On trying to be a “world citizen”—and how expat life rarely delivers on its promises.
China
Posted inEditor's Pick
Unraveling the Mystery of the Art God
“For a decade, one writer tried to unravel the story of Dorje Chang, whose artwork sold for millions and who claimed to be the third coming of Buddha. Then he got an email: Dorje Chang and his wife were dead. What really happened?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Planet TikTok
“The app’s young user base, fragmented content, and amped-up algorithm helped it spread around the world. If the US bans it, what would be lost?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Who’s Afraid of Mickey Mouse?
“Why the Disney formula doesn’t work in China.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Lost at Parkland: ‘Peter Was Always My Translator’
For one family, grieving the child they lost in the Parkland, Fla., school shooting is complicated by differences in language and culture.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Fentanyl: The Portrait of a Mass Murderer
“A cheap, white powder—50 times more powerful than heroin—which kills more than 70,000 people each year in the United States and countless others across the rest of the Western Hemisphere.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Days of the Jackal
How Andrew Wylie turned serious literature into big business.
Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring standout reads from Ian Urbina, Hanif Abdurraqib, Sallie Tisdale, Brad Rassler, and Adam Reiner.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Crimes Behind the Seafood You Eat
“China has invested heavily in an armada of far-flung fishing vessels, in part to extend its global influence. This maritime expansion has come at grave human cost.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Heavily Persecuted, Highly Influential: China’s Online Feminist Revolution
“On Chinese social media, women are censored and harassed, but undeterred.”