This week, we’re sharing stories from Molly Redden, Sarah Schweitzer, Andrew Dickson, Namwali Serpell, and Lukas Hermsmeier.
Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox.
* * *
1. The Human Costs of Kamala Harris’s War on Truancy
Molly Redden | HuffPost | March 27, 2019 | 20 minutes (5,200 words)
The “progressive prosecutor” wanted to transform how California responded to students missing school. Parents like Cheree Peoples wound up paying the price.
2. Every Living Creature
Sarah Schweitzer | Medium | March 26, 2019 | 27 minutes (6,800 words)
When a massive Caribbean volcano erupts, the island’s residents flee, leaving their beloved animals behind. As pets and livestock are engulfed in ash and penned in by lava, waiting to perish, three brave souls risk death and evade the law to save every last one. A modern-day Noah’s Ark.
3. How to Move a Masterpiece: The Secret Business of Shipping Priceless Artworks
Andrew Dickson | The Guardian | March 21, 2019 | 22 minutes (5,656 words)
No one wants to be the courier on duty when a screwdriver accidentally stabs through the crate holding a Monet.
4. Beauty Tips From My Dead Sister
Namwali Serpell | BuzzFeed News | March 27, 2019 | 9 minutes (2,498 words)
“You can design your face for years, paint it like an artist, but in death they’ll mess up your makeup. Wipe off that garish mask with damp cotton balls. Redo my look: Shadow my eyes, gloss my lips, apply some highlights and shimmer. My face will be too thin, the skin stripped of glow; the eyes will look snuffed out. Make it pretty enough to say goodbye to.”
5. Berlin’s Radical Housing Activists Aren’t Afraid of Expropriations
Lukas Hermsmeier | The Nation | March 27, 2019 | 8 minutes (2,237 words)
“It’s a positive sign that our enemies are scared…Unfortunately, however, we are not dealing here with the return of socialism.”
Get the Longreads Weekly Email