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Longreads features

Eating Alone

Soggy fries, ghost kitchens, and a $19 bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich: what we’ve actually gained on the path to convenience.

Going Up and Going In

A solo climber considers the outermost reaches of risk, and the unlikely ways in which they redefine us.

Ladies of the ’80s

How Madonna, Grace Jones, Joan Jett, Whitney Houston, and their contemporaries broke the stodgy musical mold of the ’60s and ’70s to inspire generations of women to pick up an instrument and learn to play music.

Black and Blue in Cleveland

Both of Wilbert L. Cooper’s parents were cops. In this excerpt from his memoir, Cooper recounts how his mother got into the force—and what the department did to try to keep her out.

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Recent editors’ picks

Oh, How Lucky We Are

Beryl Gilothwest | The Bitter Southerner | September 21, 2026 | 5,230 words

“Sandy West believed that embracing what we cannot understand is the pathway to enlightenment, and that time on her beloved Ossabaw was the best way to learn that lesson.”

Heaven’s Melodic Strains

Colin Vanderburg | n+1 | September 19, 2026 | 6,474 words

“From a certain height, the problem becomes one of knowledge itself: Do you believe what you hear, or do you hear what you believe?”

My Two Front Teeth

Joshua Bodwell | The American Scholar | September 17, 2026 | 5,423 words

“Reflections on a lifetime of dental drama.”

Impossibility is a Myth

Jack Jeffery and Abraham Elton | The Fence | September 18, 2026 | 6,803 words

“Sacha Jafri sold an artwork for $62 million dollars in 2021 at an auction. But the money never changed hands. What happened?”

Annie Dillard and the Writing Life

Alexander Chee | The Morning News | October 16, 2009 | 4,253 words

“Writers aren’t born, they’re made—from practice, reading, and a lot of caffeine. And sometimes tutelage.”

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Weekly Top 5

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Showcasing stories from J.B. MacKinnon, Daniel Kolitz, Daniel Shailer, Justin Neuman, and Hanif Abdurraqib.

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Recommending stories by Garrett M. Graff, Hannah McAlilly, Lizzy Goodman, Simon Hattenstone, and Duncan Fyfe.

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Learn to Love Your Search Results Again.

Introducing the Longreads Story Recommender.

The Longreads questionnaire

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Excerpts from The Atavist Magazine, our sister publication

The Thief Who Wanted to Save the World

“An ex-cop pulled off the largest armed robbery in Austria’s history, with his friend’s mistress as his accomplice. But he wasn’t trying to get rich. He wanted to be a real-life Robin Hood.”

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?

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Longreads reading lists

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