Five stories that question the stories we hold about ourselves.
Real Life Mag
Posted inEditor's Pick
Taking Stock
Rob Horning explores the term “creator” in this essay on labor, exploitation, and content production and consumption on the internet. “Creator,” like “creativity,” is essentially a null term that signifies nothing about one’s activity but instead marks one’s limitless availability — a willingness to make anything at all in one’s life into content for sale.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Tale Spin
What is storytelling? Megan Marz explores stories, narratives, blog posts, and vibes in this Real Life essay. While I could recognize that blog posts were narrative constructions, and many of them had conventional arcs, they seemed to break with a tradition that to me defined what stories were. They appeared to leak literary expression back […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Great Beyond
“While it is not new for technology to mediate our relationship to death, the interactivity and public-ness of in-memoriam profiles is distinctly novel.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Screen Memories
“Screenshots are also proof of memory — proof that I was there, online at a moment in time.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Home Body
On the visible and invisible systems that connect our homes to the outside world — and that bring injustice, power imbalances, and the labor of others into our private spheres.
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Jane Mayer, Michael J. Mooney, Elisa Gabbert, Nicole Chung, and Ashley Fetters.
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Moira Donegan, Leonora LaPeter Anton, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Linda Besner, and Geraldine DeRuiter.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Only a Fool Buys Kombucha on a Tuesday
“Off-peakers” try to save time and money by avoiding a 9-to-5 schedule.
Posted inEditor's Pick
After Hours
“Off-peak” lifestyle evangelists insist on the value of being untimely, but their lifestyle depends on the rest of us staying regimented.