Dear Readers,
The Sunday Long Read is a newsletter dedicated to celebrating worthwhile journalism. That mission hasn’t changed since we began this passion project 10 years ago this month. As Don wrote in that first newsletter:
The goal of The Sunday Long Read newsletter is simple: To put the past week’s best journalism in your hands every Sunday morning—or, as a friend said, “to screw up my Sundays with far too much great stuff to read.” Obviously, compiling these lists is a wildly subjective exercise. How do I choose what’s “best?” If I finish a long-read article and immediately want to recommend it to a friend, you’ll find it linked here. These stories brought me pleasure, made me laugh and think and, most of all, told me something I didn’t know. No “hot takes” here.
…
And each week, I’ll choose my favorite read. The standard for that choice will be based as much on raw emotion as anything: If I desperately wished I had written it, you’ll find it at the top of the list.
We’ve now promoted close to 10,000 (!) outstanding pieces of reporting and writing, to go with almost 500 classic picks by the incomparable Jack Shafer—the best stuff our industry has ever produced.
However, over the last decade, the journalism landscape around us has evolved tremendously, and not for the better. That’s what we can’t help but reflect on today…
We launched The Sunday Long Read at a time of reading abundance, when still-vibrant print outlets competed with promising digital upstarts. There was so much out there that we wanted to highlight the very best of it. Journalists are infamously stingy with praise; we sought to create time and space for our industry to celebrate the exceptional work—and to place a stamp of approval on the pieces you had to make time for.
We don’t live in that time anymore.
Four out of the first 10 publications we spotlighted in our inaugural newsletter no longer exist. Newspaper publishers, by some measures, have seen more jobs lost than textile mills or coal mines. And social media—where Don and Jacob first connected—has gone from a wellspring of deeply reported storytelling to what feels like a video-infested wasteland devoid of clear thinking, curiosity or compassion.
“One of my favorite things about Twitter is it’s a generous platform that helps you discover great writing and great writers,” Don wrote back in 2014. In 2024? Ya, not so much.
Along the way, we’ve lost a number of our favorite fellow narrative journalism champions—tools, curators, podcasts, and websites that helped boost the profile of up-and-coming reporters.
AI. Paywalls. Fragmentation. It’s all made it harder to have an impact as a writer today.
But things are even more dire for consumers.
We’re losing our ability to read.
No, really.
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Sure, people can still comprehend a bunch of letters as words. They’re literate. But how many people have the capacity to absorb a story told over paragraphs and paragraphs? To face a wall of text and be moved? Isn’t that what reading is?
Americans 15-to-54 years old now spend less than 10 minutes per day reading for personal interest, on average. The line between “I do not” and “I can not” can only hold for so long.
Reading has gone from a fact of life to a luxury experience, and—*takes a look around*—we’re all paying the price.
Yet 80% of Americans wish they read more. It’s the second most “wished-after” activity behind exercising. And it’s just as powerful as ever, quite possibly the most powerful invention in our species’ history. Studies consistently show that reading improves your critical thinking skills and ability to empathize. And unlike the depressing impact of binging breaking news alerts or one-sided tirades or hot take merchants peacocking for views, finely tuned profiles and features have the power to uplift and inspire.
So, if reading is so great, and so many people wish they did more of it, well, why aren’t they?
Because right now, you have to be extraordinarily intentional and disciplined to make time for reading. Publications are promoting—and profiting from—games, recipes and videos. Media platforms are pushing rage-baiting clips that get you to react rather than think. This is what people are being served, so of course it’s what they are consuming.
It’s like we’re all Las Vegas tourists now, stuck endlessly navigating a noisy casino in search of the quiet pool.
That’s where we come in.
Over the last decade, with the help of our amazing SLR members and more recently SLR Publisher Ruth Ann Harnisch (a true godsend who has allowed us to expand our ambitions), we’ve been able to directly help writers through a growing SLR Originals program that funds new reporting at a rate journalists deserve.
We’ve also been touched by the notes we receive from writers featured in the newsletter—uber-talented journalists who appreciated feeling seen, being read, and getting shared.
More than 150 contributing editors and writers have joined this labor of love, guest-editing editions with smarts and passion and helping us, behind the scenes, with tipped pieces, encouragement and audience-building. Their dedication (along with nominations from readers!) has ensured we’re continuing to find new voices, even if social media no longer surfaces those finds. We’ve used the SLR Podcast platform to further highlight our best truth-tellers. And we’ve expanded our newsletter offerings to a True Crime monthly compilation with, we hope, more specialized newsletters to come.
Devouring thousands of stories a year, we know this craft is worth fighting for. Our friends at Air Mail got it right when they said the SLR is “a newsletter. born of love.”
Now it’s time to expand our mission.
We’re working journalists, so we have an extra level of respect for just how hard it is to produce a piece of longform worth a damn. Of course we’re going to continue celebrating sterling journalism. But in the year 2024, you also deserve praise for reading it.
None of our effort over the last ten years would mean anything without your participation, collectively reading the stories we’ve selected millions of times.
Our focus is increasingly on improving that process: opening access to paywalled stories, helping you find time (and energy) to sit down with challenging narratives, and reminding you why this is worth all the hassle. Let us be your guides to the reading experience you want to have in your life.
Despite every headwind, obstacle, cutback and “pivot to video,” we remain optimistic about the future of in-depth, powerful storytelling. Obviously we’re optimistic! That’s what happens when you do so much reading!
And we’re just getting started.
As we’ve been saying since our first edition dropped in 2014 to 1,000 friends and curious readers/soon-to-be friends… a rallying cry now more than ever…
Enjoy,
Don and Jacob
Don Van Natta Jr.
Don Van Natta Jr. is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at ESPN, which he joined in 2012. Prior to that he worked for 16 years at The New York Times, based in Washington, London, Miami and NYC. A NYT bestselling author, he is now writing a book about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster. He lives in Miami with his wife, Washington Post contributing columnist Lizette Alvarez. They have two daughters.
Jacob Feldman
Jacob Feldman is a sports business reporter at Sportico, where he has covered tech and the modern fan experience since 2020. Prior to that he worked for Sports Illustrated, writing about the NFL and media. A Boston resident, he also produces the This Day In Esoteric Political History podcast.