Krista Stevens

1 week ago | longreads.com | Krista Stevens

At Bolts Magazine, Phillip Vance Smith II introduces us to Joseph Jones, Sethy Seam, April Barber Scales, Leo Swain, and Jhalmar Medina. They were all incarcerated in North Carolina, sentenced to serve life in prison with no chance of parole for crimes they committed as children. While Seam and Scales have since been released, Jones, Swain, and Medina remain among the 100 people in North Carolina still incarcerated, decades later.

1 week ago | longreads.com | Krista Stevens

For Slate, Jonathan Farmer interviews critic A.O. Scott about his popular column for the Books section of the New York Times, in which he analyzes a single poem each month. Scott talks about the interactive technology that allows people to deconstruct a poem with him as they scroll, the encouraging feedback he’s received from readers, and his fascinating approach to craft as a reviewer.

1 week ago | longreads.com | Krista Stevens

For Electric Literature, Maggie Andersen writes about how her father showed his love with rides to the bus stop, trips that helped her learn personal responsibility as a teen traveling to school. Andersen examines her dad’s subtle lessons about what you can and cannot afford to lose—both financially and emotionally—and the lengths he went to make sure she was safe while she acquired the navigation and interpersonal communication skills it takes to be an adult in this world.

1 week ago | longreads.com | Krista Stevens

When you sit down to eat a meal, do you know exactly where your food comes from and how it was raised? In a revision of a story originally published at Food as a Verb, David Cook profiles the Cherry Family of Tennessee, owners of Bear Creek Farm and Cherry Meat Co., a USDA processing plant. The Cherry Family takes pride in raising and processing cattle and pigs humanely, selling them to customers like Chris LeBlanc of Main Street Meats in Chattanooga, TN.

2 weeks ago | longreads.com | Krista Stevens

You’ve probably heard of the internet of things, which is connectivity within everyday objects that can receive and send data. (Think smart TVs, dishwashers, fridges, cars, etc.) For Audubon Magazine, Ashley Stimpson reports on the internet of animals, offering five examples of bird species who, with small censors attached, can help humans learn more about weather patterns, protect whales from ship strikes, nab bird poachers, and more.