Every piece we selected as our top story of the week in 2023, all in one place.
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The Rise of Women Butchers, Six Reads on the Single Life, and Our Top 5
“But I’m the only woman in the classroom, and it has become absolutely essential that I do not gag. Although the number of women apprentices had been creeping up over the years, from the get-go, as a woman studying butchery, I am still a novelty.” Food writer and chef Olivia Potts, the author of “Life […]
What’s in a Name, and Our Top 5
“At home, I was Spanish. At school, American. When mom got angry at us, the ultimate insult would be spewed: ‘Ay! That is so American!’ But outside of the house, while in the presence of my peers, I wanted that to be true. Being so American would mean I would be allowed to wear shorts to school. I would […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: the appeal of the surreal, decoding AI dreck, goop relations, learning to think, and pigeon racing pitfalls
Was It Worth It?
“I didn’t think about those nachos even once. I had never experienced anything like it. Is this, I asked my friends, how it feels to be normal?”
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Neal Allen and Anne Lamott
The authors of the new book Good Writing share their insights on reading, writing, and their day-to-day life.
How to Scam Like a Celebrity
“His alleged victims say he bribed New York Police Department officials, stole millions in diamonds, and persuaded Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Kim Kardashian to shill for a scam cryptocurrency. So why is Jona Rechnitz still free?”
The Unappreciated Blog, Ghost Stories, and our Top 5
“To watch any ghost story set in a city like New York requires this kind of sensitivity, an awareness that every building is haunted, and that these hauntings happen in layers: as much as each generation tries to wipe out the traces of those who’ve come before, those memories are always there.” As we approach […]
How Trafficked Cheetah Cubs Move From the Wild and Into Your Instagram Feed
Criminal networks in Somaliland smuggle cheetah cubs out of Africa to wealthy buyers in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and other Gulf countries.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories from Jenisha Watts, Aymann Ismail and Mary Harris, Elizabeth Kolbert, Wyatt Williams, and Jackson Wald.


