Here’s (Some Of) What Quarter Horse Read In 2024: These Are Your Favorite PR Team’s Favorite Longreads

The Travelling Companions, 1862. Artist: Augustus Leopold Egg

As we’ve written about many times now, we have a deep respect for journalism. We read to follow the news, to expand our worldviews, to familiarize ourselves with the work of reporters we admire, to track developments in our clients’ industries, and to understand and get excited about new technologies. And every now and then, we get to read just for the joy of reading itself.

We have a particular appreciation for writers who can turn the twists of a lengthy investigation and the disparate revelations of dozens of interviews into a gripping, cohesive narrative. A great longread will pull you in, no matter what the subject matter. Some longreads illuminate the cobwebbed corners of corruption and conspiracies—and some illuminate someone acting really, really out of pocket. 

If you’re traveling for the holidays and need diversion for the long train, plane, and car rides that lie ahead, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the Quarter Horse team’s favorite longreads from the last year—happy reading, and happy holidays!

Nicole Bestard, Founder & Principal 

How Two of the Rarest Horses on Earth Got Lost, The New York Times 

I was an avid reader of National Geographic as a kid, and I still remember a story on prehistoric animals featuring a centerfold spread depicting the evolution of horses alongside that of humans. I was fascinated by Przewalski horses, which appear in the earliest cave paintings and seem frozen in time. I love that they’re untameable by our standards and therefore so purely, entirely true to their essence. So my delight when I came across this article was probably akin to the delight the human subjects of the story felt when they discovered such a rare and storied creature in their midst. The journey the reporting takes us on to track these horses, from modern zoos to meat auctions, was just as interesting as the horses themselves.

Cathy Corwin, Vice President

How a Distinctive Beauty Brand Fell Apart, Sinking Almost $700 Million With It, The New York Times

Knowing how to do one thing really well doesn’t necessarily mean you can do everything—that’s what I took away from this story about the acquisition of beauty and skincare brand Beautycounter by a VC firm, and the disaster that followed. In tech PR, we work with a lot of VC firms full of brilliant, competent people who know how to scale all kinds of ideas. At the same time, it’s always worth remembering how valuable it is to have people at the table with different skillsets and experiences. This story is also a tale of personal redemption, exploring how the brand’s founder is working to restore her company.

Samantha Currie, Senior Account Executive

Is Tom Sandoval of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ the Most Hated Man in America?, The New York Times

Because of our work, I spend a lot of time reading news about climate, the economy, and technology, and to be honest, it can get depressing. So, when thinking back on my favorite reads of the year, this one came to mind because it made me laugh. While it’s a fascinating look at one of the wildest men on reality TV, my favorite moments are the ones that pull back the curtain to reveal the team behind Tom Sandoval, including his 23-year-old publicist. As someone in PR, I appreciated the sneak peek into the way his team operated during this scandal. And as someone who isn’t afraid to poke good-natured fun at the world of celebrity, I really loved Irina Aleksander’s take on the missteps from Sandoval’s team.

Bridget Reinhard, Account Coordinator

How I Fell for an Amazon Scam Call and Handed Over $50,000, The Cut

I found this article, about how even someone with financial expertise can fall victim to devastating fraud, fascinating. I kept thinking “I would NEVER do that!” while also coming to understand how the psychological terror of being scammed can make a person throw all sense of reason out the window.

Jane-Claire Quigley, Editorial Director

The confusing reality of AI friends, Verge 

It will come as no surprise that I am, to put it nicely, wary of much of what the culture has dubbed “artificial intelligence.” So the concept of an AI friend or lover makes me queasy. That’s why this piece by Josh Dzieza is such a knockout. Not only is it sensitive to the subjects of the article (people engaged in AI relationships), the pacing of the storytelling makes the reader identify with them. Scholarship about artificial intelligence from psychologists, philosophers, computer scientists, and more is elegantly woven throughout the piece such that you’re able to hold both the concrete (people are having their hearts broken by AI chatbots) and the abstract (what even is intelligence? humanity? personality?) in your brain at the same time. 

Katie Jacobs, Senior Director of Media Relations

Hundreds of police have sexually abused kids. How do they avoid prison time?, The Washington Post

What I appreciate most about this article is the fact that it was written in the first place—it's a story that needed to come to light. The layout of the piece grabbed my attention immediately, which is so valuable when it comes to a story that’s both deeply important and difficult to stomach. The Washington Post has taken an crucial investigative piece about widespread child sexual abuse committed by police officers across the United States and made it visually engaging, too.

Britney Mangan, Account Executive

The Rise of 4B in the Wake of Donald Trump’s Reëlection, The New Yorker

I first heard about the South Korean 4B movement on TikTok following the election this year, and was intrigued by its origin and wanted to learn more. I really appreciated how perfectly this piece explained why this movement started, and how its general concepts have captivated many American women, like myself, who feel frustrated with the sentiment towards women's rights as of late. This article highlighted that two seemingly very different countries (with their own unique cultures, government structures, etc.) may not be so different. As someone who works in PR and is constantly consuming media on varying kinds of platforms (whether that's The New York Times or social media), I'm fascinated by the influence that platforms like TikTok can have on bringing movements like this to light and evoking something of a call to action in times of uncertainty.

Lindsay Lee Wallace, Senior Staff Writer

Coming to America, The Atavist

This is a tender, grounded portrait of Palestinian 14-year-old Layan Albaz and the U.S. family that has hosted her while she’s been treated and fitted for prosthetics after losing both her legs in Israeli airstrikes. So much of the story of the violence that has unfolded in Gaza over the past year has been told in statistics, and no matter how helpful and important they can be, statistics can feel inherently dehumanizing. But as I’ve learned through my work as a writer, really important stories often involve really big numbers: millions of tons of oil spilling into the ocean; trillions of tons of carbon billowing into the atmosphere; the highest number of child amputees in modern history. This story reminds us of both scale and lasting impact, while also creating a human connection with a child whose life will never be the same.