Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Search results
Best of 2025: All Our Number Five Story Picks
Every story we selected for the number five slot in our weekly newsletter, in a handy digest.
Best of 2024: All Our Number Five Story Picks
Every story that appeared in the number five slot in our Weekly Top 5, all in one place.
Longreads Best of 2018: Profiles
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in profiles.
You Robbie, You Baka
On having a twin with cerebral palsy and navigating school bullies.
Remembering Nelson Mandela’s Contribution to Sports
Nelson Mandela long realized that sports was a great unifier.
Longreads Best of 2017: Profile Writing
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in profile writing.
Bowie Knives, Concealed Rifles, and Caning Charles Sumner
As the Civil War loomed, weapons — like the recently invented bowie knife and rifles that were shipped to Kansas hidden in crates labeled as bibles — became complex political symbols.
It’s Like That: The Makings of a Hip-Hop Writer
Hip-hop was a different kind of music that needed a different kind of writer to cover it. This is how Michael A. Gonzales came of age in a time when Black writers began breaking the white ceiling.
Longreads Best of 2016: Sports Writing
We asked a few writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here, the best in sports writing.
