“We are increasingly trading our privacy for a sense of security. Becoming a parent showed me how tempting, and how dangerous, that exchange can be.”
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Posted inNonfiction
Our Most-Read Longreads Originals of 2023
The 10 top-performing essays published on Longreads this year.
Posted inEditor's Pick
On Compost
“I now ignore compost orthodoxy in favour of this one rule: ingredients must have been living (or, like paper, be made from something living)”
Posted inEditor's Pick
When Did I Start Getting Cancer?
“An environmental chemist investigates the origins of her leukemia.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Unexpected Epiphanies of Watching 57 Movies With my Sleeping Newborn
“Between the opening credits and the 3 a.m. feedings, as I watched films in 20-minute increments, something profound happened.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: January begins, finding beauty, powerful blues, toxic water, and begonia batons.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Puzzle Politics
“Often dismissed as frivolous games, crosswords can be a force for change.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Emergence
“If those who came before us could inhabit uninhabitable territory, making homes in a no man’s land, then we, by way and by will, can survive anything.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Laugh Riot
“To understand Trump’s continuing hold over his fans, we have to ask: Why do they find him so funny?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Puzzled
“In the world of jigsaws, there can be a fine line between productivity and pleasure.”
