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Knotty Business: A Delightfully Tangled Reading List on Knots

Six stories on our fascination with knots.

by Kanya Kanchana

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Our favorite stories of 2024.

A collection of top Longreads originals and editors’ picks from across the web.

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The Twin Bandits

“The police couldn’t figure out how the perpetrator ripped off two banks at the same time. Until they discovered there wasn’t just one robber but a pair of them: identical twin brothers.”

by Longreads January 9, 2025January 9, 2025

The Journalist Who the Nazis Could Not Silence

No one has ever received more nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize than Carl von Ossietzky. This is his story.

by Longreads December 5, 2024December 5, 2024

Where Miracles Exist for the Weekend

An unlikely journey of marriage, faith, and doubt in the Jaliscan highlands.

by Kayla Aletha Welch November 19, 2024November 20, 2024

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The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Featuring stories from Michelle Shephard, Adrienne Mason, Dylan Levi King, Sara Mitchell, and Saskia Solomon.

January 10, 2025January 9, 2025

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Featuring stories from Ed Park, Rachel Kushner, Will Tavlin, Michaela Cavanagh, and S.C. Gwynne.

December 20, 2024December 19, 2024

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Showcasing stories from Oliver Whang, Shannon Mattern, Niko McCarty and Xander Balwit, Josh Dzieza, and Sam Parker.

December 13, 2024December 13, 2024

Editors’ Picks

Chrishona Hodges’s Life Sentence

Elly Fishman | Chicago Magazine | January 7, 2025 | 7,034 words

“At a crossroads when Chicago profiled him nine years ago, Jerryon Stevens is now in jail, awaiting trial on a murder charge. At home, his mother reckons with her son’s…

How a Would-Be Bomber Rebuilt His Life

Michelle Shephard | The Walrus | January 6, 2025 | 5, 700 words

“Zakaria Amara was jailed for his part in the Toronto 18 terror plot. Then came the hard work of redemption.”

Crumple Zone: What Car Crashes Reveal About Human Hubris and Fragility

Sara Mitchell | Literary Hub | January 3, 2025 | 3,357 words

“Risk, racing and a shared father-daughter legacy of survival.”

The House on West Clay Street

Ian Frisch | Curbed | January 9, 2025 | 6,878 words

“Tabatha Pope thought she’d finally found an affordable place to live. It was the beginning of a nightmare.”

Did a Best-Selling Romantasy Novelist Steal Another Writer’s Story?

Katy Waldman | The New Yorker | January 6, 2025 | 4, 490 words

“Tracy Wolff, the author of the ‘Crave’ series, is being sued for copyright infringement. But romantasy’s reliance on standardized tropes makes proving plot theft tricky.”

“I Have Lost Everything.”

Asia Fields, Nicole Santa Cruz, Ruth Talbot and Maya Miller | ProPublica | December 27, 2024 | 2,730 words

A record number of Americans are living outside. Cities have responded by removing encampments from public spaces, a practice commonly referred to as “sweeps.” In the process, workers often take…