The Best American Magazine Writing 2022

The Best American Magazine Writing 2022 presents a range of outstanding writing on timely topics, from in-depth reporting to incisive criticism: Kristin Canning calls for a change in how we talk about abortion (Women's Health), and Ed Yong warns us about the next pandemic (The Atlantic). Matthieu Aikins provides a gripping eyewitness account of the Taliban's seizure of Kabul (New York Times Magazine). Heidi Blake and Katie J. M. Baker's "Beyond Britney" examines how people placed under legal guardianship are deprived of their autonomy (BuzzFeed News). Rachel Aviv profiles a psychologist who studies the fallibility of memory-and has testified for defendants including Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby (The New Yorker).The anthology includes dispatches from the frontiers of science, exploring why Venus turned out so hellishly unlike Earth (Popular Science) and detailing the potential of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Quanta). It features celebrated writers, including Harper's magazine pieces by Ann Patchett, whose "These Precious Days" is a powerful story of friendship during the pandemic, and Vivian Gornick, who offers "notes on humiliation." Carina del Valle Schorske depicts the power of public dance after pandemic isolation (New York Times Magazine). And the NBA icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lauds the Black athletes who fought for social justice (AARP the Magazine). Amid the continuing reckoning with racism, authors reconsider tarnished figures. The Black ornithologist and birder J. Drew Lanham assesses the legacy of John James Audubon in the magazine that bears his name, and Jeremy Atherton Lin questions his youthful enthusiasm for Morrissey (Yale Review). Jennifer Senior writes about memory and the lingering grief felt for a friend killed on 9/11 (The Atlantic). The collection concludes with Nishanth Injam's story of queer first love across religious boundaries, "Come with Me" (Georgia Review).

Introduction, by Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief, The Atlantic, Acknowledgments, by Sid Holt, chief executive, American Society of Magazine EditorsBodies on the Line, by Carina del Valle Schorske, New York Times Magazine, Winner-Essays and CriticismWe're Already Barreling Toward the Next Pandemic, by Ed Yong, The Atlantic, Finalist-Public InterestThese Precious Days, by Ann Patchett, Harper's, Finalist-Feature WritingVenus Rising, by Megan I. Gannon, Popular Science, Winner-Single-Topic IssueThe Webb Space Telescope Will Rewrite Cosmic History. If It Works, by Natalie Wolchover, Quanta, Finalist-ReportingThe Methane Hunters, by Zachary R. Mider, Bloomberg Green with Bloomberg Businessweek, Finalist-Public InterestWe Need to Change How We Talk About Abortion, by Kristin Canning, Women's Health, Finalist-Service JournalismThe Games We Play, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, AARP the Magazine, Finalist-Lifestyle JournalismThe Original Cowboys, by Katie Gutierrez, Texas Highways, Finalist-Lifestyle JournalismInfinite Self, by E. Alex Jung, New York, Finalist-Profile WritingIs Jake Paul Bad for Boxing? Next Question, by Dotun Akintoye, ESPN.com, Finalist-Profile WritingThe Wrong Daddy, by Jeremy Atherton Lin, Yale Review, Finalist-Lifestyle JournalismPast Imperfect, by Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, Winner-Profile WritingBeyond Britney: Abuse, Exploitation, and Death Inside America's Guardianship Industry, by Heidi Blake and Katie J. M. Baker, BuzzFeed News, Finalist-Public InterestPut on the Diamonds, by Vivian Gornick, Harper's, Finalist-Essays and CriticismWhat Do We Do About John James Audubon?, by J. Drew Lanham, Audubon, Finalist-Essays and CriticismThe Collapse, by Matthieu Aikins, New York Times Magazine, Winner-ReportingTwenty Years Gone, by Jennifer Senior, The Atlantic, Winner-Feature WritingCome With Me, by Nishanth Injam, Georgia Review, Winner-ASME Award for FictionPermissionsList of Contributors