“How the internet reshaped itself around Google’s search algorithms — and into a world where websites look the same.”
Search results
Posted inEditor's Pick
Disaster at 18,200 Feet
The U.S. has seen an increase in National Parks visitors in recent years, as well as an outdoor climbing boom. At Denali National Park, that also means a surge in less experienced climbers: “more summit chasers, fewer wilderness seekers.” In this story for Insider, Kelsey Vlamis recounts the experience of four climbers attempting to summit […]
Posted inUncategorized
Six Stories About a Complex Cuisine and Our Top 5
“Migration patterns, together with demographic trends and climate change, mean that the cuisine must adapt. Italian food—so rooted in tradition and adamant in its authenticity—will have to change.” In previous reading lists, Longreads contributor Clare Egan has explored a range of topics: Ireland, queer ecology, and the decision to have a child. This week, Egan dives […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Boots on the Ground
“As FEMA struggles to keep up with climate disasters, extremist groups see an opportunity.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Online Shopping in the Middle of the Ocean
There’s no Amazon same-day delivery service for people living on the remote islands of French Polynesia, so locals launched their own e-commerce business and courier service to fill the gap. HM Coursier Express initially delivered anywhere: within Tahiti, to other islands, and also abroad. In the first year, Henriou built up a client base of […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Billionaires Like Elon Musk Want to Save Civilization By Having Tons of Genetically Superior Kids.
“Inside the movement to take ‘control of human evolution.'”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Kendrick Lamar’s New Chapter
“In partnership with his longtime collaborator, Dave Free, the greatest rapper of his generation is pushing himself — commercially and creatively — onto unexpected terrain.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending excellent stories by Tony Ho Tran, Rachel Aviv, Ariel Saramandi, Theo Lipsky, and Inori Roy.
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘Why You Talking to a Bum?’
“When the very presence of unhoused people on the Chicago Transit Authority is considered a public safety concern, who is the public, and what are we keeping them safe from?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Korean Immigrant and Michigan Farm Boy Who Taught Americans How to Cook Chow Mein
In 1922, two college classmates in Detroit — a Korean immigrant named Ilhan New and an American named Wally Smith — founded La Choy, a company that mass-produced Chinese food products. One hundred years later, to Chinese Americans the brand is “synonymous with cultural inauthenticity, even appropriation.” But, as Cathy Erway explores for Taste, the […]
