This week, we’re sharing stories from Ben Blum, Reeves Wiedeman, Mizuho Aoki, Amy Wright, and Sarah Scoles.
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Longreads Best of 2018: Investigative Reporting
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in investigative reporting.
The Loyal Engineers Steering NASA’s Voyager Probes Across the Universe
Launched in 1977, the Voyager spacecraft are still out there, monitored by nine flight-team engineers who are fluent in an archaic programming code known only to them. They are forgoing retirement to squeeze every last watt out of the 40-year-old spacecraft, which will run out of energy by 2030 at the latest.
(Re)Merchandising NASA as a Feminist Act
“I took the NASA shirts from the ‘boys’ section from where they were prominently displayed, and put them little kid eye level next to tank tops in the ‘girls’ section 20 feet away.”
The Engineers Who Can’t Quit Voyager
The nine flight-team engineers of the 1977 mission have been putting off retirement to see through one of NASA’s most successful spacecraft all the way to the end.
United States of Conspiracy: An Interview with Anna Merlan
“Most people in America believe in one conspiracy to some extent, but the far end of the pool … is this desire to show that you really do reject all knowable authority.”
Nashville contra Jaws, 1975
In their time, “Jaws” and “Nashville” were regarded as Watergate films, and both were in production as the Watergate disaster played its final act.
Longreads Best of 2018: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
In My Own Voice, Redefining Success and Failure
Lauren DePino looks back at her ambitions as a singer, and re-evaluates the rejections she once allowed to define her.
In My Own Voice, Redefining Success and Failure
Lauren DePino looks back at her ambitions as a singer, and re-evaluates the rejections she once allowed to define her.

