Recommending memorable pieces by Seth Freed Wessler, Stuart McGurk, Jon Mooallem, Ben Lerner, Kiese Laymon, and Amelia Tait.
Search results
Posted inEditor's Pick
10 Years After Sandy Hook, a Family Finds Bits of Joy Amid Shards of Pain
“To Hensel, one of the big things about marking 10 years, is making it 10 years.”
Posted inUncategorized
On the Hollow Highs of Hallmark Holiday Films (and More)
“Filmmakers use a character’s grief to evoke viewers’ sympathy and cravings for a quick fix. The Christmas widower trope exploits these very human tendencies, triggering sadness for the sake of sadness and making the cheap promise of a neat resolution tied up in a pretty bow.” We hope you enjoyed last week’s story, “Christmas on […]
Posted inNonfiction
The Mysterious Case of Mr. X
For eight years, a man with amnesia lived at a hospital in Mississippi. Who was he — and why had no one come looking for him?
Posted inNonfiction
Longreads Best of 2021: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks
Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Creating While Clean
Musicians Steven Tyler, Ben Harper, Joe Walsh, and others speak with candor about their journeys to sobriety and how they are in much better places, personally and creatively.
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Chelsea G. Summers, Linda Villarosa, Ben Smith, Chappell Ellison, and Louisa Thomas.
Posted inEditor's Pick
This Is What It Was Like Learning To Report Before Fake News Was The Biggest Problem In The World
BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith recalls what it was like working as a young reporter in Belarus in 2001. One of his first major stories resulted in his source being beaten and thrown in jail — or so he thought, until he discovered the truth more than 15 years later.
Posted inCurrent Events, Nonfiction, Quotes
A Journalist Takes Stock of His Formative Years
An experienced reporter looks back at the hard lessons he learned reporting from Eastern Europe during a politically tumultuous time.
