Lockdown reads: Great journalism and writing you might have missed, part 3 (February 2020)

A picture operating at many levels here

We've reached February 2020 in this look back at great journalism and writing you might have missed.

We begin with the excellent Narratively, who ran this quirky piece by Rachel Veroff about a female millennial war re-enactor back in February.

A piece that feels particularly relevant at the moment was another piece they ran in their Secret Lives section about how a hard, brutal job led to a wider series of discoveries. This is What I Learned About Life at a Company That Deals In Dead Bodies by Sabra Boyd. You might find it a bit near the knuckle at the moment, but while it's dark, it is a fantastic read.

Trans visibility day happened in March, but largely went unnoticed amongst all the Covid-19 chaos. Back in February, Narratively (those guys again!) ran an excellent first person essay by Cooper Lee Bombardier called How to Transition When Your Models of Masculinity Are Macho Biker Dudes. Again, as with all their best work, it's not what you think it's going to be, but it is great.

Over at Wicked Leeks, Nina Pullman wrote a profile of a new, sustainable plant milk company. Here's hoping that company is able to survive the current chaos.

Tattoo culture is a lot more mainstream than it used to be but, for many of us, the art of medical tattoos is closed book. This fascinating piece by Cara Anthony on Kaiser Health News brings it into closure focus.

And finally, Lynsey Hanley wrote a thoughtful piece about responsive transport filling the gaps in a broken bus network over at The Guardian.

Image by Brandon Nelson on Unsplash