Longform

  • Home
  • Best Articles
  • Podcast
  • Sections
    • Arts
    • Business
    • Crime
    • History
    • Politics
    • Science
    • Sex
    • Sports
    • Tech
    • World
    • All Sections
  • Collections
  • Reprints
  • Random Article
  • Lists

    • Best of 2019
    • Best of 2018
    • Best of 2017
    • Best of 2016
    • Best of 2015
    • Best of 2014
    • Best of 2013
    • Best of 2012
  • Archive

    • Publications
    • Writers
    • Tags
  • More

    • Newsletter
    • Suggest Article
    • About
    • Contact
    • Advertise
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Newsletter
  • RSS Feed

Get our Newsletter

Great articles, every Saturday.

Publications

Guardian

Politics

Trump's Useful Thugs

How the Republican party offered a home to the Proud Boys.

Brendan O'Connor Guardian Jan 2021 20min Permalink

The Joys of Being an Absolute Beginner—For Life

The phrase ‘adult beginner’ can sound patronising. It implies you are learning something you should have mastered as a child. But learning is not just for the young.

Tom Vanderbilt Guardian Jan 2021 15min Permalink

World

How Syria's disinformation wars destroyed the co-founder of the White Helmets

In November 2019, James Le Mesurier, the British co-founder of the Syrian rescue group, fell to his death in Istanbul. What led an internationally celebrated humanitarian to take his own life?

Martin Chulov Guardian Oct 2020 25min Permalink

Health

The Battle Over Dyslexia

It was once a widely accepted way of explaining why some children struggled to read and write. But in recent years, some experts have begun to question the existence of dyslexia itself.

Sirin Kale Guardian Sep 2020 25min Permalink

Health

'You have to take action': one hospital cleaner’s journey through the pandemic

After years of outsourcing, many essential staff work for the NHS without receiving its benefits. In one London hospital, the fight is on for a better deal.

Sophie Elmhirst Guardian Jun 2020 25min Permalink

Business

How the Face Mask Became the World's Most Coveted Commodity

The global scramble for this vital item has exposed the harsh realities of international politics and the limits of the free market.

Samanth Subramanian Guardian Apr 2020 25min Permalink

The Invisible City: How a Homeless Man Built a Life Underground

After decades among the hidden homeless, Dominic Van Allen dug himself a bunker beneath a public park. But his life would get even more precarious.

Tom Lamont Guardian Mar 2020 30min Permalink

Splendid Isolation: How I Stopped Time by Sitting in a Forest for 24 Hours

After sitting alone in a forest and not moving for 24 hours, the author reflects on time, mortality, and turning 40.

Mark O'Connell Guardian Jan 2020 25min Permalink

Food

So Long, Salt and Vinegar

What’s behind the explosion of British potato chip flavors?

Amelia Tait Guardian Jan 2020 10min Permalink

Science

The Air Conditioning Trap: How Cold Air Is Heating the World

The warmer it gets, the more we use air conditioning. The more we use air conditioning, the warmer it gets. Is there any way out of this trap?

Stephen Buranyi Guardian Aug 2019 20min Permalink

Business

Hand Dryers v. Paper Towels: The Surprisingly Dirty Fight for the Right to Dry Your Hands

For a century, the humble paper towel has dominated public toilets. But a new generation of hand dryers has sparked a war for loo supremacy.

Samanth Subramanian Guardian Apr 2019 30min Permalink

Business World

The Aldi Effect: How One Discount Supermarket Transformed the Way Britain Shops

When Aldi arrived in Britain, Tesco and Sainsbury’s were sure they had nothing to worry about. Three decades later, they know better.

Xan Rice Guardian Mar 2019 30min Permalink

Arts

Typecast as a Terrorist

“As my acting career developed, I was no longer cast as a radical Muslim – except at the airport.”

Riz Ahmed Guardian Sep 2016 15min Permalink

Crime

"I Dream About It Every Night"

What happens to the people who film famous incidents of police violence.

Jon Swaine, Oliver Laughland Guardian Aug 2015 15min Permalink

Crime

Why Would Someone Steal the World’s Rarest Water Lily?

The thin moral line between collecting and stealing plants.

Sam Knight Guardian Oct 2014 25min Permalink