For years, Richie Henderson helped the children of Avenues The World School cross the street. For years, he cared for them like he cared for his own family. And when tragedy struck, that huge extended family did the same for him and his loved ones. A newspaper feature that embodies the best of the genre: sadness, hope, and a feeling that humans still...

This story was funded by our members. Join Longreads and help us to support more writers. In the face of the climate crisis, few pastimes seem quite as frivolous (or doomed) as skiing and snowboarding. Paying through the nose to slide down mountains, even while the planet burns and the ice melts, is rather absurd. Why, exactly, do...

Today’s internet is fragile, toxic, and broken, with tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Meta “consolidating their control deep into the underlying infrastructure.” In this thoughtful essay, Maria Farrell and Robin Berjon make their case for “rewilding” and rebuilding the web and look to ecologists for inspiration, vision, and actionable next steps....

Muskrat populations in North America are declining. But why? For Hakai Magazine, Brandon Keim dives into the reasons why the number of these under-appreciated, semiaquatic rodents are dwindling, to help us understand their contribution to the environment and the others species that share it. The animals are often mistaken for beavers, another...

This story was funded by our members. Join Longreads and help us to support more writers. This week we have stories on: The people who love the “pests” of New York. The racism that exploded a high school baseball team. The forces behind a cult that starved themselves to death. The mentality of a champion...

Just over a year ago, the players and coaches of a high school baseball team walked off the field soon after the game began while the parents applauded. They weren’t protesting an umpire or the other team’s behavior, though; instead, they were abandoning their own team’s only two Black players. Over the course of 8,000 words, Howard Bryant tells the...