Reading lists dive into a range of topics, allowing our contributors from around the world to explore their obsessions and fall into rabbit holes. This post compiles our 10 most-read lists of the year.
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The Mercy Workers
“For three decades, a little-known group of ‘mitigation specialists’ has helped save death-penalty defendants by documenting their childhood traumas. A rare look inside one case.”
The Value of Revival
“Aaron somehow hailed a taxi. My brother was staining the pavement crimson, but this cab driver, this stranger, stopped. He helped Aaron carry my brother to the cab’s back seat. He surely lost money later that night while toweling blood from cushion crevices.” Did you know that more than one-third of web pages that existed […]
Remember the Titans: An ‘Attack on Titan’ Reading List
The influential anime didn’t just upend kaiju tropes—it delivered an unsettling look at imperialism and hubris.
Can a Better Technology Dethrone the Gas Stove?
“While culture warriors and foodies panic over their favorite kitchen appliance, the induction range is still waiting for America to fall in love.”
Our Year in Reading and the Week’s Top 5
Every story changes our mind in some small way. They’re already in implicit conversation with one another, and our “Year in Reading” series acknowledges that.
And the Reading List Goes to: Pivotal Oscar Moments
The Academy Awards aren’t just about recognition — they’re about an ever-evolving industry in an ever-evolving society.
Pregnant, Homeless and Living in a Tent: Meet Mckenzie
In 2018, reporter Gale Holland, photographer Christina House, and videographer Claire Hannah Collins spent time with young unhoused people in an encampment above the Hollywood Freeway. Their Hollywood’s Finest series for the Los Angeles Times tells the stories of three women, including Mckenzie Trahan, a young woman who has been in and out of foster […]

