As once-popular Snapchat becomes an increasingly irrelevant platform, Helena Fitzgerald finds beauty in its uselessness.
the verge
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Rachel Monroe, Jianan Qian, Rene Ebersole, Adi Robertson, and Kyle Chayka.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Instagram Is Pushing Restaurants to Be Kitschy, Colorful, and Irresistible to Photographers
How the popular app has transformed the way diners, designers, and marketers approach restaurants. (Hint: that bold wallpaper pattern isn’t there by accident.)
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How ‘International Airbnb Style’ Became the Dominant Aesthetic of Our Time
From Beijing to Helsinki, quirkiness never looked more identical.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Welcome to Airspace
How the same design language — “the neutered Scandinavianism of HGTV” — took over coffee shops and Airbnbs from Brooklyn to Osaka.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Science & Nature
The Conservative Movement to Get the GOP on Board With Global Warming
These conservatives are hoping to rally Republican voters around global warming in a way that gets the GOP to finally listen.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Longreads Best of 2016: Arts & Culture Writing
We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here, the best in arts and culture writing.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Behind the Scenes of Children’s Television: A Reading List
These stories explore the art and economics of making television for kids.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Behind the Scenes of Children’s Television: A Reading List
These stories explore the art and economics of making television for kids.
Posted inEditor's Pick, Nonfiction, Quotes
Speak, Memory: Can Artificial Intelligence Ease Grief?
When Roman Mazurenko died, his friend Eugenia Kuyda created a digital monument to him: an artificially intelligent bot that could “speak” as Roman using thousands of lines of texts sent to friends and family.