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Living in an Alive World

Soft eyes, deep listening, and other ways to extend human perception beyond our limits.

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Recent editors’ picks

No Return

William Finnegan | The New Yorker | June 29, 2026 | 9,169 words

“Did an experienced alpinist leave his girlfriend to die at the top of a mountain?”

Silicon Valley Circuits

Hua Hsu | Places Journal | July 8, 2026 | 6,503 words

“Route 85 in California now inspires dread. Some of us remember when it was a vision of the future.”

Dopamine TV

Lavender Au | The Dial | June 30, 2026 | 2,530 words

“How China’s short dramas are redefining entertainment.”

The Florida Alligator Dragnet

Luke Winkie | Slate | June 30, 2026 | 8,019 words

“When an alligator kills someone in America, it can make international headlines. What happens to the thousands of gators that people deem ‘nuisances’ does not.”

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Weekly Top 5

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Introducing the Longreads Story Recommender.

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Excerpts from The Atavist Magazine, our sister publication

The Fugitive Childhood of a Cocaine Smuggler’s Daughters

“When their parents ripped two young sisters from their privileged lives, gave them fake names, and took them on the lam, they thought it was because their father was in trouble with the IRS. It would be years before they learned the truth about his life of crime.”

Open Season

Colorado’s San Luis Valley was a wildlife poacher’s paradise. Then an undercover federal agent arrived.

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Longreads reading lists

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