“BuzzFeed built a digital media empire in part by aggregating viral content from social media. A decade later, what’s next?”
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The Problem With Canon
“It’s the best of times and the worst of times to be a fan.”
From Aardvark to Woke: Inside The Oxford English Dictionary
Pippa Bailey explores the fascinating business of defining a word. The Oxford English Dictionary remains, in many ways, a Victorian phenomenon, born in an era of remarkable innovation: of railways and steelworks, anthropology and anaesthesia, Charleses Dickens and Darwin. It is difficult, now, when the thought of consulting a paper dictionary seems so analogue, to […]
The Out-of-Control Spread of Crowd-Control Tech
“Broken bones. Eye trauma. Brain injuries. How America’s sketchy “less-lethal” weapons industry exports its insidious brand of violence around the world.”
Braindump: A Reading List on the Future of Sanitation, Toilets, and Bathrooms
“On the future of toilets and bathrooms, and innovation across the field of sanitation and waste management.”
Stephen Curry and the Spirit of History
One one hand, I’ll read any smart piece that dives deep on the transcendent play of the Golden State Warriors’ point guard — and even more so in the wake of Curry finally winning an elusive NBA Finals MVP honor. But on the other hand, I can’t remember any others in which a history scholar […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Oliver Whang, Shannon Mattern, Niko McCarty and Xander Balwit, Josh Dzieza, and Sam Parker.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: metal medicine, hyped humanoids, carnival crossroads, divine defiance, and optimization obsession.
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 […]
A Year in Reading and Our Top 5
“Some of my favorite stories this year have made me more open to new outlooks and solutions for restoring and supporting the earth. They challenge me to pay more attention to the natural world, and to remember that we’re all connected, even to the tiniest and simplest forms of life.” “One observation on its own […]


