This week, we’re sharing stories from Jesse Eisinger, Jeff Ernsthausen, and Paul Kiel, Arno Kopecky, Isaac Würmann, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal, and Laura Spinney.
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we feature stories from Tom Scocca, Giles Harvey, Chris Walker, Krithika Varagur, and N.C. Happe.
Legendary Treasures, A Feared Journalist, and Our Top 5
“The appeal of the quest transcends material gain or historical significance. Each of these hunts holds at its heart a puzzle to solve—and for some, that puzzle can turn into an obsession, even a fatal one. But the promise remains difficult to resist.” We can’t believe it: December is here! Start off your weekend with […]
Best of 2022: Investigative Reporting
The incredible stories that exposed abuses of both power and people.
Learning to Walk Again (and Our Top 5)
“The average U.S. public school has about 550 students. Imagine eight or nine schools in an area roughly the size of Philadelphia where every kid is missing at least one limb. Imagine also that their amputations happened alongside a torrent of other tragedies: the loss of family members, friends, neighbors, schools, houses.” In the latest issue of […]
Parks and Re-Creation (and the Week’s Top 5)
“In spite of my confidence in cooking, I’ve never brought mulukhiyah into my urban kitchen. Eating it without my family’s elbows pressed against mine doesn’t make sense to me. I know I’d feel like an impostor, inserting myself into the sacred and altering it irreparably, as I can’t help but reinvent recipes with my own improvised […]
The Guardians of Elmhurst
“As COVID-19 spread across the United States, one hospital in New York found itself in the epicenter of the epicenter. With the virus on a warpath, its staff risked it all in the fight for our lives. “
‘It’s More Like a Playlist’: Lavinia Spalding on Editing the Best Women’s Travel Writing
The editor of The Best Women’s Travel Writing series on curation, grief and levity, and the stories she hopes to read more of in the future.
Shifting Identity, Shamans, and the Week’s Top 5
“So long as there are nations, there will be people trying to get out of them, tracking ceaselessly from one to the other while maybe wishing they could belong to the world instead.” In making a cross-country move recently, I realized that I can be a different person in a new place. There’s a certain […]
On the Hollow Highs of Hallmark Holiday Films (and More)
“Filmmakers use a character’s grief to evoke viewers’ sympathy and cravings for a quick fix. The Christmas widower trope exploits these very human tendencies, triggering sadness for the sake of sadness and making the cheap promise of a neat resolution tied up in a pretty bow.” We hope you enjoyed last week’s story, “Christmas on […]


