Defining Color
“A deep pink that is bluer, lighter, and stronger than average coral, bluer than fiesta, and bluer and stronger than sweet william.”
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Longreads features
Into the Darkness
Germany’s Black Forest faces a future of transformation. So do the people who have lived there for centuries.
My Unlikely Existence
Is AI helping prospective parents game the fertility lottery? Should it?
An Internet of Checkpoints
A mysterious YouTube video gave thousands of people a place to breathe. Then it vanished.
35 and 1
A brother lost, a son born, and the strange arithmetic of love.
Vigilantes at Dawn
A forgotten deportation, a family archive, and the cost of belonging.
The Endless Self
Exploring animal life beyond the limits of human understanding.
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Weekly Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories by Aria Aber, Sean Williams, Jesse Barron, Ryan Francis Bradley, and John Seabrook.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories by Brenna Ehrlich, Patrick R. Crowley, Abe Beame, E. Tammy Kim, and Jeffrey McWhorter.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Andrew Logan, Arash Dabestani, Eric McHenry, Carolina A. Miranda, and Andy Hageman.
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Learn to Love Your Search Results Again.
Introducing the Longreads Story Recommender.
The Longreads questionnaire
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Neal Allen and Anne Lamott
The authors of the new book Good Writing share their insights on reading, writing, and their day-to-day life.
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Julian Brave NoiseCat
The author of We Survived the Night and co-director of Sugarcane responds to our 25 questions on writing, reading, and creativity.
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Rebecca Solnit
The author of The Beginning Comes After the End talks about jackrabbits, her own “informational hypervigilance,” and the one word she won’t stop using.
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Excerpts from The Atavist Magazine, our sister publication
The Dark and Stormy Tale of a ShantyTok Band
When a scraggly band of folk musicians arrived to tour the UK, residents of a small Welsh town were enamored—until they learned that the band’s leader ruled with an iron fist.
‘I Promise You, You Have Your Soul.’
Three mothers, one struggle: saving their children with schizophrenia.
Anatomy of Absolute Power
The people of Wilcox County, Alabama, remember a longtime sheriff as a god or a monster—it just depends on who you ask.
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Longreads reading lists
Long Live the Rom-Com
Love, Actually, Never Died: A reading list on the evolution of the romantic comedy.
Seeing is Believing: A Reading List on Making Meaning from Data
Eight stories on the power and beauty of visual communication.
‘Actually Really Sacred’: A George Saunders Reading List
Nine essays and interviews from literature’s favorite laureate of compassion.
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