Recent editors’ picks

What Can We Gain by Losing Infinity?

Gregory Barber | Quanta Magazine | April 29, 2026 | 3,985 words

“Ultrafinitism, a philosophy that rejects the infinite, has long been dismissed as mathematical heresy. But it is also producing new insights in math and beyond.”

We Bought an Orchestra

Jeffrey Arlo Brown | The Baffler | April 29, 2026 | 3,424 words

“The rise of pay-to-play in classical music.”

Up In Smoke

Philip Connors | The Baffler | April 15, 2026 | 3,393 words

“I woke up one day to the realization that I had written ten good pages of a book that was due in five months.”

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Recommending notable reads by Lauren Collins, Gabrielle Bruney, Gregory Barber, Sally O’Reilly, and Jeffrey Arlo Brown.

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

This week we are celebrating writing from Paul Collins, Daniel Lefferts, Mitch Therieau, Joseph Bullington, and Hanif Abdurraqib.

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

This week collects standout work from David Moudy-Miller, Caitlin Wash Miller, Kevin T. Baker, Alex Vadukul, and Jordan Ritter Conn.

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Highlighting excellent stories by Charles Bethea, Mahmoud Mushtaha, Geoffrey Gray, Luke Ottenhof, and Matthew Shaer.

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Showcasing stories from Megan O’Grady, Alexander Sammon, Alaina Demopoulos, Blair Braverman, and Jack Crosbie.

Recent editors’ picks

Shall We Play a Game?

Jon Peterson, with Angela Chen and Clara Collier | Asterisk | April 22, 2026 | 3,889 words

“Historian Jon Peterson traces the route from Prussian military headquarters to Gary Gygax’s basement.”

A Night’s Sleep

Vincenzo Latronico | The Yale Review | March 16, 2026 | 2,046 words

“An insomniac’s lifelong pursuit.”

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Lauren Collins | The New Yorker | April 27, 2026 | 5,869 words

“What happens when someone throws a message into the sea?”

When Your Digital Life Vanishes

Julian Lucas | The New Yorker | April 20, 2026 | 5,536 words

“A broken phone or corrupted drive can mean the loss of work, evidence, art, or the last traces of the dead. But sometimes data-recovery experts can summon lost files from the void.”

The Disappearance of the Public Bench

Gabrielle Bruney | Places Journal | April 21, 2026 | 7,497 words

“Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest.”

The Hardy Men

Daniel Lefferts | The New York Review of Books | April 16, 2026 | 3,368 words

“Why is a right-wing press reissuing century-old adolescent mystery novels?”

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