For the tenth year in a row, we’re kicking off the reading year with a set of short stories hand-picked by longtime contributor Pravesh Bhardwaj.
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Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
As January draws to a close, our favorite stories this week included a stirring critical essay, a paean to the world’s greatest boxed meal, a rethinking of psychedelics’ impact on the planet, a profile of a craftsperson at his peak, and an eye-opener about how humpback whales use air in some unexpected ways. 1. Corky […]
Posted inNonfiction
Best of 2023: Personal Essays
Our favorite personal essays published this year include stories on loss, Indigenous community, video games, caring for aging relatives, and the fear of missing love.
Posted inNewsletter
Hope in the Desert and the Week’s Top 5
“Talking with them I realized how many people, like me, had run away from hard conversations. How we did it on purpose, and sometimes without realizing. How people who needed to talk waited for invitations to spit out the hard stuff, and how good it felt when they did.” Happy Friday, y’all. Summer is drawing […]
Posted inNewsletter
A Forgotten Deportation, a New Questionnaire Series, and Our Top 5
An essay about a forgotten deportation and the reckoning it left behind, a glimpse into Maria Popova’s writing and reading life, and our five recommended stories of the week.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Landlord & the Tenant
“A young mother rents a house near Milwaukee. The previous tenant tells her, ‘Baby, they shouldn’t have let you move in.'”
Posted inFeature
A Journey of 6,000 Miles
Layan Albaz is one of thousands of Palestinian children who have lost limbs in Israeli air strikes—and one of the very few evacuated to the US for medical care.
Posted inFeature
Uncanny Testimony
As the last Holocaust survivors approach the end of their lives, an AI scholar grapples with technology that promises to freeze them in time.
Posted inNewsletter
Out on the Trail, Deep Online, and the Week’s Top 5
“Eating, even eating junk food—sometimes especially eating junk food—is not just a good idea but potentially the difference between life and death, or at the very least the difference between an enjoyable experience and a grueling one. No one has ever opened up a packet of Oreos on a mountaintop and said, ‘I’m being so bad.’” […]
Posted inUncategorized
Six Stories About a Complex Cuisine and Our Top 5
“Migration patterns, together with demographic trends and climate change, mean that the cuisine must adapt. Italian food—so rooted in tradition and adamant in its authenticity—will have to change.” In previous reading lists, Longreads contributor Clare Egan has explored a range of topics: Ireland, queer ecology, and the decision to have a child. This week, Egan dives […]
