“Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest.”
Search results
Posted inEditor's Pick
Escape from Los Angeles
“Author Katya Apekina writes of evacuating her home during the Palisades and Eaton Fires.”
Posted inNewsletter
Longreads Needs You, Reader
“Stories matter. And in a moment when people so rarely take the time to think before they speak, they matter more than ever.” Hi there, It’s pretty rare for us to send out an email that isn’t our Weekly Top 5 newsletter. In fact, I think the last one was almost a year ago. But […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Case of the Missing Chacmools
“Geoffrey Gray investigates the writer’s bizarre cult and finds himself entangled in a web of murky financial dealings, sex, possible foul play—and one death-defying supernatural being.”
Posted inNewsletter
Embracing the Struggle to Write
Episode highlights from The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, featuring The Chronology of Water author Lidia Yuknavitch.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: January begins, finding beauty, powerful blues, toxic water, and begonia batons.
Posted inNewsletter
Loneliness, Power, and the Top 5 of the Week
“I want to be left alone, but I don’t want to be lonely.” Hanif Abdurraqib writes this about a tension that dominated the career of singer Phyllis Hyman—but it also feels like a familiar plea in this dim, early-January week, when many of us leave the chaos of extended family and drift back into our own homes, our own jobs, and perhaps our own small pockets of solitude.
Posted inNewsletter
Bottles, Benches, and Building Connections (Plus Our Top 5)
This edition highlights reading about messages in bottles, public benches, infinity, a series of books about everything, and pay-to-play orchestras.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending stories by Pamela Colloff, Jasper Craven, Omer Bartov, Judith Sanders, and Lale Arikoglu.
Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories by Jeannette Cooperman, Jackson Arn, Andrew Hui, Myriam Gurba, and Simon Hattenstone.
