Every year, we publish a list of readers’ favorite New Yorker pieces, and every year we encounter the same problem: there’s no precise way to measure popularity online. Or, perhaps more accurately, there are multiple ways, and they each tell a different story. Unique visitors—the sheer number of people who have landed on a story—is the bluntest of metrics. For publications sustained by advertising revenue, this number is key, because each visit, no matter how brief, generates some incremental amount of revenue. But the number fails to capture whether these readers stick around and form any kind of loyalty to a publication. Engaged minutes, the term for the total amount of time that readers spend on a piece, is more helpful. But even this metric, however gratifying, doesn’t fully capture The New Yorker’s ambition to be a valued daily destination for news and cultural coverage, ideas and arguments, fiction and poetry, and humor.
As a result, I’ve been intrigued by a new measurement tool, developed by Condé Nast’s data-science team, that tracks all of the pieces someone reads on the way to subscribing to the magazine. This “subscription contribution,” as we call it, is a useful way of understanding what our audience values most about The New Yorker—not just what readers are willing to pay for but what sparks a lasting relationship with them. That seems like as good a definition for “favorite” as any.
What’s on this year’s top-stories list, based on their subscription-contribution scores? A diverse collection of pieces that includes ambitious investigative reporting, personal histories, cultural criticism, commentary, interviews, and essays. I particularly love the fact that the list collectively embodies what The New Yorker is today. It’s nearly evenly split between pieces that were published in the weekly magazine and online only. There are triumphs of investigative reporting, a glorious riff on Keanu Reeves, an interview with Linda Ronstadt, and a profile of a philosopher whose work focusses on equality as the basis for a free society. Enjoy them all. And please subscribe!
—Michael Luo, editor of newyorker.com
A Reporter at Large
The Case of Al Franken
A close look at the accusations against the former senator.
By Jane Mayer
A Reporter at Large
The Making of the Fox News White House
Fox News has always been partisan. But has it become propaganda?
By Jane Mayer
Annals of the Former World
The Day the Dinosaurs Died
A young paleontologist may have discovered a record of the most significant event in the history of life on Earth.
By Douglas Preston
News Desk
How an Élite University Research Center Concealed Its Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
Documents show that the M.I.T. Media Lab was aware of Epstein’s status as a convicted sex offender.
By Ronan Farrow
Cultural Comment
What If We Stopped Pretending?
The climate apocalypse is coming. To prepare for it, we need to admit that we can’t prevent it.
By Jonathan Franzen
Personal History
A Battle for My Life
I had just finished filming Season 1 of “Game of Thrones.” Then I was struck with the first of two aneurysms.
By Emilia Clarke
A Reporter at Large
Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize His Father’s Campaign?
Joe Biden’s son is under scrutiny for his business dealings and tumultuous personal life.
By Adam Entous
Profiles
A Suspense Novelist’s Trail of Deceptions
Dan Mallory, who writes under the name A. J. Finn, went to No. 1 with his début thriller, “The Woman in the Window.” His life contains even stranger twists.
By Ian Parker
Annals of Law
Alan Dershowitz, Devil’s Advocate
The noted lawyer’s long, controversial career—and the accusations against him.
By Connie Bruck
Dept. of First Principles
The Art of Decision-Making
Your life choices aren’t just about what you want to do; they’re about who you want to be.
By Joshua Rothman
2019 in Review
The Top Twenty-Five New Yorker Stories of 2019
Among the others are an interview with a Harvard astronomer about a mysterious object travelling through our solar system.
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