All the stories we’ve selected as number five in our weekly Top 5 newsletter.
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When We Are Afraid
On teaching in a red state, the silences in our history lessons, and all I never learned about my hometown.
Who’s Afraid of Lorne Michaels?
Very rarely can we see an entire system reflected in one person. The creator and executive producer of “Saturday Night Live” is such a person.
Best of 2025: All Our Number One Story Picks
Every story we selected for the number one slot in our weekly newsletter, all in one place.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Alexander Sammon, Amanda Chicago Lewis, Hannah Smothers, Adam Fales, and Matt Dinan.
A Hand From One Page, A Bomb From Another:Â Rethinking “Spy vs. Spy”
The iconic comic strip may seem simple, but its central metaphor has proven impossible to replicate.
Longreads Best of 2022: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
All the stories we’ve selected as number one in our weekly Top 5 newsletter.
‘This Wasn’t His First Time’
A kidnapping deemed a hoax, the newbie detective who cracked the case, and the Harvard-trained lawyer whose mental unraveling set the whole story in motion.
The Rhythm of Writing: A Chat with the Writer and Editor Behind The Atavist’s New Issue
As host of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, Brendan O’Meara is no stranger to talking about the art and craft of storytelling. In this craft-focused excerpt, we’re digging into Episode 336, in which he interviewed Atavist editor Jonah Ogles and freelance writer Cassidy Randall about her work on the latest issue of The Atavist. Cassidy Randall, a freelance writer based out […]
The Hare Krishnas of Coal Country
The world is full of make-believe. Some of it is sweet, some of it is sick. It persists because we have found no other antidote for pain.

