30 Years Later: Phyllis Hyman, “I Refuse to Be Lonely”
The singer’s first posthumous album deserves to be remembered as the bravest of her career.
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New Longreads Essays and Features
Anatomy of Absolute Power
The people of Wilcox County, Alabama, remember a longtime sheriff as a god or a monster—it just depends on who you ask.
Best of 2025: The Stories You Missed
In a year of exceptional reading, these overlooked stories refused to let us go.
Best of 2025: All Our Number Five Story Picks
Every story we selected for the number five slot in our weekly newsletter, in a handy digest.
Weekly Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Starting 2026 with stories from Jamie Thompson, Kiese Laymon, Marcus Wicker, Katherine Cusumano, and Emma Freud.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending stories from Kate Mossman, Luke Winkie, Lou Stoppard, Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne, and Rosa Lyster.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending stories from Yasmin Tayag, Elliott Woods, David Ramsey, Larissa Diakiw, and A.S. Hamrah.
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More Longreads Essays and Features
Best of 2025: All Our Number One Story Picks
Every story we selected for the number one slot in our weekly newsletter, all in one place.
Best of 2025: The Most Popular Editors’ Picks of the Year
These audience hits were the most-viewed picks on our site in 2025.
Best of 2025: Our Most Popular Originals of the Year
Our 10 most-read Longreads essays of 2025.
A Year in Reading: Restraint as Wisdom
We live in a culture built on ignoring limits—of land, of bodies, of attention—and these stories kept returning me to that truth.
A Year in Reading: Inward Journeys
Navigating a world in flux demands some understanding of who you really are, and some of my favorite pieces from this year speak to that need.
A Year in Reading: When the Going Gets Tough
These are the stories I couldn’t stop thinking about—the ones that ask us to sit with darkness and still find reasons to keep going.
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Longreads Reading Lists
Life on Display: A Reading List on Museums
Hushed halls can speak loud truths.
Map Room: A Radical Reading List on Cartographic Power, Perspective, and Possibility
Seven stories celebrating our fascination with maps.
Science Cheats: A Reading List on Unscrupulous Scientists
Six stories on the shady side of scholarship.
Dimes, Dunks, and Devotion: A Basketball Reading List
Seven essays that go beyond the box score.
Fleeing Family: A Reading List on Estrangement
Seven stories highlighting the perspective of estranged adult children.
Kingdom of Funga: A Mycelial Reading List on a Strange and Surreal World Around Us
Seven stories celebrating the kingdom of funga’s beauty and power.
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