Motherhood on the Line By Alice Driver Feature Three asylum seekers navigate coronavirus and climate change at the U.S.-Mexico border. Friends: We Need Your Help to Fund More Stories
Shades of Grey By Ashley Stimpson Feature In 2018, Floridians voted overwhelmingly to end greyhound racing, a sport they were told was archaic and inhumane. What if they were wrong?
An Atlas of the Cosmos By Shannon Stirone Feature We’ve mapped Mars, the Moon, the solar system, even our own galaxy. Which means there is only one thing left to understand in this symbolic way and that is the entirety of the cosmos.
Longreads Honored with 14 Notable Mentions in ‘Best American’ Series By Longreads Commentary Our cup runneth over! Congratulations to all!
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week By Longreads Weekly Top 5 This week, we’re sharing stories from Lizzie Presser, Greg Jaffe, Phillip Picardi, Amy Yee, and Paul Brown.
The Grizzly Attack that Created a Bear Advocate By Carolyn Wells Highlight “The bear, still on all fours, was tall enough to look Mya in the eye. He huffed and gave a short growl. Then he charged.”
Longreads Best of 2020: Essays By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Feature A small sampling of standout essays published this year.
‘Hue’s Hue’: Katy Kelleher’s Column on Color By Krista Stevens Highlight “Tyrian purple was a difficult color to manufacture. Thousands of snails were required to create a single ounce of dye.”
Longreads Best of 2020: Profiles By Krista Stevens Feature Here’s a selection of profiles that resonated with us this year.
Plastic’s Broken Promise By Krista Stevens Highlight “The first one I saw was on the path outside my house: a single white plastic glove, the fingers curled inward like a sleeping animal.”
Longreads Best of 2020: Arts and Culture By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Feature Our top editors’ picks in arts and culture writing this year.
“Over a Glass of Wine and a Pint on a Quiet Friday Night” By Krista Stevens Highlight “Impending parenthood makes you reconsider the context of your own upbringing, and puts the work your parents did into a new light.”
Longreads Best of 2020: Science and Nature By Carolyn Wells Feature Our top picks in science and nature stories for 2020.
The Dark Side of Birding By Krista Stevens Highlight “Undeniably, eBird … brings birders together and allows for rapid information sharing. It’s also created new—and sometimes contentious—etiquette and social dynamics.”
The 25 Most Popular Longreads Exclusives of 2020 By Krista Stevens Feature The original reporting, personal essays, columns, and collaborations that were our most-read stories of the year.
Longreads Best of 2020: All of Our No. 1 Story Picks By Krista Stevens Feature Here’s every story that was chosen as No. 1 in our weekly Top 5 email.
Shades of Grey By Ashley Stimpson Feature In 2018, Floridians voted overwhelmingly to end greyhound racing, a sport they were told was archaic and inhumane. What if they were wrong?
The Dark Side of Birding By Krista Stevens Highlight “Undeniably, eBird … brings birders together and allows for rapid information sharing. It’s also created new—and sometimes contentious—etiquette and social dynamics.”
Out There: On Not Finishing By Devin Feature What happens if the stories we tell ourselves about our lives leave us lonely, wrestling with meaning?
Longreads Best of 2020: Crime Reporting By Carolyn Wells Feature Our top picks in Crime Reporting for 2020.
The Powerful Decide By Longreads Feature What makes good or bad design happen anywhere depends on who has the most power.
‘The Sea and Sky Decide What They Will Allow’ By Krista Stevens Highlight “I’m working on a book about Arctic explorers, and that means swimming in a sea of sorrow.”
The Grieving Landscape By Longreads Feature Upon discovering that her mother had been a member of the group Women Strike For Peace (WSP), Heidi Hutner becomes obsessed with feminist nuclear history.
This Week in Books: Farewell Longreads! I’m Taking This Rodeo to Substack. By Dana Snitzky Commentary To read my “This Week in Books” newsletter in the future, follow me on substack.
Palliative Brownies By Krista Stevens Highlight “I grew up in the grip of the epidemic, maturing as people I adored as surrogate aunties and uncles fell ill and vanished from our lives.”
Longreads Best of 2020: Writing on COVID-19 By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Feature Our top story picks in COVID-19 reporting this year.
The Alarmist: Is One of the Pandemic’s Loudest Scientific Voices Helping or Hurting Public Health? By Seyward Darby Highlight Meet Eric Feigl-Ding, the town crier of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trapped in Limbo Down Under By Seyward Darby Highlight In Australia, some 30,000 people live in a state of legal uncertainty crafted by politicians.
The Secret Group Trying to Topple North Korea’s Regime By Seyward Darby Highlight Has the U.S. government already betrayed the activists seeking regime change in North Korea?
Inside the Chaos of Immigration Court By Gabriel Thompson Feature Gabriel Thompson takes us into San Francisco Immigration Court and the labyrinthine system that asylum seekers—and attorneys and judges—are up against.
Longreads Best of 2020: Essays By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Feature A small sampling of standout essays published this year.
‘Hue’s Hue’: Katy Kelleher’s Column on Color By Krista Stevens Highlight “Tyrian purple was a difficult color to manufacture. Thousands of snails were required to create a single ounce of dye.”
Plastic’s Broken Promise By Krista Stevens Highlight “The first one I saw was on the path outside my house: a single white plastic glove, the fingers curled inward like a sleeping animal.”
“Over a Glass of Wine and a Pint on a Quiet Friday Night” By Krista Stevens Highlight “Impending parenthood makes you reconsider the context of your own upbringing, and puts the work your parents did into a new light.”
Loving Molly, and Mourning Her: A Husband’s Extraordinary Essay By Seyward Darby Feature Blake Butler writes movingly about his late wife, poet Molly Brodak.