“There’s something about losing yourself in a communal experience that’s immensely appealing in this age of virtual meetings and not-so-social media. We want to see the artists we love in person. We want to believe they’re singing directly to us.” Elizabeth Blackwell, a regular commentator on cultural phenomena (check out her Reality TV and Pivotal […]
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Rabbit Holes Aplenty and the Week’s Top 5
“What could have fizzled out as a weekend infatuation turned into a full-blown obsession, an online epic quest. After the festival, I decided that a dulcimer was something I really needed, but I never just need things; I also crave learning about them deeply from the people who already know.” Who among us has never fallen into […]
A Friend Named Arthur and The Week’s Top 5
“But now I like to imagine him in Paris, sitting at a café, drinking an espresso, his notebook open, full of notes and poetry. It’s easy to picture in my mind. He’d look perfect there.” Four years ago, Kevin Sampsell lost his friend Arthur to suicide. He started writing about him three years ago—but the […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories by Jenny Kleeman, Lucy Schiller, Michael Gardner, Emily Raboteau, and Angie Martoccio.
By All Measures
Our problems are too vast, our distance from them too great. How do we navigate our derangement of scale?
Ten Outstanding Short Stories to Read in 2025
Kickstart your reading year with 10 short stories selected by longtime contributor Pravesh Bhardwaj.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week’s installment features stories by Lee van der Voo, Adam Gopnik, Surabhi Ranganathan, Masha Udensiva-Brenner, and Mikey O’Connell.
People vs. 👻, Townspeople vs. Nazis, and Our Top 5
“The new bridge is square where the old bridge is round, bustling instead of deserted, awash in the sounds of schools and neighborhoods nearby. At some point, Lydia’s haunting shifted along with the traffic patterns. She’s been seen at both bridges, but the new one is the only place she might still hail passing motorists.” […]
A Reading List on Succession, Stories About Unnatural Disasters, and This Week’s Top 5
“These people may have all the money in the world, but as the last four seasons have shown us in vivid, lacerating detail, their cold, loveless lives inspire little envy.” Welcome to the weekend! The final episode of Succession airs this Sunday, and to mark the end of this show about TV’s most dysfunctional media-empire […]
“Trump” “SoHo” “Hotel”
A writer remembers her time bartending at Trump SoHo hotel, which wasn’t technically in SoHo, wasn’t a hotel for zoning reasons, and didn’t belong to Donald Trump. This story came from the last page of the last issue of Tin House magazine.


