Our mission at the Cut is to meet you, the readers, where you are — in your careers, your relationships, styles, and skin-care routines. We want to bring you authoritative service, thought-provoking reporting, and intimate personal essays that you’ll share in your group text. The 20 stories below, our most read this year, are ones that did just that. From Brock Colyar’s meditation on pronouns to original reporting on the dangers of the latest trendy weight-loss drug, Ozempic, from Allison P. Davis’s vibe shift heard round the (digital) world to the definitive take on the Amber Heard backlash, beautifully written by Claire Lampen — these are the articles you spent the most time with.
This list, which is measured by total collective minutes of audience engagement, is just a small sample of the work the Cut puts out, alongside New York’s print edition and its other five digital sites and a growing portfolio of newsletters. For more of all of it, be sure to sign up for the Cut’s daily newsletter and subscribe to New York.
20.
Girl Power Gets Sober
By Katie Heaney
Can Holly Whitaker help women quit drinking better than AA can? Read the story ➼
19.
The Woman Who Killed Roe
By Kerry Howley
Marjorie Dannenfelser’s single-minded pursuit of an end to abortion. Read the story ➼
18.
Waking Up From the Nap Dress
By Matthew Schneier
How the proudly personally privileged Nell Diamond convinced so many women to wear pajamas in public. Read the story ➼
17.
I Didn’t Start Weight Lifting Because I Wanted to Be Strong
By Casey Johnston
I was still obsessed with dieting. But eventually, I saw what I’d been missing. Read the story ➼
16.
Tinder Hearted
By Allison P. Davis
How did a dating app become my longest running relationship? Read the story ➼
15.
What White Men Say in Our Absence
By Elaine Hsieh Chou
Their darkest thoughts on Asian women have obsessed me for years. With the spike in violence against us, my private fear has become a public one. Read the story ➼
14.
They, Then and Now
By Brock Colyar
Asking for pronouns has become a social standard. Who is it serving? Read the story ➼
13.
My Mom Has No Friends
By Monica Corcoran Harel
The loneliness of growing older made bearable with playdates. Read the story ➼
12.
Losing My Ambition
By Amil Niazi
After a career of making “strategic” moves, I’m embracing mediocrity. Read the story ➼
11.
The Institutionalist
By Rebecca Traister
Dianne Feinstein fought for gun control, civil rights, and abortion access for half a century. Where did it all go wrong? Read the story ➼
10.
A Murder Solved in DMs
By Jennifer Swann
When Daisy De La O was killed, friends looked to social media for the man they suspected had done it. They found him. Read the story ➼
9.
Epiphany in the Baby-Food Aisle
By Jessi Klein
On a trip to the grocery store one day, I had a realization about me, my son, and the meaning of life. Read the story ➼
8.
The Rich New York Women Who Love Their Fake Birkins
By Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz
Among a certain set, counterfeit luxury bags may be more popular than the real thing. Read the story ➼
7.
You Might Go Through Hell for Your Post-Ozempic Body
By Devin Tomb
Patients describe constant nausea and vomiting. But doctors say everyone is asking for it. Read the story ➼
6.
A Vibe Shift Is Coming
By Allison P. Davis
Will any of us survive it? Read the story ➼
5.
Teenage Justice
By Elizabeth Weil
A list of boys “to look out for” appeared on a high-school bathroom wall last fall. The story of one of them. Read the story ➼
4.
Which Women Do We Choose to Believe?
By Claire Lampen
Amber Heard claims an extremely famous man abused her for years. Why do so many people hate her for it? Read the story ➼
3.
What Happened to Maya
By Dyan Neary
When a 10-year-old girl complained of mysterious pain, a doctor suspected child abuse. How far would she go to prove it? Read the story ➼
2.
Taking Another Look at The Watcher
By Reeves Wiedeman
What we know about the case four years later. Read the story ➼
1.
Meghan of Montecito
By Allison P. Davis
She’s left the Firm behind. Harry’s found a polo team in Santa Barbara. The kids are doing great. Now she’s ready for her next act. Read the story ➼
