During times of isolation and dramatic change, our stories from around the world are an essential global historical record.
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Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2022: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
All the stories we’ve selected as number one in our weekly Top 5 newsletter.
Posted inFeature
Best of 2025: All Our Number One Story Picks
Every story we selected for the number one slot in our weekly newsletter, all in one place.
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2021: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Story
Bowie Knives, Concealed Rifles, and Caning Charles Sumner
As the Civil War loomed, weapons — like the recently invented bowie knife and rifles that were shipped to Kansas hidden in crates labeled as bibles — became complex political symbols.
Posted inNonfiction
It’s Like That: The Makings of a Hip-Hop Writer
Hip-hop was a different kind of music that needed a different kind of writer to cover it. This is how Michael A. Gonzales came of age in a time when Black writers began breaking the white ceiling.
Posted inArts & Culture, Blog Post, Culture, Current Events, Highlight, Profiles & Interviews, Reading List
A Kendrick Lamar Syllabus
The Pulitzer Prize-winner’s work always feels honest, as writers have found when they dive deep into his literary influences.
Posted inNonfiction
The Case for Letting Malibu Burn
Many of California’s native ecosystems evolved to burn. Modern fire suppression creates fuels that lead to catastrophic fires. So why do people insist on rebuilding in the firebelt?
Posted inEditor's Pick, Essays & Criticism, Nonfiction
Jack, Jacqueline — Dad
Yvonne Conza wrestles with the complexities of estrangement from her dying — complicated — dad.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Jack, Jacqueline — Dad
Yvonne Conza wrestles with the complexities of estrangement from her dying — complicated — dad.
