“Give me the complicated, the missed connections, the big gestures, the bittersweet endings. Give me the struggle, because it’s the struggle that makes it love.” Yes, today is that day. Dreadful for some of us, but delightful for others. (Especially all the excited school-age kids exchanging “Be My Valentine” messages—which, these days, are no longer […]
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
An unjust police killing. Nature reclamation in the fossil fuel era. Surviving a bear attack. The underbelly of the antiquities trade. And for a well-earned dessert, the legacy of the world’s first breakout video game. 1. Police Killed His Son. Prosecutors Charged the Teen’s Friends With His Murder Meg O’Connor | The Appeal & Phoenix […]
The Meaning of Tattoos and Our Top 5 of the Week
“When my father-in-law was growing up in Baltimore and misbehaved in Hebrew school with his friends, their teachers would calmly unbutton their cuffs and roll up their sleeves, revealing their tattoos from Auschwitz. I’ve seen worse, the tattoos said. Or perhaps, This could happen to you.” What does your tattoo mean? It’s a question often asked of […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we have stories from Christopher Johnston and Erin Quinlan, Dan McQuade, Crystal Wilkinson, Simon Akam, and Nicholson Baker.
The Race That Turned to Ruin
“Fifteen teams lifted off from Switzerland in gas ballooning’s most audacious race. Three days later, two of them drifted into Belarusian airspace—but only one would survive.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
The April 12 edition features stories by Stephanie McCrummen, Mark Warren, Trina Moyles, Laura Preston, and Jack King.
Best of 2023: The Audience Awards
The 10 editor picks that stood out to our readers.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
“Good teachers teach students how to find the pattern, and how to find the deviance: how to see that different things are actually the same thing, or, sometimes, that what look like the same things are in fact different. I want my students to know what I hope other people are also teaching my children: […]
40 Days in a Jungle and Our Top 5
“The skies were blue that day, and there was a light wind. For around half an hour all was well. But as the Cessna approached Caquetá, a Colombian department that contains one of the densest, wettest, most remote corners of the Amazon, something went wrong.” Pat yourselves on the back: you’ve made it through January. […]
An Autism Diagnosis at 35, and Our Top 5 Reads
“Finally bearing witness to my own life has been significantly more healing than medications or therapy. Every prescribed medication has had unendurable side effects. Therapy gives me brutal anxiety. But that’s okay. I’m finding peace just by envisioning myself through a forgiving lens.” Welcome to the weekend! April is Autism Awareness Month, so this week, […]


