We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in arts and culture writing.

We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in profile writing.

We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in investigative reporting.

We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories.

We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year. Here is the best in sports writing.

Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.

In an age of economic and political instability, what do the spaces we dwell in say about us?

Five pieces about Gord Downie, a man who used his last two years to build a better Canada.

The commodification of female friendship began in the suburban living room. Today, it’s booming online.

A reading list dedicated to queer and trans comedians, and comedians of color.

With her profiles of Toni Morrison, Dave Chapelle, James Baldwin, and more, Ghansah is an unparalleled chronicler of black excellence.

Why were we personally affected by a woman few knew and even fewer ever understood?

A guided reading list on feminism, fandom, and fidelity for Buffy enthusiasts.

This weekend’s events will resonate long after the crowd was dispersed, long after the cable news trucks leave, long after the school year begins.

The failures of Kathryn Bigelow’s film undercut the fullness, complexity, and beauty of Detroit.

This was the year ‘The Bachelorette’ tried to take on race. Things did not go well.

Five stories about movies, for your reading pleasure.

Thousands of people in the U.S.’s all-volunteer military are transgender.

The zombie movie is more than an easy scare. It’s also become an essential lens through which we can view society.

Eight stories and two bonus reads for Pride month.

J.K. Rowling’s first book was published 20 years ago today. Did it create better readers, or just more of them?

Nine stories that explain the fraught history of the holiday, and the need for celebration. 

These features show a rigorous approach to the truth, a convergence of the of the personal and political, and excellent writing.

For retailers, fathers have simple needs: books, steaks, gadgets. But the dads most of us grew up with, and without, are a more inscrutable lot.

Profiles of Senator Harris over the past decade show her as both smart and warm. Increasingly, they ask if she has what it takes to win.

The Librarian of Congress hailed Smith as a “poet of searching.”

Rafa Nadal won his 11th French Open title on Sunday. A look back at his career.

The plot of the book came to me as I was falling asleep: two girls share a bedroom, and squabble until they have no choice but to divide their room in half. Only one girl has access to the bedroom door. The other has the closet, which turns out to be an elevator. Suddenly, I was […]

The Golden Gate Bridge has long embodied the contradictions of the city it overlooks: ambition, connection, innovation, a beginning and an end.

Kate Gavino shares five stories about forgotten women authors, from Anita Brookner to Nancy Mitford.