Deconstructing Disney: Queer Coding and Masculinity in Pocahontas By Jeanna Kadlec Feature Pocahontas may seem like a strange vehicle for discussing our gay villains. But Disney gets inventive when they need to circumvent white people’s historical responsibility for genocidal atrocities — and queerness is a useful scapegoat. Friends: We Need Your Help to Fund More Stories
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Lost Album, Human Highway By David Gambacorta Feature How CSNY fumbled a chance to record their best album.
An Atlas of the Cosmos By Shannon Stirone Feature We’ve mapped Mars, the Moon, the solar system, even our own galaxy. Which means there is only one thing left to understand in this symbolic way and that is the entirety of the cosmos.
Out There I Have to Smile By Heather Lanier Feature Heather Lanier explores the pressure to perform happiness.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Breai Mason-Campbell, Simon J. Levien, Paola Capó-García, Emma Gilchrist, and Liam Boylan-Pett.
“We Can’t Rush This Kind of Power”: An Educator on Teaching Poetry to High Schoolers During the Pandemic By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight “Poetry has a way of forcing one into recognition, or transformation, or both if we’re lucky.”
‘The Price For Your Return to Normal Is My Life’: On Dismantling Layers of the Doll By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight “I have to wear all of these dolls, you see, so that Whiteness does not have to wear any.”
No Escape from Online Memories By Carolyn Wells Highlight The algorithms that drive Facebook, Pinterest, and a million other apps don’t know when your life changes course — and can keep up a stream of painful memories.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Eli Murray, Rebecca Woolington, and Corey G. Johnson, Ava Kofman, Olly Nze, Dina Gachman, and Larissa Pham.
Switch at Birth — But How? By Longreads Feature Two women gave birth on the same day in a place called Come By Chance. Half a century later, their children made a shocking discovery.
When Refugee Families are Separated, Women Carry the Burden By Longreads Feature The story of a Somali family uprooted by war and separated by America’s broken refugee resettlement system — and the siblings who brought them back together.
Listen to the Sound of My Voice By Seyward Darby Highlight How a journalist found her voice as her mother lost hers.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Megan Evershed, Mark Mann, Jaelani Turner-Williams, Minelle Mahtani, and Kim Cross.
The Silent Farm for Developmental Disabilities By Carolyn Wells Highlight “David believes that the men who come to the farm are able to connect deeply with the animals and the natural world, in part because of the way that society has dismissed them.”
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Lost Album, Human Highway By David Gambacorta Feature How CSNY fumbled a chance to record their best album.
Shelved: Dr. Dre’s Detox By Tom Maxwell Feature Killer beats, huge hype, and failure to follow through.
Why Bumblebees Love Cats and Other Beautiful Relationships By Longreads Feature On the wonders and benefits of natural relationships and what happens when humans meddle with the delicate balance between species.
Switch at Birth — But How? By Longreads Feature Two women gave birth on the same day in a place called Come By Chance. Half a century later, their children made a shocking discovery.
Deconstructing Disney: Queer Coding and Masculinity in Pocahontas By Jeanna Kadlec Feature Pocahontas may seem like a strange vehicle for discussing our gay villains. But Disney gets inventive when they need to circumvent white people’s historical responsibility for genocidal atrocities — and queerness is a useful scapegoat.
Whatever Happened to ______ ? By Longreads Feature Envy over her success led her husband, also a writer, to become violent. She fights every day for her safety — and to avoid being relegated to obscurity like so many writers who are mothers.
When Refugee Families are Separated, Women Carry the Burden By Longreads Feature The story of a Somali family uprooted by war and separated by America’s broken refugee resettlement system — and the siblings who brought them back together.
Why Bumblebees Love Cats and Other Beautiful Relationships By Longreads Feature On the wonders and benefits of natural relationships and what happens when humans meddle with the delicate balance between species.
The Powerful Decide By Longreads Feature What makes good or bad design happen anywhere depends on who has the most power.
‘The Sea and Sky Decide What They Will Allow’ By Krista Stevens Highlight “I’m working on a book about Arctic explorers, and that means swimming in a sea of sorrow.”
The Grieving Landscape By Longreads Feature Upon discovering that her mother had been a member of the group Women Strike For Peace (WSP), Heidi Hutner becomes obsessed with feminist nuclear history.
The Syrian Rebels Who Found Refuge in Books By Carolyn Wells Highlight In a town under siege from Assad’s regime, a small group built a library from books rescued from the rubble.
“People are dying waiting” By Krista Stevens Highlight “Miguel Jr. and Jeannette are troubled that Miguel’s doctors didn’t present ECMO as an option, and then resisted the idea when the family suggested it.”
The Silencing of #MeToo Reporting in Germany By Seyward Darby Highlight How an HIV specialist in Germany is using media law to erase reporting of sexual abuse allegations against him.
What Happened to Cruise Ship Workers Once the Passengers Were Gone? By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, cruise companies “went to great lengths to repatriate vacationers.” But for crew members, it was a different story.
Neighborhood Watch: The Strange Aftermath of a ‘Karen’ Encounter By Seyward Darby Highlight In a progressive New Jersey community, racial solidarity is complicated.
‘The Price For Your Return to Normal Is My Life’: On Dismantling Layers of the Doll By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight “I have to wear all of these dolls, you see, so that Whiteness does not have to wear any.”
Listen to the Sound of My Voice By Seyward Darby Highlight How a journalist found her voice as her mother lost hers.
Good Naked vs. Bad Naked By Krista Stevens Highlight “As marriages go, ours is an infant. Soft-skulled and milk-breathed. We’ve been married for two years, together for five.”
Pop Culture Portrays OCD as a Blessing. It’s Not. By Krista Stevens Highlight “The Wall Street Journal recently used the headline ‘We All Need OCD Now’ for an article on COVID-19 … Finally, my debilitating mental illness has a timely hook!”
Out There I Have to Smile By Heather Lanier Feature Heather Lanier explores the pressure to perform happiness.
