Weekly Top 5

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Featuring notable stories from Paul Solotaroff, Maddie Oatman, Gabriel Smith, Meg Bernhard, and Alexandra Horowitz.

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Featuring stories from Sophie Vershbow, Sharon Lerner, Geoffrey Gray, Christopher Solomon, and Abe Beame.

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Featuring notable stories from David Pierce, C.J. Chivers, Paige Kaptuch, Michael Adno, and Jessica Winter.

Editors’ Picks

We’re So Back

Luke Winkie | Slate | June 29, 2024 | 2,765 words

“The “get-your-ex-back” industry is booming. It really shouldn’t be.”

The Adoption Paradox

Fiona Sampson | Aeon | July 1, 2024 | 3,200 words

“You could call it a life sentence, for this is the moment in which I learn that I am adopted.”

The Owls Who Came From Away

Jude Isabella | Hakai Magazine | July 2, 2024 | 3,500 words

“Over the past 80 years, one of the most resilient and hearty owls has practically engulfed a continent. Not everyone is pleased.”

The Life and Untimely Death of a Boeing Whistleblower

Sean Flynn | New York Magazine | July 2, 2024 | 6,460 words

“After the (Boeing-McDonnell Douglas) merger, the corporate culture shifted from ‘Let’s make great airplanes’ to “Let’s raise the stock price.’”

Pooping on the Moon Is a Messy Business

Becky Ferreira | WIRED | June 25, 2024 | 2,276 words

“If humans are to return to the moon, space agencies and governments need to figure out the legal, ethical, and practical dimensions of extraterrestrial waste management.”

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Essays and Features

Fuel, Medicine, Pleasure

What could it mean to give yourself the food you need to keep going? No punishing, no guilt, no withholding. Just nourishment.

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Reading Lists

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Our year-end collections

The top longreads each year, selected by our editors.