We recommend these incisive essays on Abbott Elementary, The White Lotus, and The Dropout in Scalawag’s series on pop culture and justice.
racism
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Searching for the Mountaintop in Upstate New York
A family confronts its racial past along the Appalachian Trail.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Hate Speech on the Bitterroot
“For reasons I still don’t understand, I told almost no one about the incident at Poker Joe. After all, why taint the hundreds of memories I have of that treasured place with one disgraceful episode? The river there is handsome in all seasons. Our family has picnicked there, swum there, skipped stones, drunk wine. It’s […]
Posted inHighlight, Nonfiction, Reading List
Charting Worlds: Five Longreads About Maps
From fantasylands to unique cartographers (including one that’s non-human), here are five stories about maps.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Prince & Place
“Prince’s sound is a musical hybrid, in which the history of Minneapolis, its people, and the social forces organizing life there are brought together.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Strangers in Our Own Homes
“We frequently ghost ourselves even when we are looking in the mirror, hoping to show up worthier, richer, fairer, and lovelier for this country.”
Posted inNonfiction
The Cult That Promises to Cure Addiction
For 50 years, Enthusiastic Sobriety programs have offered to help teenagers kick drugs and alcohol. But former followers say ES doesn’t save lives—it destroys them.
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Racist Scientist Built a Collection of Human Skulls. Should We Still Study Them?
“After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 sparked protests for racial justice around the country, more and more people within and outside Penn began to see the Morton collection as a present-day perpetuation of racism and its harms, rather than just a historic example.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why Do Detainees Keep Dying in This Baton Rouge Jail?
“In one decade, 45 people died in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Most were charged with nonviolent misdemeanors. Most didn’t have their day in court. Most were Black. How did the system fail them?”