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[Fiction] Two college friends speculate about a stranger in town: “We were two sombre boys hunched in our coats, grim winter settling in. The college was at the edge of a small town way upstate, barely a town, maybe a hamlet, we said, or just a whistle stop, and we took walks all the time, […]

A reassessment of Chevy Chase’s failed late-night show for Fox: “That fateful minute of time also showed just how not hip Chevy Chase had become by 1993. At that moment, everybody collectively realized that somebody messed up and let Ty Webb become a month away from turning 50 years old. Unlike David Letterman, who we […]

This week, we’re excited to share a Member Pick from Narratively, the New York-based (and Kickstarter-backed) storytelling site that launched last fall and has been featured on Longreads in the past. “Watch Dog,” by Kerri Anne Renzulli, will be published in a two weeks, and they were kind enough to make the story available early to Longreads Members. Renzulli, a […]

A profile of Ben Jealous, the president and CEO of the NAACP: “‘Governor,’ said Jealous. ‘You know the death penalty is used exclusively on poor people.’ “‘Yes.’ “‘You know it’s used disproportionately against blacks and Latinos.’ “‘Yes.’ “‘Well, Governor, this is what I want you to do: imagine the person you most worry about in […]

The nearly forgotten story of Bernard Finch and his mistress Carole Tregoff, who were found guilty of murdering Finch’s wife in 1959: “As Finch’s money dried up, he withdrew to the confines of his West Covina motel room and Tregoff’s one-bedroom Las Vegas apartment. Feeling aggrieved and persecuted, the couple decided to take action. On […]

How modern fertilizer, and the nitrogen in it, have led to bountiful harvests with a larger environmental cost. Scientists are trying to find a balance: “The nitrogen dilemma is most starkly visible in China, a country that loves its food and worries that supplies might run out. To the casual visitor, that anxiety seems misplaced. […]

Longreads just celebrated its fourth birthday, and it’s been a thrill to watch this community grow since we introduced this service and Twitter hashtag in 2009. Thank you to everyone who participates, whether it’s as a reader, a publisher, a writer—or all three. And thanks to the Longreads Members who have made it possible for […]

The author on his experience aboard the “Top Chef Cruise” and seeing former “chef’testants”: “There were also live Quickfires. There were two of these a night, and they were always packed to the gills. Audience volunteers joined chefs onstage for challenges familiar to anyone that’s watched the show. The MC was shaky, and the whole […]

This week’s Member Pick is “Yellow,” a story by Antonia Crane about the days following the death of her mother. The piece will be featured in Black Clock #17 this summer and is adapted from her forthcoming book Spent. We asked her to tell us how the story first came together.

Manufactured homes in trailer parks could be an affordable way to house a growing number of seniors on a budget: “Seniors who can live on their own cost the country relatively little—they even contribute to the economy. But those who move into nursing homes start to run up a significant tab—starting at $52,000 a year. […]