The Weekend Read

The Weekend Read is a series of first-person narratives and dispatches with a political through line. You can read these essays every Saturday on our website—or in your inbox if you subscribe to our Substack. 

Women wait to undergo a medical check in Paris in October 1944.

The Greatest Love Is Grieving The Greatest Love Is Grieving

I spent years as a labor organizer. Marguerite Duras’s war novel taught me that the strongest fighters are always the women hurting the most.

Mar 7, 2026 / Haley Mlotek

End of the Prague Spring, a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. A Russian tank patrols in Wenselas Square as locals walk by. August 1968.

This Minnesota Winter Is the New Prague Spring This Minnesota Winter Is the New Prague Spring

I’ve studied Czechoslovakia in 1968. I live in Minneapolis. The similarities between the historic invasion and the current ICE “surge” are scary.

Feb 28, 2026 / Alice Lovejoy

I’m a Journalist on SNAP. Here’s What I Saw During the Latest Food Crisis.

I’m a Journalist on SNAP. Here’s What I Saw During the Latest Food Crisis. I’m a Journalist on SNAP. Here’s What I Saw During the Latest Food Crisis.

As for virtually all SNAP recipients, my benefits have never been enough to cover monthly food expenses. Meanwhile, Trump calls any food aid at all “un-American.”

Feb 21, 2026 / Gabbriel Schivone

A pilgrim approaches the church in the village of Hospital on the Camino de Santiago.

Walking the Camino in the Shadow of Belief Walking the Camino in the Shadow of Belief

I trudged through Spain as a rift grew within American Catholicism. I returned home with a renewed sense and understanding of faith.

Feb 14, 2026 / Rhian Sasseen

Portrait of a young woman.

“Going Natural” in the Age of Facial Optimization “Going Natural” in the Age of Facial Optimization

The medspa industry is moving more quickly than we can keep up with. Meanwhile, women are being told that if we don’t too, we will lose our cosmetic capital.

Feb 7, 2026 / Emmeline Clein

Displaced Palestinians endure harsh winter conditions in makeshift tents after Israeli attacks destroyed their homes in Nuseirat, Gaza Strip, on January 11, 2026.

There Is No “After Gaza” There Is No “After Gaza”

Whether intentionally or with callous word choice, too many have begun relegating Palestine to the past tense.

Jan 31, 2026 / Sarah Aziza

Why I Didn’t Report My Rape

Why I Didn’t Report My Rape Why I Didn’t Report My Rape

In 2021, six men sexually assaulted me in a Las Vegas hotel room. Something more than abolitionism prevented me from reporting the crime.

Jan 24, 2026 / Anna Krauthamer

Notes on Transsexual Surgery Notes on Transsexual Surgery

An abundance of plastic surgery is not a net good. But discussions over its morality would be better off viewing it less as unfettered desire and more as self-determination.

Jan 17, 2026 / Grace Byron

Don’t Cry for Me Argentina

Don’t Cry for Me Argentina Don’t Cry for Me Argentina

The truth is I had to leave you.

Jan 3, 2026 / Marianela D’Aprile

Hector Casanova color illustration of “phone-heads.”

My Dumb Journey Through a Smartphone World My Dumb Journey Through a Smartphone World

I spent six months with a flip phone. I learned that a more conscious technological future will require much more than just unplugging.

Dec 20, 2025 / Martin Dolan

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