“Telegram has the capacity to share nearly any confidential information a government requests. Users just have to trust that it won’t.”
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When a Houseplant Obsession Becomes a Nightmare
“Some of us just can’t resist the allure of the carnivorous Nepenthes. They’re beautiful, rare, and in every way life-consuming.”
Welcome to Digital Nomadland
“A Portuguese island created a village for remote workers, promising community to the newcomers and prosperity to the locals—then delivered on neither.”
The Worm That No Computer Scientist Can Crack
“One of the simplest, most over-studied organisms in the world is the C. elegans nematode. For 13 years, a project called OpenWorm has tried—and utterly failed—to simulate it.”
Best of 2023: Investigations
Our top picks in the investigative reporting category.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring reads from Scott Huler, Sophie Elmhirst, Lauren Smiley, Brian Payton, and Caity Weaver.
Growing Old Online
“Millennials, the first generation to be online as kids, are starting to feel like we’ve aged out. Is there a way to age gracefully on the internet?”
Best Of 2023: Features
At the time of this writing, Longreads editors have created nearly 650 recommendations in 2023, and just about every one of them can be considered a feature. However, you’ll find that the stories contained herein are features in the classic sense: marriages of deep reporting and indelible prose. Some are light, others emotionally taxing. Their […]
The Hibernator’s Guide to the Galaxy
“Scientists are on the verge of figuring out how to put humans in a state of suspended animation. It could be the key to colonizing Mars.”
Digital Havoc: A Reading List About Hacking
Behind the 1s and 0s, hackers are still people—and their motivations are more nuanced than you might think.

