2024 was filled with stunning twists, so it’s no surprise that Intelligencer readers gravitated toward stories that helped unpack them. Our annual list of the most-read stories of the year, measured by total collective minutes of audience engagement, includes in-depth reporting on the conspiracy of silence that led to Joe Biden’s late exit from the presidential race, and how surviving an assassination attempt affected Donald Trump (and his ear). Mysteries also appear frequently, from why a father of 16 hired a dark-web hit man to Tom Scocca’s attempt to explain his strange medical symptoms. And there’s surprisingly good news about how immunotherapy is changing cancer treatment forever.
This is just a small sample of the work New York produces every day both in print and across its six digital sites: Intelligencer, the Cut, Vulture, Grub Street, the Strategist, and Curbed. For more of New York’s indispensable coverage, be sure to sign up for One Great Story, our daily recommendation newsletter, and to subscribe.
20.
The Shame of Saint Ann’s
By Caitlin Moscatello and James D. Walsh
How did a Brooklyn private school fall for an accused predator? Read the story …
19.
How Rich (or Not) Do You Have to Be to Get Into the Ivy League?
Kids whose parents make $158,200 to $222,400 a year have the worst odds of Ivy League acceptance. Read the story …
18.
Yes, She Can
Bidenism brought the Democrats to the brink of catastrophe. Obamaism can save them. Read the story …
17.
Freedom of Sex
The moral case for letting trans kids change their bodies. Read the story …
16.
I Examined Donald Trump’s Ear — and His Soul — at Mar-a-Lago
By Olivia Nuzzi
Still reeling from a changed race, Trump contemplates his campaign, his new opponent, and the miracle of his continued existence. Read the story …
15.
Are Republican Women Okay?
The baffling, contradictory demands of being female in the party of Donald Trump. Read the story …
14.
The Sea Creatures That Opened a New Mystery About MH370
By Jeff Wise
Could freaky barnacles do what advanced technology couldn’t — find the missing plane? Read the story …
13.
To Buy a Mountain Range
A group of billionaires is maneuvering to secure acres of prime public land in Montana for personal use. Can anyone stop them? Read the story …
12.
Good News About Brain Cancer
Immunotherapy is making tumors melt away. Read the story …
11.
Inside the Harvard Business School Ponzi Scheme
By Jen Wieczner
He had a successful Wall Street career. Why would he con his classmates? Read the story …
10.
The Package King of Miami
By Ezra Marcus
Matthew Bergwall was a gifted coder who could have gotten a job at any tech company. He decided to go in another direction. Read the story …
9.
Bill Ackman Strikes Back
His fight has made him the public face of a billionaire class anxious it no longer rules the world. Read the story …
8.
The Conspiracy of Silence to Protect Joe Biden
By Olivia Nuzzi
The president’s mental decline was like a dark family secret for many elite supporters. Read the story …
7.
Miriam Adelson’s Unfinished Business
Sheldon Adelson’s widow is one of the richest women in the world, and she’s willing to spend her fortune to support Israel. Read the story …
6.
Inventing the Perfect College Applicant
For $120,000 a year, Christopher Rim promises to turn any student into Ivy bait. Read the story …
5.
The Bitter Feud at the Heart of the Paleontology World
By Kerry Howley
It took ten days for two researchers to turn on each other, each claiming to have found new evidence of when the asteroid hit Earth. Read the story …
4.
The Women Who Walked Away
What drove a Colorado mother to flee into the Rocky Mountains with her teenage son and her sister? Read the story …
3.
Sixteen Kids and a Hit Man
Christopher Pence kept adding to his family. Then he decided to remove two people from the mix. Read the story …
2.
Unraveling My Medical Mystery
By Tom Scocca
The strangest things happen to other people’s bodies. Then they began happening to my own. Read the story …
1.
Andrew Huberman’s Mechanisms of Control
By Kerry Howley
The private and public seductions of the world’s biggest pop neuroscientist. Read the story …
