“Over the course of 33 years, Gittins painstakingly transformed almost every surface of this flat with a series of artworks in a variety of styles and mediums, from friezes on the walls of his living room to a Roman altar in his kitchen and enormous, ambitious fireplaces (yes, multiple).” Hello and welcome to the Top […]
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Which Way to Westeros?
With a plethora of fantasy appearing on streaming services, we take a look back at Adrian Daub’s essay on world-building maps.
A New Series, An Unknown History, and the Week’s top 5
“Minstrelsy shows you one hand, convinces you of one thing—the thing you can see most vividly—while something else works behind the scenes. That something is something only those who are tapped into a specific kind of pain, a specific kind of quest for freedom that has failed before but is not worth abandoning, might understand.” […]
Ice Cream Panic, Airship Catastrophe, and our Top 5
“But, for me, the classic is an oyster: a scalloped, hinged wafer dipped in mallow and chocolate, with desiccated coconut at the edges, piped full of vanilla soft serve and squiggled madly with monkey’s blood (OK, raspberry sauce).” This summer, I have spent a lot of time in England, and a particular vehicle has been […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Fatima Syed, Jack Crosbie, Charlotte Higgins, Sonya Bennett-Brandt, and Camille Bromley.
Best of 2023: All of Our Number Five Story Picks
Each story we chose as our number five piece of the week in 2023, all in one place.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week’s installment features stories by Lee van der Voo, Adam Gopnik, Surabhi Ranganathan, Masha Udensiva-Brenner, and Mikey O’Connell.
Science Cheats: A Reading List on Unscrupulous Scientists
Six stories on the shady side of scholarship.
We ❤️ Librarians (and the Week’s Top 5)
“I still work as a librarian . . . . But my work has changed drastically. I’m trained in violence de-escalation, trauma-informed reference, and medical and mental health first aid, which includes overdose prevention training. I have intervened in fights, talked people down from suicide, removed domestic violence victims from their abusers, hugged strangers, and […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories from Paul Kix, Matthieu Aikins, Matt Alt, Elisa Gabbert, and Sophie Elmhirst.


