“I had to do everything the jurors did—sit in every court session, examine each piece of evidence, look out from the jury box every day at a man accused of murder—but I wouldn’t participate in the deliberation unless two jurors dropped out.”
The Sun
Posted inEditor's Pick
On Walking
“To love walking is to love the body, and this has been a barrier for me.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Nicholas Hune-Brown, Nick Sturm, Samanth Subramanian, Kristin Idaszak, and Sy Safransky.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Cat Who Woke Me Up
“Even though my brain is confused and I’m struggling, always struggling, to see if my writing is good, I still want to write. And the writing that matters the most to me isn’t about Alzheimer’s. It’s about a cat.”
Posted inReading List
Dimes, Dunks, and Devotion: A Basketball Reading List
Seven essays that go beyond the box score.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Coach’s Kid
“On defense Dad put me at linebacker, a position that allowed me to unleash some of the harmful energy I had previously aimed at myself.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Fighting the Tree
“Maybe I wasn’t the son Dad wanted. Maybe, if he could have, he would have picked another kid, a son he could enjoy parenting.”
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2019: Essays
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in essays.
Posted inCulture, Nonfiction, Quote Posts, Quotes
Living to Tell About It
Struggling with trauma, sexual objectification, and self-harm, the teenage T Kira Madden found salvation in her close relationships with other young women.