Speaking for the Dead
A New York Times veteran considers the art of the obituary and how words give shape to legacies.
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Longreads features
Magical Mystery Toads
The long, tangled, and mostly wrong history of the psychedelic toad.
You and Me and QVC
How a home shopping channel became the soundtrack to a friendship.
How Reporting Creates Change: A Conversation with Pamela Colloff
Writing is always going to be hard. Here’s why the struggle is worth it.
Vinyl in the Veins
Behind the nostalgia lies an uncomfortable truth: Every record is made of oil.
My Almond Archive
In southeastern Italy, almond groves hold centuries of local history. A granddaughter returns to gather the bitter and the sweet.
Curiosity as Compassion: A Conversation with Susan Orlean
Why it’s important to cultivate resilience and curiosity as a writer.
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Weekly Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Incredible stories from Aniruddha Ghosal, Mary Conlon, Ope Adetayo, Aaron Favila, Joeal Calupitan, Niranjan Shrestha, Alexandre Plaza, Ayse Wieting, Francisco Seco, Paolo Santalucia, and Veronica Sauchelli; Bettina Makalintal; Rivaka Glachen; Athar Abu Samra; and Micha Hagney.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Satisfying stories from Elizabeth Weil, Linni Kral, Molly Young, John Semley, and Matt Seaton.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Standout pieces from Masha Hamilton, Brian Underwood, Libby Callaway, Ben Markovits, and Devon Pendleton.
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Learn to Love Your Search Results Again.
Introducing the Longreads Story Recommender.
The Longreads questionnaire
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Kimon de Greef
The Ego Trip author on the sea, the pull of South Africa, and how his ecology background shapes the stories he tells.
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring s.e. smith
The All My Dead Cats and Other Losses author and Flytrap co-founder on grief, breaking and fixing things, and Alice Wong.
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Aymann Ismail
The Slate writer and Becoming Baba author reflects on Newark and mosques as home, making sense of Egypt on long flights, and becoming a father.
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Excerpts from The Atavist Magazine, our sister publication
Secrets of the Atomic City
“For decades, workers at a nuclear facility in Kentucky were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. Management assured them nothing was wrong. Then four friends risked everything to reveal the truth.”
God’s Children
The Kerrs were devoted to one another and to their faith. But when one of their own rejected modern medicine, they faced a dire question: What if her children ever needed a doctor to save their lives?
The Fugitive Childhood of a Cocaine Smuggler’s Daughters
“When their parents ripped two young sisters from their privileged lives, gave them fake names, and took them on the lam, they thought it was because their father was in trouble with the IRS. It would be years before they learned the truth about his life of crime.”
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Longreads reading lists
Here’s the Scoop: A Reading List on Ice Cream
Seven stories that celebrate the surprising influence of a humble dessert.
Constructions, Concoctions, Conjurations: A Reading List on the Curious World of Conlangs
Making stuff up is harder, stranger, and occasionally more dangerous than it looks. Seven stories that explore the world of constructed languages.
Daylight Savings Time: A (Beach) Reading List for the Lighthearted
It’s summer, people. Let’s enjoy a little bit of levity.
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