This week’s edition highlights stories by Peter Flax, Abigail Edge, Jesús A. Rodríguez, Henry Wismayer, and Elif Batuman.
Narratively
Posted inEditor's Pick
The First Family of Human Cannonballing
“David and Jeannie Smith gave up their day jobs for a life of daredevil stunts —with six children in tow.”
Posted inReading List
More Than Just an Object: A Collector’s Reading List
The bowerbird, which lives on the east coast of Australia, has an abiding eye for anything blue. Solitary males travel great distances to bring back all manner of blue objects to decorate their nests. Shells, flowers, plastic bottles, and feathers are all fair game, and bowerbirds have even been known to grind up blue pigments […]
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week’s list features stories from Shara Johnson. Paul Fischer, John Woodrow Cox, Marc Hogan, and Angelica Jade Bastién.
Posted inEditor's Pick
They Were Labeled Witches. They Just Had Dementia.
“In tribal communities across Namibia, older, eccentric people are often accused of witchcraft and violently attacked.”
Posted inReading List
Archives of Our Own: A Reading List on Fandom & Community
Fandom gets at our most human urges: to share the things we love with others, to seek community among like-minded peers, especially at a time when we are all still too far apart.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Meet the Obsessive Role-Players Who Live Inside the World of Grand Theft Auto
“Renegade developers co-opted this controversial video game’s source code to build a complex alternate universe where breaking character is the cardinal sin. Millions tune in to watch.”
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Lizzie Presser, Greg Jaffe, Phillip Picardi, Amy Yee, and Paul Brown.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Crime Victim Who’s Obsessed with True Crime Shows
“Before the shooting, watching true crime shows was a diversion. Afterward, it is no longer simply a genre to me.”
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Brent Cunningham, CJ Hauser, Carla Bruce-Eddings, Caroline Rothstein, and Lisa Grossman.