Featuring stories from Elizabeth Kolbert, Joshua Hammer, Tan Tuck Ming, Fargo Nissim Tbakhi, and Atossa Araxia Abrahamian.
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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we feature stories from Gordy Megroz, Max Blau and Zaydee Sanchez, Brendan I. Koerner, Lora Eli Smith, and Pat Cassels.
Hoops, Double Helices, and Our Top 5
“I’m not just crying, I’m truly wailing. I’m one of Homer’s grieving women, I’m Alice in Wonderland crying an actual ocean between hiccups, I’m Diane Keaton weeping then whooping in her Something’s Gotta Give breakup montage. My team, the Lakers, has lost.” I confess: I did not know much about basketball until I worked with Rachel Dlugatch […]
The Most Infamous Cop in New Orleans History
In 1994, a corrupt cop ordered a hit on a civilian.
He went away for murder, but he left a trail of other victims in his wake.
They are still crying out for justice.
The Alchemists
“They led a cycling revolution in Afghanistan where women were forbidden to ride. When the Taliban returned to power, their only hope was a harrowing escape to an uncertain future.”
Wrapping Up 2024 and the Week’s Top 5
Well, folks, this is it. The last Top 5 newsletter of the year! Whether or not you’re observing any holidays, we hope you enjoy a restorative end to 2024. At the very least, you’ll have the full run of our Best of 2024 package at your disposal—between the stories we discussed in our year-end essays […]
Becoming Human Again: A Reading List for the Extremely Offline
Think it’s time to get off social media? Then this is the reading list for you.
Acid Media
“How perforated squares of trippy blotter paper allowed outlaw chemists and wizard-alchemists to dose the world with LSD.”
Best of 2024: All Our Number One Story Picks
Every story that appeared in the number one slot in our Weekly Top 5, all in one place.
How To Make Millions As a Professional Whistleblower
“A little-known provision in US law permits anyone to blow the whistle on financial fraud — and potentially take home a percentage of the funds collected. One undercover sleuth has made a wild career out of it.”


