As Thanksgiving and gluttony approach, I’ve been thinking about what foods represent America and how eating can shape a sense of identity—a theme past Longreads writers have been drawn to.
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Ice Cream Panic, Airship Catastrophe, and our Top 5
“But, for me, the classic is an oyster: a scalloped, hinged wafer dipped in mallow and chocolate, with desiccated coconut at the edges, piped full of vanilla soft serve and squiggled madly with monkey’s blood (OK, raspberry sauce).” This summer, I have spent a lot of time in England, and a particular vehicle has been […]
Science Cheats: A Reading List on Unscrupulous Scientists
Six stories on the shady side of scholarship.
Final Girl, Terrible Place
I was expecting a handy theory. What I found was a way of seeing that would help me decode a script I’d been stuck in for much of my life.
Longreads Best of 2020: Crime Reporting
Our top picks in Crime Reporting for 2020.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we’re recommending stories by Zarlasht Halaimzai, Gloria Liu, E. Jean Carroll, Amy Margolis, and Chris Colin.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Katya Apekina, Jonathan W. Rosen, Robert Sanchez, Eric Levitz, and Natalie Marlin.
(Alleged) Kings of the Con and the Week’s Top 5
“[T]he most compelling tales of grift aren’t the ones that depend on technology: the bottomless library of fraud-ready photos; the platforms that let anyone claim to be an epidemiologist or electoral fraud whistleblower; the software that can plop your face onto another person’s. No, the tales that captivate us most almost always reveal a person’s longing.” […]
Longreads Best of 2020: Writing on COVID-19
Our top story picks in COVID-19 reporting this year.
Mulling Desire, Honoring Murdered Women, and Our Top 5
I had no idea that the hot, tingly pain of blood returning to a frozen extremity is called the screaming barfies, until I read “What Is a Body For?” by Diana Saverin.


