“Erin Azar’s back-of-the-pack antics made her a TikTok star—and inspired millions of runners to forget about speed and just get out there.”
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Fear as a Game
“What can the philosophy of games tell us about our odd impulse to scare ourselves?”
Here’s to What’s Real and True: Support Writing that Matters
“It’s becoming rarer to get to work on writing that’s real and true, a story idea conceived by a human brain and reported by a human heart, a piece of writing that helps us understand others, and ourselves, a little better.” While I’ve followed Longreads since it started as a hashtag in 2009, I’m proud […]
His Best Friend Was a 250-Pound Warthog. One Day, It Decided to Kill Him.
Austin Riley spent decades raising exotic animals in the Texas Hill Country. In a split second, the animal he thought he knew best changed his life forever.
“To the Train Lady with Dark Brown Hair … :” Extraordinary Stories of Four Couples who Found Love via Small Ads
“Is the medium dying? What might we lose if we let it go, like a stranger rounding an airport corner?”
How to Love an Oyster
“The Pacific coast’s only native oyster is making a comeback, but it still needs a little help from its friends.”
What the Journey Brings, and Our Weekly Top 5
“I-95 is an artery of ambition, movement, and flight. A place where millions of people hurry toward love and loss, carrying their hope, their grief, their ordinary Tuesdays, all at 70 miles per hour.” A favorite program of mine is Race Across the World. The concept is simple: Teams must cross entire countries without flying, armed only […]
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories from Jenisha Watts, Aymann Ismail and Mary Harris, Elizabeth Kolbert, Wyatt Williams, and Jackson Wald.
Hitting Zero
“There are places for all kinds of bodies in cheer – small flyers, lithe tumblers, powerful bases – virtually anyone can find a place.”
Sour
“I looked up and down at my reflection. And I wished for the same thing I’d wish for every morning, of every day, for the next almost 15 years. To be absolutely anyone else.”


