These audience hits were the most-viewed picks on our site in 2025.
San Francisco Chronicle
Posted inTop 5
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.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Thomas Keller Asked Me to Leave The French Laundry. It Turned Into My Most Extraordinary Night as a Critic.
“There’s a slight quaver in the chef’s voice, and he tells me he is nervous. This is not something he is accustomed to doing, he says — asking a critic to leave.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
This Is the Secret System That Covers Up Police Misconduct — and Ensures Problem Officers Can Get Hired Again
“Behind locked drawers of file cabinets, in police departments all over California, sit documents no one is supposed to see.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week we’re highlighting stories from Yuval Abraham, Paul Tough, Leslie Jamison, Melina Moe, and Meg Bernhard.
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Chronicle Reporter Went Undercover in High School. Everyone is Still Weighing the Fallout
“San Francisco Chronicle reporter Shann Nix probably should have been on her honeymoon in September 1992 when she took on an assignment she would still be thinking about decades later.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘Badass Detective’: How One California Officer Solved Eight Cold Cases—in His Spare Time
“When he got on a case, Matt was like a dog with a bone. He was not giving up.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Featuring stories from Hannah Dreier, Jason Fagone and Julie Johnson, Shruti Swamy, John Jeremiah Sullivan, and Kristen Arnett.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Killing of Richard Oakes
“Oakes had sparked an iconic 1960s protest, the occupation of Alcatraz Island.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
This Is the Hometown of San Francisco’s Drug Dealers
“A housing boom in one area of Honduras, rooted in migration to the U.S., is being fueled by drug sales in San Francisco.”