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David Lynch Was Here

A dispatch from the real Twin Peaks, where fans of the director flocked after his death.

by Katherine Cusumano

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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 Genocide the World Ignored

Ayder Comprehensive Medical Hospital was the second largest in Ethiopia and the jewel of the Tigrayan health system—and for two horrific years, it became a war zone.

by Longreads February 4, 2025February 4, 2025

Letter from Manhattan 2 

On trying to be a “world citizen”—and how expat life rarely delivers on its promises.

by Thomas Dai January 21, 2025February 3, 2025

The Charango

On the devastating power of music and violence.

by Valerie Argentina Calvo January 16, 2025January 14, 2025

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Weekly Top 5

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Notable longform stories written by David Farrier, Luc Rinaldi, Claire Gagné, Jonathan Weiner, and Dave Holmes.

February 14, 2025February 13, 2025

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Featuring stories from Charlotte Bailey, Hanif Abdurraqib, Taylar Dawn Stagnar, Patrick Madden, and Kevin Chroust.

February 7, 2025February 6, 2025

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

This week we have stories from David Roth, Dhruv Mehrotra and Andy Greenberg, Thomas Dai, Cameron Maynard, and Katherine Rundell.

January 31, 2025January 30, 2025

Editors’ Picks

Days and Nights in Gaza

Muhammad al-Zaqzouq (trans. by Katharine Halls) | The New York Review of Books | February 9, 2025 | 5,132 words

“Watching TV that first day, we awaited the roar of planes and the rumble of explosions. We didn’t have to wait long.”

Tired of Losing

Julie Poole | Economic Hardship Reporting Project / Slate | August 5, 2024 | 1,974 words

“Loss was at the root of it. When you’re tired of losing, you hold on to whatever you can.”

Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Banished Forever

Justine Harman | Vulture | February 6, 2025 | 4,381 words

“The Andersons were kicked out of Disneyland’s most exclusive club. They would not go willingly.”

Why Gen Z Will Never Leave Home

Claire Gagné | Maclean’s | February 11, 2025 | 4,141 words

“Thanks to soaring housing costs, a generation of twentysomethings are still in their childhood bedrooms. A portrait of family life with no empty nest.”

Murder in the Blue Mountains

Luc Rinaldi | Toronto Life | February 10, 2025 | 6,575 words

“Ashley’s remains turned up in a burned-out car at the bottom of a ditch, and all signs pointed to her husband.”

We’re Already at Risk of Ceding Our Humanity to AI

Surekha Davies | Literary Hub | February 6, 2025 | 3,234 words

“Surekha Davies on machines, monsters and why humanity is still worth fighting for.”

Here Come the Lionfish

James Bridle | Emergence Magazine | January 30, 2025 | 4,136 words

“Coming face to face with lionfish in the warming waters of the Aegean Sea, James Bridle traces the unfolding of geology, evolution, and empire that not only occasions this meeting,…

Mike White’s Mischievious Vision for “The White Lotus”

Kelefa Sanneh | The New Yorker | February 10, 2025 | 7,550 words

“Sex, money, morals, and the making of an ever-shifting franchise.”

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Essays and Features

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