“OpenAI’s chatbot offers paraphrases, whereas Google offers quotes. Which do we prefer?”
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Best of 2023: Personal Essays
Our favorite personal essays published this year include stories on loss, Indigenous community, video games, caring for aging relatives, and the fear of missing love.
How a Script Doctor Found His Own Voice
“For decades, Scott Frank earned up to three hundred thousand dollars a week rewriting other people’s screenplays. Finally, he decided to stop playing ventriloquist.”
How Lawrence Abu Hamdan Hears the World
“The artist and audio investigator, who calls himself a ‘private ear,’ investigates crimes that are heard but not seen.”
Piecing Together My Father’s Murder
“I was too young to remember what happened to my dad, and no one explained it to me. So I tried to assemble the story myself.”
Cole Escola’s Great Day on Broadway
“With their deranged portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln, the actor and writer emerges from the ‘gay shadows’ in a hysterical farce.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we’re showcasing stories from Mari Cohen, Brenna Ehrlich, Grace Glassman, Tad Friend, and Imogen West-Knights.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we have stories from Sarah Miller, James D. Walsh, Hanif Abdurraqib, Gabrielle Drolet, and Jeremiah David.
The Little-Known World of Caterpillars
“An entomologist races to find them before they disappear.”
Science Cheats: A Reading List on Unscrupulous Scientists
Six stories on the shady side of scholarship.

