And Now: 31 Notable WIRED Long-Form Stories of 2021

If 2020 was a weird, exhausting year, 2021 was the strange year that came after. But for writers of long-form narratives, weirdness brings opportunity. Strangeness brings stories to the surface—some of them about the ever-present pandemic, some of them bubbling up through the fissures the pandemic opened. This year’s list of standout WIRED features is drawn from readers, who voted with their clicks, and editors, who generally refuse to admit loving any one of their children more than another. Through weird times and not, one thing remains true: We define ourselves by the stories we tell. Herewith, for your holiday-reading delectation, a list of 31 notable long-form pieces from 2021. (Yes, 31. We know: perfectly weird.)
- Photograph: Naila Ruechel
The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill
All pandemic long, scientists brawled over how the virus spreads. Droplets! No, aerosols! At the heart of the fight was a teensy error with huge consequences.
- Illustration: Aaron Marin
A People’s History of Black Twitter, Part I
From #UKnowUrBlackWhen to #BlackLivesMatter, how a loose online network became a pop culture juggernaut, an engine of social justice, and a lens into the future.
The “People's History of Black Twitter” has three parts. There's also Part II, Rising Up (2012-2016) and Part III, Getting Through (2016-present). You can also dig deeper with this episode of WIRED's Gadget Lab podcast, “Why the History of Black Twitter Needed to be Written.”
- Illustration: Sam Whitney; Getty Images
The Unsettling Truth About the ‘Mostly Harmless’ Hiker
His emaciated body was discovered in a tent, just a few miles from a major Florida highway. His identity—and troubled past—were discovered by the internet.
- Photograph: Gabriela Hasbun
They Hacked McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines—and Started a Cold War
Secret codes. Legal threats. Betrayal. How one couple built a device to fix McDonald’s notoriously broken soft-serve machines—and how the fast-food giant froze them out.
- Photograph: Kelsey McClellan
He Thought He Could Outfox the Gig Economy. He Was Wrong
Jeffrey Fang was a ride-hailing legend, a top earner with relentless hustle. Then his minivan was carjacked—with his kids in the back seat.
- ILLUSTRATION: WIRED STAFF; GETTY IMAGES
A 25-Year-Old Bet Comes Due: Has Tech Destroyed Society?
In 1995, a WIRED cofounder challenged a Luddite-loving doomsayer to a prescient wager on tech and civilization’s fate. Now their judge weighs in.
- Photograph: Arturo Olmos
When the Boss of All Dating Apps Met the Pandemic
Tinder. Hinge. OkCupid. Match. A year ago, Shar Dubey became the CEO of a multibillion-dollar matchmaking empire. Then singles everywhere went into lockdown.
- Photograph: Djeneba Aduayom
What Really Happened When Google Ousted Timnit Gebru
She was a star engineer who warned that messy AI can spread racism. Google brought her in. Then it forced her out. Can Big Tech take criticism from within?
- Photograph: Jenna Garrett
A Boy, His Brain, and a Decades-Long Medical Controversy
No one could deny that Timothy was sick. But when doctors can’t agree on the cause of an illness, what happens to the patients trapped in limbo?
- Photo-illustration: Ania Augustynowicz
I Called Off My Wedding. The Internet Will Never Forget
In 2019, I made a painful decision. But to the algorithms that drive Facebook, Pinterest, and a million other apps, I'm forever getting married.
- Photograph: William Widmer
The Secret History of the First Microprocessor, the F-14, and Me
In a weird way, I’ve known Ray Holt all my life, but I never knew what he had accomplished—or how his inventions wove their way into my own family.
- Illustration: Reshidev RK
The Lion, the Polygamist, and the Biofuel Scam
How a member of a breakaway Mormon sect teamed up with a Lambo-driving, hard-partying tycoon to bilk the government for hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Photographs: Driely S. Carter
How to Remember a Disaster Without Being Shattered by It
Margaret McKinnon survived a midair catastrophe, then became a major researcher of memory and trauma. Now she’s studying how the pandemic will haunt us.
- Illustration: Sam Whitney; Getty Images
Who Is R. A. Lafferty? And Is He the Best Sci-Fi Writer Ever?
You’ve never heard of him, but your favorite writers have, and his mad-drunk prose will knock you sideways.
- Photograph: Sam Cannon
The Pain Was Unbearable. So Why Did Doctors Turn Her Away?
A sweeping drug addiction risk algorithm has become central to how the US handles the opioid crisis. It may only be making the crisis worse.
- Photograph: Max Hemphill
Weighing Big Tech’s Promise to Black America
Last year, Netflix made a pledge that represents the tech industry’s best shot at redressing the nation’s racial inequality. How seriously should we take it?
- ILLUSTRATION: HELENA HAUSS
Sex Tapes, Hush Money, and Hollywood’s Economy of Secrets
Meet Kevin Blatt, the celebrity fixer who’s a master at shepherding compromising material off the internet—or into the hands of the highest bidder.
- Photograph: Elizabeth Renstrom
One Man’s Amazing Journey to the Center of the Bowling Ball
Mo Pinel spent a career reshaping the ball’s inner core to harness the power of physics. He revolutionized the sport—and spared no critics along the way.
- Photograph: Aubrey Trinnaman
The Lithium Mine Versus the Wildflower
The deposit could power millions of clean-energy car batteries. There’s just one roadblock: a rare, fragile species of buckwheat, for which a mine might mean extinction.
- Art by Frank Nitty 3000; Portrait by Arturo Olmos
At the End of the World, It’s Hyperobjects All the Way Down
Do you feel lost? Alone? Powerless in the face of forces beyond your control? Timothy Morton can help—if you’re ready to have your reality blown apart.
- Illustration: Tyler Comrie
Amazon's Dark Secret: It Has Failed to Protect Your Data
Voyeurs. Sabotaged accounts. Backdoor schemes. For years, the retail giant has handled your information less carefully than it handles your packages.
- Illustration: Phellipe Wanderley; Getty Images
The Scammer Who Wanted to Save His Country
Last year, a hacker gave Glenn Greenwald a trove of damning messages between Brazil’s leaders. Some suspected the Russians. The truth was far less boring.
- ILLUSTRATION: ZAK TEBBAL
Everything You’ve Heard About Section 230 Is Wrong
These hallowed 26 words shield internet companies from being held responsible for what people post and share. But the web’s most sacred law is a false idol.
- Illustration: Anthony Gerace
The 10,000 Faces That Launched an NFT Revolution
When two Canadian coders started an online project called CryptoPunks, they had no idea they’d spark a hyped-up, blockchain-fueled cultural juggernaut.
- Photograph: Jesse Rieser
I Am Not a Soldier, but I Have Been Trained to Kill
A sprawling tactical industry is teaching American civilians how to fight like Special Ops forces. By preparing for violence at home, are they calling it into being?
- Illustration: Ricardo Tomas; Stephenson Photograph: Kyle Johnson; Getty Images
Sci-Fi Icon Neal Stephenson Finally Takes on Global Warming
The renowned author says his genre should inspire solutions. In his new novel, Termination Shock, he tackles our most existential crisis.
- Photograph: Tony Luong
A Son Is Rescued at Sea. But What Happened to His Mother?
Nathan Carman went fishing with his mom. A week later, he was found on a life raft—alone. Tragic accident or murder? Ocean sensors may point to the truth.
- Photograph: Stephanie Maze/Getty Images
The Arecibo Observatory Was Like Family. I Couldn't Save It
I grew up in awe of the iconic telescope. It raised me, and I helped control its fate. Could I have done more to protect it before its sudden collapse?
- Art by Marie Smith
4 Dead Infants, a Convicted Mother, and a Genetic Mystery
Kathleen Folbigg was found guilty of killing her babies. One scientist suspected the real culprit was mutant DNA—and went on a tireless quest to prove it.
- Photograph: Talia Herman
One Woman’s Mission to Rewrite Nazi History on Wikipedia
Ksenia Coffman’s fellow editors have called her a vandal and a McCarthyist. She just wants them to stop glorifying fascists—and start citing better sources.
- Illustrations: MATEUSZ KOŁEK
Blood, Lies, and a Drug Trials Lab Gone Bad
The system for testing pharmaceuticals in the US relies on contractors adhering to strict guidelines. But one of them chose profits over protocols.