Geologists on a mission to vindicate their theory of a lost mountain range discover something even more significant buried beneath the ice.
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An Interview with MacArthur ‘Genius’ Viet Thanh Nguyen
2017 MacArthur fellow Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses questions of justice, diversity in literature, and empathy across cultures.
Longreads Best of 2017: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
The Woman Who Smashed Codes: America’s Secret Weapon in World War II
How “know-nothings” Elizebeth Smith Friedman and William F. Friedman became the greatest codebreakers of their era.
Take Me Home
While teaching English to communist party officials in post-war Laos, Kathryn Kefauver Goldberg reflects on silence and the legacy of trauma.
The Day We Discovered Our Parents Were Russian Spies
Alex and Tim Foley, whose family’s story partly inspired The Americans, grapple with their broken identities and their parents’ lifetime of lies.
My Grandfather’s Fateful Goodbye, Reimagined
Karissa Chen tries to reconstruct the moment her grandfather, at 19, left Shanghai for Taiwan on a supposed vacation—a decision that would alter his life forever.
My Grandfather’s Fateful Goodbye, Reimagined
Karissa Chen tries to reconstruct the moment her grandfather, at 19, left Shanghai for Taiwan on a supposed vacation—a decision that would alter his life forever.
My Father’s Adventure Was My Terror
With the decision to take his 13-year-old daughter on a dangerous drive to Peshawar, Diana Whitney’s charismatic father became a regular fallible human in her eyes.
Five Stories About Espionage
Today’s spying relies on social media, surveillance, coercion and ambition.

