Year in Review

Seattle Met's 5 Most-Read Longform Stories of 2023

These are the features our readers loved this year.

12/26/2023 By Seattle Met Staff

Feature

Clouded Judgment: How a Former Amazon Employee Hacked Capital One

Paige Thompson engineered one of the biggest data breaches in history from her bedroom in South Seattle. Her trial exposed us all.

04/04/2023 By Benjamin Cassidy

Year in Review

Seattle Met's 5 Most-Read Longform Stories of 2022

The longreads that attracted the most eyeballs this year.

12/27/2022 By Seattle Met Staff

Feature

The Ancient Spirit That Settled in Small-Town Washington

An hour south of Seattle, JZ Knight channels a god-like warrior named Ramtha. To outsiders it can look like a cult, a religion, a 40-year-long fake. Clearly, something otherworldly has come to a sleepy corner of Thurston County.

11/15/2022 By Allison Williams Illustrations by Jonathan Bartlett

Feature

The Twisted Life of Clippy

In the ’90s, Microsoft created an annoying paperclip that it quickly retired. Its developers never imagined the virtual assistant would become a cultural icon.

08/23/2022 By Benjamin Cassidy

Feature

Under the Heat Dome

How Seattle sweltered—and survived—during three blistering days.

06/27/2022 By Seattle Met Staff Illustrations by Matthew Billington

Good Stories

The 10 Best Long Stories about Seattle

We gathered our most recent and favorite longform articles from Seattle Met's award-winning writers.

11/24/2021 By Seattle Met Staff

Feature

Why Jay Inslee Chose to Stay in This Washington

The governor didn't ditch us for DC, instead opting to lead his home state through its worst public health crisis in a century. As he embarks on a rare third term, will Washington finally let him do the same in its response to climate change?

06/21/2021 By Benjamin Cassidy

Feature

The Shooting of John T. Williams, 10 Years Later

A decade ago, a Seattle police officer killed Rick Williams's brother, a celebrated Native woodcarver. Nothing will ever be the same for Rick—or the city he calls home.

08/26/2020 By James Ross Gardner Photography by Lindsey Wasson

Essay

Welcome to Seattle! Now Quarantine.

I uprooted to the Emerald City for excitement. But the pandemic thrust me back into isolation.

04/29/2020 By Benjamin Cassidy

Feature

What Pitted Seattle’s Glass?

In the spring of 1954 car owners noticed small divots on their windshields. Then things got weird.

04/08/2020 By James Ross Gardner Illustrations by Miko Maciaszek

Longreads and Chill

A Seattle Met Longform List for Coronavirus Quarantine

This is a long quarantine for someone with nothing to read about. Here are five stories to get you through the social distancing doldrums.

03/13/2020 By Seattle Met Staff

FEATURE

The Octopus from Outer Space

Seattle’s most beguiling sea creatures were once feared and hunted—and even wrestled—for sport. But new research and a few surprising encounters are changing how we view them. A story in eight parts.

12/02/2019 By James Ross Gardner

Feature

A Life Extruded: Mike Easton and the Alki Homestead’s Path to Il Nido

When the chef reshaped his career he couldn't have known he'd share his destiny with a century-old log cabin and dining icon rising from literal ashes.

10/22/2019 By Allecia Vermillion Photography by Kyle Johnson

Feature

Who Will Mourn the Tech Bro?

The subculture you love to hate is tough to define. It will be even tougher when it’s gone.

09/24/2019 By James Ross Gardner Illustrations by Ryan Snook

Feature

In the Straits: An Inmate Turned Millionaire Turned Lone Survivor

He was a convicted felon who found a niche in Seattle’s construction boom. As the region’s fortunes rose and fell—and rose again—so did his. Then a fatal boating accident came for Michael Powers’s fairy-tale ending.

08/19/2019 By James Ross Gardner

Feature

A Song of Shadow and Light

The Tacoma Refugee Choir formed to reach out to the most vulnerable. Its founder didn't anticipate its impact on her—or her city.

05/28/2019 By James Ross Gardner Photography by Lindsey Wasson

Feature

Where on Earth Is Sam Sayers?

On a perfect summer day, a solo hiker went missing from a Cascade trail. A search ensued unlike anything the state of Washington has ever seen. Nine months later, the mystery has consumed the lives of thousands. Where did she go?

04/23/2019 By Allison Williams

Feature

Dealer Takes All: Inside One of Seattle's Biggest Opioid Busts

It took a multistate sting to bring down the opioid king of Capitol Hill. But not before his product stole a life. The story of two men, their elusive dreams, and one deadly drug.

03/26/2019 By Levi Pulkkinen

Feature

Land of Milk and Money: Inside the Wild World of Washington Dairy

Stories have been circulating about some of the state's dairy farms lately: death, disfigurement, sexual harassment allegations, and a years-long labor dispute worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster.

02/26/2019 By Stefan Milne Photography by Mike Kane