A dozen exceptional stories from 2018 that deserve our ongoing attention.
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How Southern Cities Are Joining the Knowledge Economy
Greenville, South Carolina has revitalized its city center by incubating start-ups. Can other Southern cities do the same?
Elderly Japanese Women Are Turning to Crime to Find Companionship in Prison
For some elderly women in Japan, prison offers companionship and a life free from worry.
How Japan Deals with the Remains of Your Days
In Japan, business is booming for those who clean out apartments after people die.
How the American Meat Industry Exploits Undocumented Laborers
Meat processing is one of the most dangerous jobs in America, even more so if you’re one of the undocumented immigrants who sanitizes the facilities.
Longreads Best of 2018: Crime Reporting
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in crime reporting.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Sabine Heinlein, Leslie Jamison, Ijeoma Oluo, Eric Newcomer with Brad Stone, and Jill Lepore.
Suburbanizing Survivalism
Inside the booming business of survival food.
The Caviar Con
When caviar-crazed Eastern Europeans flocked to Warsaw, Missouri to poach eggs from a vulnerable species of fish, federal agents went undercover and spent two years to build a case against them.
Mexico’s Manufacturing Sector Will Survive With or Without America
Despite president Trump’s desire to build a wall and revise NAFTA, the godfather of Mexico’s manufacturing sector said they will survive.

