“Sometimes you encounter a song that will not fade away, though you never hear it again.”
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Loneliness, Power, and the Top 5 of the Week
“I want to be left alone, but I don’t want to be lonely.” Hanif Abdurraqib writes this about a tension that dominated the career of singer Phyllis Hyman—but it also feels like a familiar plea in this dim, early-January week, when many of us leave the chaos of extended family and drift back into our own homes, our own jobs, and perhaps our own small pockets of solitude.
Holograms of the Holocaust (and Our Top 5)
“Over many decades, my grandmother gave responses to thousands of questions, wrote tens of thousands of words, and spoke for hours and hours while tapes rolled. She would be, in other words, the perfect candidate for AI reanimation.” In my household, the transition from summer to fall has been tough. Lately, to help my daughter […]
Where We Belong and Our Top 5
“With this 11-a-side tournament, these young men would be the first to carry their nation onto an international stage. It seemed fitting that it would happen here in Springdale, home to the largest population of Marshallese anywhere outside the islands.” This week at Longreads, I’ve been thinking about our sense of place. It’s something I […]
An Interview with Chuck Palahniuk
“At exactly 1:05pm, the Prius was outside my Airbnb, as was Chuck, in a pressed white shirt and pastel turquoise shorts. He treated me to a tuna sandwich at a nearby bakery. We then drove back and sat down for three hours of conversation in the secluded bamboo-walled yard, which happened to be right next […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Elizabeth Weil, Jeannette Cooperman, Ryan Katz, and Madeleine Watts.
Disappearing Language: A Reading List on Losing Your Native Tongue
Powerful reads on which language comes first, second, or even third.
Both Sides of The Mirror
Introducing The Longreads Questionnaire, featuring Vauhini Vara.
The Last Black Stage
“I see rehearsal space, rehearsal tapes, dressing rooms, cooking sessions, woodsheds, after-hours performances, and backstage as Black sacred spaces, places where we are most like ourselves.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Becca Andrews, DĂ©sirĂ© Nimubona, Jon Mooallem, Jesse Lee Kercheval, and Kathryn Borel.


