“Hollywood is notorious for erasing people. But her sister and nieces refused to forget Lora Lee Michel.”
Los Angeles Times
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend stories by Naomi Gordon-Loebl, Jean Guerrero, Ben Goldfarb, Dan Kois, and Reeves Wiedeman.
I Once Fell for the Fantasy of Uploading Ourselves. It’s a Destructive Vision.
“In the early 2000s, I spent hundreds of hours trying to upload my mind to the web.”
Pregnant, Homeless and Living in a Tent: Meet Mckenzie
In 2018, reporter Gale Holland, photographer Christina House, and videographer Claire Hannah Collins spent time with young unhoused people in an encampment above the Hollywood Freeway. Their Hollywood’s Finest series for the Los Angeles Times tells the stories of three women, including Mckenzie Trahan, a young woman who has been in and out of foster […]
A Bittersweet Escape for Afghans From a Music School Gone Silent
“What will happen to Afghan programs like the Zohra Orchestra as the Taliban regains control of the country?”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Matt Hamilton and Garrett Therolf, Lacy M. Johnson, Devin Kelly, Max Bell, and Rainesford Stauffer.
The Man Who Didn’t Invent Flamin’ Hot Cheetos
“He’s now retired in his early 60s, after a full career climbing the corporate ladder. Montañez made it, from rags to riches, from factory floor to corporate suite. He just didn’t make Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.”
Seagulls Who Eat People Food Poop People Food on Protected Lands
Fast food is killing the human world. Now it could be killing California gulls’ protected island habitat.
Can Coastal California Adapt to Climate Change?
Rising sea levels and aggressive erosion could prove to be the greatest crisis modern Californians will ever face.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Gabriel Thompson, Tim Murphy, Deborah Netburn, Tove Danovich, and Sirin Kale.