Longreads
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Sharing and publishing the best longform stories at longreads.com since 2009. Sister site of @atavist.com.
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Submit to us: https://longreads.com/submissions
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Longreads
@longreads.com
· Oct 15
Announcing Our 2025 Member Drive - Longreads
It's easy to think that thoughtful longform journalism is an endangered species. We refuse to believe that—and we need your help.
longreads.com
We’ve curated nearly 14,000 stories in the past 16 years and published hundreds of original pieces. Today, we’re kicking off a member drive to keep the stories coming.
Won’t you join us?
longreads.com/2025/10/15/2...
Won’t you join us?
longreads.com/2025/10/15/2...
"A printed diary held out the promise of total control over time, place and the self."
Elena Mary for @aeon.co: aeon.co/essays/victo...
Elena Mary for @aeon.co: aeon.co/essays/victo...
Victorian diary-writers kicked off our age of self-optimisation | Aeon Essays
Our cursed age of self-monitoring and optimisation didn’t start with big tech: as so often, the Victorians are to blame
aeon.co
November 18, 2025 at 11:18 PM
"A printed diary held out the promise of total control over time, place and the self."
Elena Mary for @aeon.co: aeon.co/essays/victo...
Elena Mary for @aeon.co: aeon.co/essays/victo...
America's liminal wetlands don't just persist, writes Ashley Stimpson. They insist. Today's inspiration for flagging resilience comes from a place you might not expect.
longreads.com/2025/10/02/t...
longreads.com/2025/10/02/t...
Swamp People - Longreads
Finding refuge and resilience in America’s most reviled landscapes.
longreads.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:21 PM
America's liminal wetlands don't just persist, writes Ashley Stimpson. They insist. Today's inspiration for flagging resilience comes from a place you might not expect.
longreads.com/2025/10/02/t...
longreads.com/2025/10/02/t...
"We tried to pin down what it was about Fire in the Mountains that still had us sobbing intermittently a week out. Von Till nailed it: 'It made me dare to hope.'” @btoastie.bsky.social @highcountrynews.org
www.hcn.org/issues/57-11...
www.hcn.org/issues/57-11...
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country News
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
www.hcn.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:23 PM
"We tried to pin down what it was about Fire in the Mountains that still had us sobbing intermittently a week out. Von Till nailed it: 'It made me dare to hope.'” @btoastie.bsky.social @highcountrynews.org
www.hcn.org/issues/57-11...
www.hcn.org/issues/57-11...
"I think of the strata of the city and how its new skyscrapers are built on the bones of the old docks."
@jesstraynor.bsky.social for @thedialmag.bsky.social: www.thedial.world/articles/new...
@jesstraynor.bsky.social for @thedialmag.bsky.social: www.thedial.world/articles/new...
What US Tech Did to Ireland — The Dial
The country is alarmingly reliant on Meta, Google and Apple.
www.thedial.world
November 17, 2025 at 8:43 PM
"I think of the strata of the city and how its new skyscrapers are built on the bones of the old docks."
@jesstraynor.bsky.social for @thedialmag.bsky.social: www.thedial.world/articles/new...
@jesstraynor.bsky.social for @thedialmag.bsky.social: www.thedial.world/articles/new...
"The shipworms are many things at once. They have carried different names — from maritime menace to indigenous delicacy to scientific marvel — yet none alone captures their multitude."
@crystalcchow.bsky.social for The Contrapuntal: thecontrapuntal.com/are-these-cl...
@crystalcchow.bsky.social for The Contrapuntal: thecontrapuntal.com/are-these-cl...
Are These Clams Key to Climate Adaptation? - The Contrapuntal
Shipworms are touted as tomorrow’s superfood and miracle medicine. But the story of these tiny molluscs illustrates an intricate ecological complexity that flashy green solutions often ignore.
thecontrapuntal.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:05 PM
"The shipworms are many things at once. They have carried different names — from maritime menace to indigenous delicacy to scientific marvel — yet none alone captures their multitude."
@crystalcchow.bsky.social for The Contrapuntal: thecontrapuntal.com/are-these-cl...
@crystalcchow.bsky.social for The Contrapuntal: thecontrapuntal.com/are-these-cl...
"Actually preventing cancer—far preferable to curing it, if less interesting—would mean asking why our cancer rates are so high in the first place." —Sofi Thanhauser for @vqr.bsky.social
Profits and False Promises
In the eerie, quiet week between Christmas and New Year’s 2021, halfway through a Fulbright to Hungary, I went to a medical clinic in Budapest to have a lump in my breast examined. I wasn’t too…
www.vqronline.org
November 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
"Actually preventing cancer—far preferable to curing it, if less interesting—would mean asking why our cancer rates are so high in the first place." —Sofi Thanhauser for @vqr.bsky.social
"It could be yet another sign that, between the poorly understood lemurs and their shifting environment, some equilibrium is slipping." —Elizabeth Preston for @biographic.bsky.social
www.biographic.com/investigatin...
www.biographic.com/investigatin...
Investigating a Treetop Baby Boom
Why a sudden spike in pregnancies in one Madagascan lemur population might actually be a bad sign for the species.
www.biographic.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:38 PM
"It could be yet another sign that, between the poorly understood lemurs and their shifting environment, some equilibrium is slipping." —Elizabeth Preston for @biographic.bsky.social
www.biographic.com/investigatin...
www.biographic.com/investigatin...
In this week’s Top 5:
Bear bones (Southlands)
Outstanding Outkast (@oxfordamerican.bsky.social)
Brightline’s brutality (@miamiherald.com)
Lasting lunches (@bittersouth.bsky.social)
Ruin ruminations (@thebaffler.com)
Become a Longreads member and read the Top 5 here:
longreads.com/2025/11/14/t...
Bear bones (Southlands)
Outstanding Outkast (@oxfordamerican.bsky.social)
Brightline’s brutality (@miamiherald.com)
Lasting lunches (@bittersouth.bsky.social)
Ruin ruminations (@thebaffler.com)
Become a Longreads member and read the Top 5 here:
longreads.com/2025/11/14/t...
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week - Longreads
This week we are celebrating stories from Anya Groner; Kiese Laymon; Brittany Wallman, Aaron Leibowitz, Shradha Dinesh, Susan Merriam, Daniel Rivero, and Joshua Ceballos; Jennifer Justus; and Robert…
longreads.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
In this week’s Top 5:
Bear bones (Southlands)
Outstanding Outkast (@oxfordamerican.bsky.social)
Brightline’s brutality (@miamiherald.com)
Lasting lunches (@bittersouth.bsky.social)
Ruin ruminations (@thebaffler.com)
Become a Longreads member and read the Top 5 here:
longreads.com/2025/11/14/t...
Bear bones (Southlands)
Outstanding Outkast (@oxfordamerican.bsky.social)
Brightline’s brutality (@miamiherald.com)
Lasting lunches (@bittersouth.bsky.social)
Ruin ruminations (@thebaffler.com)
Become a Longreads member and read the Top 5 here:
longreads.com/2025/11/14/t...
"The ruins lingered, and in lingering, they taught her the virtue of unproductive places and idle things, of empty spaces, left open for her to wander them and to ask: How did I get here, and how did all of this?" — @robrubsam.bsky.social for @thebaffler.com
Idle Things | Robert Rubsam
In “Things That Disappear,” Jenny Erpenbeck grapples with ruins, revealing the virtue of unproductive places and idle things.
thebaffler.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:42 PM
"The ruins lingered, and in lingering, they taught her the virtue of unproductive places and idle things, of empty spaces, left open for her to wander them and to ask: How did I get here, and how did all of this?" — @robrubsam.bsky.social for @thebaffler.com
"Framed this way, the line between 'native' and 'invasive'—whether plant, animal, or human—becomes less about origin and more about behavior: do you exploit, or do you commune?"
Alexandra Martinez for @oxfordamerican.bsky.social: oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/subve...
Alexandra Martinez for @oxfordamerican.bsky.social: oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/subve...
Subversive Botanicals in Miami’s Art Underground
oxfordamerican.org
November 13, 2025 at 5:23 PM
"Framed this way, the line between 'native' and 'invasive'—whether plant, animal, or human—becomes less about origin and more about behavior: do you exploit, or do you commune?"
Alexandra Martinez for @oxfordamerican.bsky.social: oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/subve...
Alexandra Martinez for @oxfordamerican.bsky.social: oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/subve...
"The cast of eccentric people here renews my hope one night and reaffirms all my doubts the next." —Michael Adno for @bittersouth.bsky.social
Life and Death at the County Fair — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
A new kind of magazine for a new kind of South.
bittersoutherner.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:16 PM
"The cast of eccentric people here renews my hope one night and reaffirms all my doubts the next." —Michael Adno for @bittersouth.bsky.social
"What began as a childhood wonder with masked men who looked like they could fly around the ring, evolved into a focus on Eddie. During a time when I lived in what felt like different worlds, he reminded me of home."
@randradefranco.bsky.social for @espn.com: www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/...
@randradefranco.bsky.social for @espn.com: www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/...
For the family of WWE legend Eddie Guerrero, his shadow still looms large
Twenty years after his death, the legendary WWE superstar still exists in the memories of his loved ones.
www.espn.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:21 PM
"What began as a childhood wonder with masked men who looked like they could fly around the ring, evolved into a focus on Eddie. During a time when I lived in what felt like different worlds, he reminded me of home."
@randradefranco.bsky.social for @espn.com: www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/...
@randradefranco.bsky.social for @espn.com: www.espn.com/wwe/story/_/...
"Rana Pratap and his home-grown start-up was the first time a scammer had approached me rather than the other way around. Things had come full circle. Someone had tried to scam me; I was now part of the story." —Snigdha Poonam for @thedialmag.bsky.social
The Scammer Next Door — The Dial
In India, an era of glaring inequality is also a golden age of graft.
www.thedial.world
November 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
"Rana Pratap and his home-grown start-up was the first time a scammer had approached me rather than the other way around. Things had come full circle. Someone had tried to scam me; I was now part of the story." —Snigdha Poonam for @thedialmag.bsky.social
"Beef Wellington is a dish designed to dazzle and comfort at once. It offered the perfect cover for Patterson’s plan, dressing intent to kill in the flaky drapery of a culinary showstopper." —Aaron Timms for @vittles.bsky.social
www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/death-by-d...
www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/death-by-d...
Death by Duxelles
How modern food culture played a decisive role in the Erin Patterson trial, by Aaron Timms. Illustration by Sing Yun Lee.
www.vittlesmagazine.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
"Beef Wellington is a dish designed to dazzle and comfort at once. It offered the perfect cover for Patterson’s plan, dressing intent to kill in the flaky drapery of a culinary showstopper." —Aaron Timms for @vittles.bsky.social
www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/death-by-d...
www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/death-by-d...
"To be wild is to be uncivilized. Uncultivated. Unpredictable. A wild thing is passionate, strong-willed, maybe even crazy. But Google the word and those definitions fold back on themselves." @anyagroner.bsky.social for Southlands
southlandsmag.com/p/3c9941b4-a...
southlandsmag.com/p/3c9941b4-a...
When the Bears Come Back
A brutal bear attack in rural Virginia raises a difficult question: what does it mean to welcome wildness back?
southlandsmag.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:08 PM
"To be wild is to be uncivilized. Uncultivated. Unpredictable. A wild thing is passionate, strong-willed, maybe even crazy. But Google the word and those definitions fold back on themselves." @anyagroner.bsky.social for Southlands
southlandsmag.com/p/3c9941b4-a...
southlandsmag.com/p/3c9941b4-a...
"In reflecting on her now, I wanted to check in with modern-day heroes of the school lunch line."—Jennifer Justus for @bittersouth.bsky.social
All Praise to the Lunch Ladies — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
Blessed are the women who watch over America’s children.
bittersoutherner.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:16 PM
"In reflecting on her now, I wanted to check in with modern-day heroes of the school lunch line."—Jennifer Justus for @bittersouth.bsky.social
"That breeze that blows through your life is still a guiding light. I mean, if not guiding, at least one of the great pleasures ." —@borntobenervous.bsky.social, to Freddy Martinez for Aperture
Daniel Arnold’s New Pleasure? Missing the Shot.
The street photographer speaks about New York City folklore, stepping away from Instagram, and his shifting priorities as an artist.
aperture.org
November 11, 2025 at 5:35 PM
"That breeze that blows through your life is still a guiding light. I mean, if not guiding, at least one of the great pleasures ." —@borntobenervous.bsky.social, to Freddy Martinez for Aperture
"Liam tells me about one woman who, after whitening her teeth, demanded an all-white diet for two months." —Jack Burke for @thetimes.com
Confessions of a private chef: foie gras for pets, ecstasy for pud
What’s it like to cook for the one per cent? Nothing is off the menu — with a lunch sent back seven times and the party with models, naked but for blobs of mayo
www.thetimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:38 PM
"Liam tells me about one woman who, after whitening her teeth, demanded an all-white diet for two months." —Jack Burke for @thetimes.com
Congratulations, @andrewchamings.bsky.social!
Read Andrew's @longreads.com story, "Madness, Melancholy, or Murder," in which he returns to his childhood home in the UK to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings.
longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
Read Andrew's @longreads.com story, "Madness, Melancholy, or Murder," in which he returns to his childhood home in the UK to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings.
longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
November 7, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Congratulations, @andrewchamings.bsky.social!
Read Andrew's @longreads.com story, "Madness, Melancholy, or Murder," in which he returns to his childhood home in the UK to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings.
longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
Read Andrew's @longreads.com story, "Madness, Melancholy, or Murder," in which he returns to his childhood home in the UK to investigate the mysterious deaths of the Luxton siblings.
longreads.com/2025/03/06/m...
"There was now a considerable plume of smoke, and a few small flames—fire-fangled feathers. I can’t move it, I said. The guard looked at me, and back at the car. Well, he said, I reckon you can’t." —Cynthia Zarin for @parisreview.bsky.social
Car Talk by Cynthia Zarin
November 3, 2025 – “I pined for something that did not exist: the car at the end of the mind, a car as dazzling as Wallace Stevens's gold-feathered bird.”
www.theparisreview.org
November 7, 2025 at 10:42 PM
"There was now a considerable plume of smoke, and a few small flames—fire-fangled feathers. I can’t move it, I said. The guard looked at me, and back at the car. Well, he said, I reckon you can’t." —Cynthia Zarin for @parisreview.bsky.social
"I taught at a place called Bowdoin College for 16 years, and during the last of those there was a student in attendance you’ve perhaps heard of. His name is Zohran Mamdani."
Peter Coviello for @literaryhub.bsky.social: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Peter Coviello for @literaryhub.bsky.social: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:14 PM
"I taught at a place called Bowdoin College for 16 years, and during the last of those there was a student in attendance you’ve perhaps heard of. His name is Zohran Mamdani."
Peter Coviello for @literaryhub.bsky.social: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Peter Coviello for @literaryhub.bsky.social: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
In our Weekly Top 5:
* Rise of the machines @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
* Help me, Seymour! (Garden & Gun)
* Crossing the party line @equatormag.bsky.social
* A powerful instrument @frankchimero.com
* Turn, turn, turn @emergencemagazine.bsky.social
longreads.com/2025/11/07/t...
* Rise of the machines @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
* Help me, Seymour! (Garden & Gun)
* Crossing the party line @equatormag.bsky.social
* A powerful instrument @frankchimero.com
* Turn, turn, turn @emergencemagazine.bsky.social
longreads.com/2025/11/07/t...
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week - Longreads
Showcasing notable stories from Joanne McNeil, Lindsey Liles, Soyonbo Borgin, Frank Chimero, and Holly Haworth.
longreads.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:24 PM
In our Weekly Top 5:
* Rise of the machines @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
* Help me, Seymour! (Garden & Gun)
* Crossing the party line @equatormag.bsky.social
* A powerful instrument @frankchimero.com
* Turn, turn, turn @emergencemagazine.bsky.social
longreads.com/2025/11/07/t...
* Rise of the machines @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
* Help me, Seymour! (Garden & Gun)
* Crossing the party line @equatormag.bsky.social
* A powerful instrument @frankchimero.com
* Turn, turn, turn @emergencemagazine.bsky.social
longreads.com/2025/11/07/t...
In our Weekly Top 5:
* Rise of the machines @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
* Help me, Seymour! (Garden & Gun)
* Crossing the party line @equatormag.bsky.social
* A powerful instrument @frankchimero.com
* Turn, turn, turn @emergencemagazine.bsky.social
longreads.com/2025/11/07/t...
* Rise of the machines @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
* Help me, Seymour! (Garden & Gun)
* Crossing the party line @equatormag.bsky.social
* A powerful instrument @frankchimero.com
* Turn, turn, turn @emergencemagazine.bsky.social
longreads.com/2025/11/07/t...
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week - Longreads
Showcasing notable stories from Joanne McNeil, Lindsey Liles, Soyonbo Borgin, Frank Chimero, and Holly Haworth.
longreads.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:20 PM
In our Weekly Top 5:
* Rise of the machines @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
* Help me, Seymour! (Garden & Gun)
* Crossing the party line @equatormag.bsky.social
* A powerful instrument @frankchimero.com
* Turn, turn, turn @emergencemagazine.bsky.social
longreads.com/2025/11/07/t...
* Rise of the machines @nyreviewofarch.bsky.social
* Help me, Seymour! (Garden & Gun)
* Crossing the party line @equatormag.bsky.social
* A powerful instrument @frankchimero.com
* Turn, turn, turn @emergencemagazine.bsky.social
longreads.com/2025/11/07/t...
"If working in the Rubin style puts you under the machine, Eno works beside it."
Frank Chimero on AI and creative agency: frankchimero.com/blog/2025/be...
Frank Chimero on AI and creative agency: frankchimero.com/blog/2025/be...
Frank Chimero · Beyond the Machine
Frank Chimero’s Personal Website
frankchimero.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:15 PM
"If working in the Rubin style puts you under the machine, Eno works beside it."
Frank Chimero on AI and creative agency: frankchimero.com/blog/2025/be...
Frank Chimero on AI and creative agency: frankchimero.com/blog/2025/be...
"I took the long walk to the billing counter. It was the first time I had dealt directly with the logistics of death instead of grieving in my head." —Jennifer Thuy Vi Nguyen on duality, detachment, and life and death decisions.
longreads.com/2025/11/06/i...
longreads.com/2025/11/06/i...
Tom Cat - Longreads
On duality, detachment, and life and death decisions.
longreads.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:15 PM
"I took the long walk to the billing counter. It was the first time I had dealt directly with the logistics of death instead of grieving in my head." —Jennifer Thuy Vi Nguyen on duality, detachment, and life and death decisions.
longreads.com/2025/11/06/i...
longreads.com/2025/11/06/i...