonder and strangeness of occupying a perpetually in-between space.