We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in essays.
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Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Pieces from Benji Jones, Howard Bryant, Carey Baraka, Sally Jenkins, and Jeannette Cooperman.
Posted inUncategorized
Our Sister’s Netflix Hit and the Week’s Top 5
“But all was not well in the house on the corner of Lincoln Road and 52nd Street. It belonged to Dennis and Brenda Bowman, a married couple with two children. For the Bowmans, March 11 marked the last time they saw their 14-year-old daughter, Aundria, alive.” We’ve got some big news this week from our […]
Posted inFeature
The Eloquent Vindicator in the Electric Room
No one remembers the assassination of Congressman James M. Hinds. What do we risk by making it just another part of American history?
Posted inNewsletter
A Dangerous Solo Hike, the Vanishing of Aging Parents, and Our Top 5
“I came to a shack with a small, white-haired man inside. I assumed he had been guarding Devil’s Bridge for centuries. I answered his riddles three and he gestured for me to sign in. At the end of his hand was a damp pile of papers and a pen on a gray string. Like most […]
Posted inFeature
Best of 2025: All Our Number One Story Picks
Every story we selected for the number one slot in our weekly newsletter, all in one place.
Posted inNewsletter
Our Year in Reading and the Week’s Top 5
Every story changes our mind in some small way. They’re already in implicit conversation with one another, and our “Year in Reading” series acknowledges that.
Posted inFeature
Bread and Honey
Sometimes, marriage is about learning how to braid the bitter with the sweet.
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Will Leitch, Abrahm Lustgarten, Hayley Campbell, Tony Ho Tran, and Kim Cross.
Posted inNewsletter
40 Days in a Jungle and Our Top 5
“The skies were blue that day, and there was a light wind. For around half an hour all was well. But as the Cessna approached Caquetá, a Colombian department that contains one of the densest, wettest, most remote corners of the Amazon, something went wrong.” Pat yourselves on the back: you’ve made it through January. […]
