Recommending noteworthy reads from Tim Prudente and Stokely Baksh, Rachel Aviv, Abby Tickell, Nick Zarzycki, and Andrea Sachs.
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Our Attraction to Disaster and the Week’s Top 5
“Deep in the valley below us, in the middle distance, gaped the great black cauldron of Litli-HrĂştur, its insides awash in a churning fiery stew. We stood in silence on the observation mound with our hands on our hips, faces cast in childish masks of wonder and awe.” Last week, I hit the natural hazard […]
Stories on Shady Science (and Our Top 5)
“On one hand, it’s critical to root out research fraud and serious errors. On the other hand, highlighting the most dramatic outliers risks creating the impression that science as a whole can’t be trusted.” When I told my 7-year-old daughter that the recent viral clip of bunnies jumping on a trampoline was fake, she looked […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Highlighting notable reads from Jasper Craven, Lisa Kaltenegger, Adam Iscoe, Lisa Abend, and Paul Schrodt.
Detectives at Work and the Week’s Top 5
“Ronald was my mother’s uncle, a fashion designer who fled Texas for New York at 19. I met him only once. In my memory, we are sitting on the front porch, the hairs standing up on my arms as the sun wanes. His head is bent over a piece of paper, sketching my 7-year-old face. […]
Best of 2024
Since 2011, Longreads editors and contributors have compiled the most notable reads of the year in our annual Best of Longreads collections. We’re continuing this tradition for 2024, with a few new changes that we hope you’ll enjoy. Bookmark this page, where we’ll share all of our Best of 2024 lists through December. Thank you, […]
The Mostly True Story of America’s First Black Private Investigator
He made his name in Chicago investigating racial violence, solving crimes, and exposing corruption. But America’s first Black private detective was hiding secrets of his own.
Hoops, Double Helices, and Our Top 5
“I’m not just crying, I’m truly wailing. I’m one of Homer’s grieving women, I’m Alice in Wonderland crying an actual ocean between hiccups, I’m Diane Keaton weeping then whooping in her Something’s Gotta Give breakup montage. My team, the Lakers, has lost.” I confess: I did not know much about basketball until I worked with Rachel Dlugatch […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Highlighting stories from a collection of pro-Palestine student protesters, Chloé Cooper Jones, Nick Bowlin, Bathsheba Demuth, and Joshua Rigsby.
The Plot Thickens (and the Week’s Top 5)
“Accommodating the dead, like accommodating the living, has always entailed a head-on collision with the awkward reality that we have a finite amount of physical space.” Okay, yes, sure, maybe you weren’t expecting a quote about dead bodies to kick off your Friday morning. But I assure you that our new feature, “Disneyland of the […]


