“The new wave of Silicon Valley–backed gene-editing startups is straight out of ‘Brave New World.'”
AI
Posted inQuestionnaire
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Vauhini Vara
The author of Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age and The Immortal King Rao on memorable meals and books about whales.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Politics After Literacy
“Postliteracy won’t replace reason with madness, but it might give us madness of a new and different type.”
Posted inCuration
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: a father’s grief; a commuter’s concern; a decision’s consequences; a teen’s hobby; and a sports fan’s hidden haven.
Posted inEditor's Pick
AI Got the Blame for the Iran School Bombing. The Truth is Far More Worrying
“LLMs-gone-rogue dominated coverage, but had nothing to do with the targeting. Instead, it was choices made by human beings, over many years, that gave us this atrocity.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
She Fell for an AI — Then Held its Funeral
“It was the first ceremony of its kind in America. It’s unlikely to be the last.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Limiting Not Just Screen Time, But Screen Space
“The internet has stopped being a place we visit—it’s now an environment we inhabit.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Hallucinated Citations Are Polluting the Scientific Literature. What Can Be Done?
“Tens of thousands of publications from 2025 might include invalid references generated by AI, a ‘Nature’ analysis suggests.”
