10 Incredible Long-Reads That’ll Transport You to Another Time and Place

There’s nothing like getting lost in a fascinating story — and now is a better time than any to dive into another world. From the gripping account of a 64-year-old woman who swam from Florida to Cuba to the mysterious life of a hermit who lived in the woods undisturbed for 30 years — you won’t be able to put these articles down.

The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit
For nearly thirty years, a phantom haunted the woods of Central Maine. Unseen and unknown, he lived in secret, creeping into homes in the dead of night and surviving on what he could steal.

How I Became A Minor Celebrity In China (After My Stolen Phone Ended Up There)
This really weird thing happened to me. Then it got even weirder. Then it turned insane. Do I have a story for you.

The Case of the Stolen Ruby Slippers
How a big crime in a small town produced a whodunit as gripping and colorful as “The Wizard of Oz” itself.


The Man Who Walked Backwards
When the Great Depression put Plennie Wingo’s Texas cafe out of business, he tried to find fame and fortune by embarking on an audacious trip around the world on foot. In reverse.

Breaking the Waves
In her sixties, a swimmer revives an old dream: to swim from Florida to Cuba—111 miles—no matter how many curious sharks and stinging jellyfish get in her way.

In Search of the Heart of the Online Cat-Industrial Complex
If you want to know why the Internet chose cats, you must go to Japan.

We’re All In This Together
Tell your fellow Americans that you plan to cross the United States by train, and their reactions will range from amusement at your spellbinding eccentricity to naked horror.


Bellagio Bandit: How One Man Robbed Vegas’ Biggest Casino and Almost Got Away
Tony Carleo stole $1 million in chips – then checked himself into the casino’s hotel to live like a king.

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