Photo: Clockwise from left: Mark Harris; Photo: @CobraTate/Instagram, Kagan McLeod, Ian Allen, JOHN TAGGART/The New York Times/REDUX, Adam Maida/Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images, Landon Nordeman
This year things got pretty weird in the halls of power, so it’s no surprise that Intelligencer readers sought out stories that tried to make sense of all the upheaval. Our list of the most popular stories of 2023, which is measured by total collective minutes of audience engagement, includes inside looks at corporate implosions, from Rupert Murdoch dumping top-rated Fox News host Tucker Carlson to Elon Musk driving Twitter off a cliff. Other entries expose the secrets surrounding some of the world’s most powerful families, from what really happened to JFK to what it’s like to be a real-life prince (utterly bonkers, according to Prince Harry). And of course, between his thirsty final campaign to his instantly iconic mug shot, Donald Trump continued to dominate the political discourse — though George Santos supplied more than his fair share of made-for-reality-TV drama.
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.
Photo: Jeremy Selwyn – WPA Pool/Getty Images
In Spare, Harry says William attacked him, claims he killed 25 Taliban fighters, and shares lots of details we didn’t need to know about his penis. Read the story …
By Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean
Photo: JOHN TAGGART/The New York Times/REDUX
A key lesson of the pandemic. Read the story …
By Zoë Schiffer, Casey Newton, and Alex Heath
Illustration: Kagan McLeod
Twitter’s staff spent years trying to protect the platform against impulsive ranting billionaires — then one made himself the CEO. Read the story …
By Bianca Fortis and Laura Beil
Illustration: Mark Harris
How Columbia University ignored women, undermined prosecutors, and allowed one of its OB/GYNs to abuse hundreds of patients. Read the story …
Illustration: Jeffrey Smith
Rupert Murdoch didn’t want to dump his ratings leader and favorite Fox host. But was Tucker Carlson giving him a choice? Read the story …
Photo: Ian Allen
And a chatbot is not a human. And a linguist named Emily M. Bender is very worried what will happen when we forget this. Read the story …
By Eric Levitz
Photo: VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA/REUTERS
To advocate effectively on behalf of Palestinians, progressives must not forfeit their moral authority. Read the story …
By David Pogue
Photo: David Pogue
Unraveling the enigma of Stockton Rush — and understanding the Titan tragedy. Read the story …
By Lisa Miller
Illustration: Mark Harris; Photo:@CobraTate/Instagram
What a generation of boys have found in Andrew Tate’s extreme male gospel. Read the story …
By Andrew Rice
Photo-Illustration: Adam Maida/Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
After a decade of punking liberals with hidden-camera stings, James O’Keefe becomes the story. Read the story …
By John Herrman
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer
Why does it feel like the company is making itself worse? Read the story …
By Olivia Nuzzi
Illustration: Zohar Lazar for New York Magazine
Inside Donald Trump’s sad, lonely, thirsty, broken, basically pretend run for reelection. (Which isn’t to say he can’t win.) Read the story …
Photo: Frankie Alduino
How Bessel van der Kolk’s once controversial theory of trauma became the dominant way we make sense of our lives. Read the story …
By Margaret Hartmann and Nia Prater
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos FULTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Donald Trump finally got his money shot, along with 18 co-defendants. Here are all the photos released by Georgia’s Fulton County Jail. Read the story …
Photo: Philip Montgomery
How a conspiracy-spewing literal Kennedy posing as a populist outsider jolted the Democratic Party. Read the story …
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty Images
Court filings in the now-settled case brought by Dominion reveal messages from Rupert Murdoch, Tucker Carlson, and others. Read the story …
By Paul Murray
Photo: Paul Murray
Searching for friends in Mark Zuckerberg’s deserted fantasyland. Read the story …
By Matt Stieb and Margaret Hartmann
Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Navigating the many exaggerations and falsehoods from the former New York congressman, who is now facing 23 federal criminal charges. Read the story …
By Scott Sayare
Photo: JFK Assassination Records Collection (Oswald) & CIA FOIA files (Joannides)
How a dogged journalist proved that the CIA lied about Oswald and Cuba — and spent decades covering it up. Read the story …
