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Longreads features

A Place Among the Fiddlers

In a southwest Virginia fairground, thousands of musicians gather every August to keep a centuries-old tradition from flickering out.

Eating Alone

Soggy fries, ghost kitchens, and a $19 bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich: what we’ve actually gained on the path to convenience.

Going Up and Going In

A solo climber considers the outermost reaches of risk, and the unlikely ways in which they redefine us.

Ladies of the ’80s

How Madonna, Grace Jones, Joan Jett, Whitney Houston, and their contemporaries broke the stodgy musical mold of the ’60s and ’70s to inspire generations of women to pick up an instrument and learn to play music.

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Recent editors’ picks

The People of Utah vs. Kevin O’Leary

Josh Dzieza | The Verge | October 1, 2026 | 10,731 words

“Mr. Wonderful wanted to build the world’s largest data center. The neighbors had other ideas.”

The True Cost of Rape in America

Ashley Oerner | Cosmopolitan | October 2, 2026 | 3,184 words

“The horrific story of Jane Doe and the Cornell Seven has spurred nationwide outrage and revived contentious debates around prevention and education. But one question is still going unasked: Who…

How AI Replaced Me

Stephanie Uchino-Beach | Oakland Review of Books | October 2, 2026 | 3,445 words

“An edtech worker’s account of what got left behind.”

Orange Era

Dushko Petrovich Córdova | n+1 | September 15, 2026 | 4,622 words

“First it was a fire, then it was a color, and before too long it became a regime unto itself.”

The Bizarre, Murky History of Soviet-Born Tetris

Julien Mailland | The MIT Press Reader | September 24, 2026 | 1,983 words

“Behind the beloved game lies a struggle over mathematical ideas, erased collaborators, offshore millions, and copyright power.”

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Weekly Top 5

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Recommending notable stories from Caitlin Dickerson, Marci Wilding, Tiffany Huang, Nick Paumgarten, and Chabeli Carrazana.

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Showcasing stories from J.B. MacKinnon, Daniel Kolitz, Daniel Shailer, Justin Neuman, and Hanif Abdurraqib.

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Learn to Love Your Search Results Again.

Introducing the Longreads Story Recommender.

The Longreads questionnaire

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Excerpts from The Atavist Magazine, our sister publication

The Unforeseen Something

When a little girl in Iowa was diagnosed with a rare incurable disease, her parents and their community came together to help her. They wound up making medical history.

The Thief Who Wanted to Save the World

An ex-cop pulled off the largest armed robbery in Austria’s history, with his friend’s mistress as his accomplice. But he wasn’t trying to get rich. He wanted to be a real-life Robin Hood.

Secrets of the Atomic City

For decades, workers at a nuclear facility in Kentucky were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. Management assured them nothing was wrong. Then four friends risked everything to reveal the truth.

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Longreads reading lists

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