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A Year in Reading: The Wounds That Bind
On the hard-hitting, unforgettable stories of 2024.
Tim Robinson and the Golden Age of Cringe Comedy
“His sketch show, ‘I Think You Should Leave,’ zeroes in on the panic-inducing feelings of living in a society where we can’t agree on the rules.”
Acts of the Apostles
“In a community hard-hit by opioids, one pastor is knocking on motel room doors to invite people to worship. The message: We’re all broken people.”
How “Chuck Norris Facts” Gave Birth to the Modern Meme
“It’s hard to say Ian Spector officially invented the meme. But he was, at minimum, a key early influencer.”
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend notable features and essays by Katie Barnes, Rachel Handler, Alex Hawkins, Lila Shapiro, and Raksha Vasudevan.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, our editors recommend stories by Bushra Seddique, Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Laura Mauldin, Kathryn Miles, and Lucas Mann.
Asbestos: A Corporate Coverup, a Public Health Catastrophe
“In the UK, thousands of people are still dying every year from exposure to the asbestos fibres in our homes, schools and workplaces. My dad was one of them.”
‘Where the Bats Hung Out’: How a Basement Hideaway at UC Berkeley Nurtured a Generation of Blind Innovators
For decades, an underground hideaway at UC Berkeley’s Moffitt Library — better known as “The Cave” — gave rise to a generation of blind leaders, including Joshua Miele, a MacArthur genius grant winner who now builds adaptive technologies at Amazon. The Cave was where iron sharpened iron, academically — tricks for surviving Berkeley were as […]
Shams Charania’s Scoop Dreams
“Shams Charania tweeted his way to the top of the NBA reporting world. He might be the future of sports journalism.”

