Cheri Lucas Rowlands

Sebastopol

Editor @longreads. @automattic since 2012. Californian since 1979. Junglist for life. Not checking Twitter anymore. Drafts/pitches: [email protected].

Featured in: Favicon

longreads.com Favicon

medium.com Favicon

substack.com Favicon

newspack.pub Favicon

flipboard.com

Articles

How Societies Morph With the Seasons

1 week ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

The social world of the BaYaka, a group of foragers that lives primarily in the Central African rainforest, is guided by the seasons. But seasonality dictates more than their diet. “They require entire social reorganizations,” writes Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias. “Leadership, cooperation, and even spiritual life transform with the seasons.” In this Sapiens essay, Padilla-Iglesias explains that throughout history, humans have been similarly flexible and socially fluid.
3 Teens Almost Got Away With Murder. Then Police Found Their Google Searches

1 week ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

For Wired, Raksha Vasudevan recounts the 2020 Green Valley Ranch arson in Colorado—a fire that killed five members of a Senegalese family. The arsonists, three teenagers who had targeted the house by mistake, were eventually caught after law enforcement uncovered their Google searches. In this story, Vasudevan raises urgent questions about privacy, surveillance, and our digital footprints. At a department meeting in September, Baker and Sandoval pleaded with colleagues for ideas.
They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.

1 week ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

For The New York Times, Kashmir Hill reports on the dark and disturbing side of interacting with AI. This unsettling story shows how ChatGPT can hallucinate and “go off the rails,” especially when engaging with vulnerable users or people struggling with mental health who seek guidance.
The Final Flight of Captain Forrester

1 week ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

In this riveting Texas Monthly feature, Josh Alvarez tells the story of Ron Forrester, a Marine from Odessa, Texas, who went missing after a mission during the Vietnam War. For 51 years, his daughter, Karoni Forrester, never gave up the search to find out what happened.
The Gravekeeper's Paradox - Longreads

2 weeks ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

In a cemetery, decay is both an enemy and an ally. In this piece from the Nautilus archives, David Shultz tours Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with David Gallagher, its “chief of conservation.” Shultz learns about the longevity of different types of of stone, from marble to granite, and explores what people really want when they consider the markers for their eternal resting places.
The Man Who Unsolved a Murder

2 weeks ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

For CalMatters, Anat Rubin reports that poor people accused of crimes—who make up at least 80 percent of criminal defendants—are routinely convicted in California without anyone investigating the charges against them. This statewide failure stems largely from the lack of dedicated public defense investigators.
Hollywood Has Left L.A.

2 weeks ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

Despite fake footage circulated during the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, the iconic Hollywood sign did not burn down—it still stands, overlooking the city. But Hollywood, the industry, has dried up. “What began years ago as a trickle has suddenly become an exodus,” writes Lane Brown in Vulture.
Teachers Are Not OK

2 weeks ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

404 Media’s Jason Koebler asked teachers how ChatGPT and other generative AI tools have changed the way they teach. “I’m just so preoccupied and vexed by the irresponsible manner in which the tech bros threw all of this at us with no concern, consent, or collaboration,” remarks John Dowd. In this article, Koebler compiles responses from a range of educators, including English teachers, a debate coach, and an instructor in a doctoral program focused on the responsible development and use of AI.
In Death, New Life: The Science And Symbolism of a Whale Fall

3 weeks ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

In 2025, an unusually high number of whales have washed up dead along the shores of the greater San Francisco Bay Area region—nine gray whales in just the past two weeks. The images are haunting: massive, graceful creatures decomposing on the sand. But Omnia Saed’s short yet poignant Atmos essay, accompanied by stunning photographs by Lena C. Emery, offers a kind of solace. Saed reframes the death of a whale not as an end, but as a beginning—and a boon to the deep sea.
A Septic Tank in This Tiny Arizona Town Could Crack a 2006 Cold Case

3 weeks ago | longreads.com | Cheri Lucas Rowlands

For Phoenix New Times, Stephen Lemons unravels an intriguing true-crime mystery. Nineteen years ago, 46-year-old Keith King vanished from the small town of Seligman, Arizona. According to one account, he took off for a hike on May 7, 2006—and was never seen again. “It was as if he’d been beamed up by one of the extraterrestrials he believed in and sometimes believed himself to be.