‘“I think that how we were first loved — or not — has a great deal to do with what we create and how,” Fred once told me.’
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Pamela Colloff, Jordan Smith, James Ross Gardner, Michelle Dowd, and Jaya Saxena.
How to Survive a Car Crash in 10 Easy Steps
A journalist navigates a world forever changed by her traumatic brain injury.
Bad Blood (Longreads’ Version): A Musical Feuds Reading List
Whether competition between artists or strife within a band, popular music features some of pop culture’s messiest rivalries.
Stories of Quarantine and Upheaval: A Reading List on the Power of Personal Narrative
During times of isolation and dramatic change, our stories from around the world are an essential global historical record.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week’s edition highlights stories by Megan Greenwell, Kerry Howley, Jeremy B. Jones, Marian Bull, and Ava Kofman.
A “Super” Walk of Contradictions (and Our Top 5)
“To my right is one of the largest manmade toxic holes on Earth. To my left, shelves of coal-colored slag piled twenty feet high. And underfoot, ten thousand miles of poisoned shafts swimming with ghosts.” Hello from Berkeley, California. Our family loves to explore the city’s parks, where we can hike through redwood forests in […]
Longreads Best of 2019: Essays
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in essays.
Best of 2023: All of Our Number One Story Picks
Every piece we selected as our top story of the week in 2023, all in one place.
Remembering, Forgetting, and The Week’s Top 5
Two brand new essays and The Weekly Top 5.


