Age, Sex, Location

Chatrooms taught me everything I needed to know about what real people were like before I had to grow up and become one of them.
by Kira Homsher
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

An unjust police killing. Nature reclamation in the fossil fuel era. Surviving a bear attack. The underbelly of the antiquities trade. And for a well-earned dessert, the legacy of the world’s first breakout video game.…

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Editors’ Picks

I Can Feel God’s Presence in This Portable Toilet

Harrison Scott Key | The Bitter Southerner | March 14, 2023 | 5,200 words

“Harrison Scott Key invites us all to experience the joy, chaos — and, at times, horror — of St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah.”

Hip-Hop at Fifty: An Elegy

Jelani Cobb | The New Yorker | March 16, 2023 | 2,221 words

“A generation is still dying younger than it should—this time, of ‘natural causes.’”

Crimes of the Centuries

Greg Donahue | New York | February 13, 2023 | 5,058 words

“Tomb raiders, crooked art dealers, and museum curators fed Michael Steinhardt’s addiction to antiquities.”

Beyond Borders

Adam Schatz | London Review of Books | February 16, 2023 | 4,595 words

“Everything a man keeps on himself, in cases of capture, can save his life.”

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Reading Lists

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Our year-end collection

All the top #longreads of 2022, selected by our editors, featured authors, and readers.

Read our picks