Long Reads
Our Top 10 Most-Popular Stories of 2024
Below you’ll find the 10 most-popular longform stories we published this year, a handy list of things to (re-)read that includes Boston’s in-depth coverage of […]
The Greater Boston Eviction Crisis Will Hurt You, Too
Morning light spilled over Boston as Noreli Vasquez unlocked the black front door of her brick walkup near Maverick Square in East Boston. Tired after […]
Inside the New World of Luxury Kids’ Parties, Where Parents Are Plus-Ones
Forget the Met Gala—today’s soirees of the century are where VIPs still raid their parents’ closets for couture. From bubble artists to custom teepees to […]
The Betrayal of Sandra Birchmore
Growing up in Stoughton, Sandra Birchmore idolized police officers. She dreamed of becoming one herself someday and longed to enroll in the town’s Police Explorers […]
From Heartbreak to Hope: A Maine Father’s Unlikely Journey, One Year After the Lewiston Massacre
Arthur Barnard sits alone in his car just outside a vacant, low-slung building on the edge of the Androscoggin River in Lewiston, Maine. Not so […]
How October 7 Galvanized Boston’s Jewish Community
Mia was a high school sophomore living north of Boston when her life changed in an instant on October 7, 2023, the day Hamas militants […]
Eliza Dushku’s Bold New Journey
It was a bright spring day when Eliza Dushku Palandjian slid an eyeshade on and settled onto some cushions on the floor. She squeezed the […]
The James Rodwell Case: A Somerville Man Fights for His Innocence
The stark lamplights of East Somerville’s industrial district cast an eerie glow on the gold Buick Electra, its engine still purring in the cold December […]
A Grilled Cheese Mystery: My Search for a Simple Sandwich
I can’t deny that I’ve got major skills, all of which have zero marketability. I can identify a Springsteen song two seconds in. I can […]
Charlie Baker’s (Still) Got Game
Once upon a time, Charlie Baker says—before he was governor, before he was in politics, before he was anything, really—he wanted to be, of all […]
The Fractured, Surprising, and Sobering Truth About Kids and Smartphones
It was a miracle: My seventh grader was at the Burlington Mall with friends. I double-parked in front of Nordstrom for pickup, eagerly awaiting tales […]
My Dad’s Last Day in Court
The earliest signs of my father’s cognitive slip dovetailed with his retirement. He’d somehow managed to keep it together for his clients until his very […]
Is Candlepin Bowling a Dying Pastime?
It’s 6 o’clock at night, and inside East Boston’s Central Park Lanes, the late-summer air is heavy and humid. Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, […]
Who Is Josh Kraft?
There was a time when Josh Kraft flew under the radar. Then, all of a sudden, he was everywhere. One day, he was rubbing elbows […]
Oral History: The 1999 All-Star Game That Saved Fenway Park
In 1999, before the seemingly endless parade of championships in this town, Boston sports fans were longing for a win—any win. The Patriots were in […]