In this edition: the appeal of the surreal, decoding AI dreck, goop relations, learning to think, and pigeon racing pitfalls
The Paris Review
Posted inEditor's Pick
Homeward Bound: On Pigeon Racing
“They flap their wings as fast as they can until they disappear over the horizon—all heading toward Chicago, all heading home.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Car Talk
“I’d kept up my license, but now I needed a car. What kind of car? As in the usual run of things—a congenital tilt towards irreality, an obdurate wistfulness—I pined for something that did not exist: the car at the end of the mind.”
Posted inUncategorized
The Man in the New Boots
“Maybe it’s that it’s goddamned insane to ride a bull, and America is full of crazy people who for no earthly reason see that sort of thing and want to try it themselves.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Horseshoe Crab Diary
“They inspired the same fear and delight that walking in the woods once did when I was a child: the fear and delight of discovery.”
Posted inReading List
Dimes, Dunks, and Devotion: A Basketball Reading List
Seven essays that go beyond the box score.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Monks in Jersey
“Two cars full of supplies and people for a weekend of living more with less.”
Posted inReading List
Kingdom of Funga: A Mycelial Reading List on a Strange and Surreal World Around Us
Seven stories celebrating the mystery and power of fungi.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we have stories from Sarah Miller, James D. Walsh, Hanif Abdurraqib, Gabrielle Drolet, and Jeremiah David.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Recurring Screens
“A screen saver periodically smokes the locusts out, thereby saving the screen from the disfigurement of monotony.”