Michelle Legro
Michelle Legro is an editor at Longreads. She was formerly the culture editor at The New Republic and a senior editor of Lapham’s Quarterly.
All Writing
Roundtable
The Rest Is History
A Bronze Age teenager hits the road, a magazine catalogs London’s prostitutes, and every character in Charles Dickens’ world gets a television show. More
Roundtable
Charles Mingus Toilet-Trains Your Cat
In 1952, Charles Mingus uses his cat Nightlife to teach the rest of us how to get felines to use indoor plumbing. More
Roundtable
The Eggnog Riot
In 1826, an out-of-control dorm party at West Point determined the future course of our nation’s military—all because its participants were hopped up on the nog. More
Roundtable
Top Chef, Old Master
Leonardo da Vinci may have been a genius polymath, but at the heart of his work was a love of food and kitchen experiments. More
Roundtable
Every City Has a Sex and an Age
Is Paris a young man in love or London an charming orphan? We asked the internet the sex and age of their hometown or adopted city. More
Roundtable
Two of Every Animal (and More)
Theodore Roosevelt’s huge bounty of game from his 1909 African safari filled the vaults of the Smithsonian museum. More