Music has been a salve this year, helping us cope with the myriad challenges that 2020 brought. Here are some favorite pieces of music writing we picked in 2020.
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Rukmini Callimachi, Annie Waldman and Joshua Kaplan, Jesmyn Ward, Hillery Stone, and Alice Driver.
Best of 2022: All of our No. 5 Story Picks
All the stories we’ve selected as number five in our weekly Top 5 newsletter.
How Travel Writing May Look After the Pandemic
Although people will always travel and write about their experiences, it remains unclear how the travel writing form will look after Covid-19.
What We Wear: A Reading List on Fashion and Our Complex Relationship to Clothes
Getting dressed isn’t a low-stakes activity.
Curator Spotlight: Vesna Jaksic Lowe on What It Means To Straddle Multiple Cultures
The writer of the Immigrant Strong newsletter wants to diversify your bookshelf.
Best of 2024: All Our Number Five Story Picks
Every story that appeared in the number five slot in our Weekly Top 5, all in one place.
The Bad Thing
Sometimes the most haunting part of trauma isn’t what happened—it’s wondering what could have happened if you hadn’t trusted your gut.
Let’s Not Talk About Estrangement
“I’ve always had the sense that my mother’s side of the family is, in fact, diminished by my uncle’s absence. Or at least diminished in their quiet response to it.”
On Dolly Parton and Being Seen
“Perhaps I’m taking this too personally, but the idea of being inexplicably drawn to a phenomenon that is ultimately destructive is, well, heartbreaking and uncomfortably relatable.”

