We ranked the most popular articles published by Slate in November. Then we asked a few Slate editors to nominate the best stories you missed. Their answers are at the bottom. —Slate Plus editors
The 20 Most Read Articles of November
1. “Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire Were Dancing to ‘Uptown Funk’ All Along (Video)”
By Robby Berman, Nov. 16, 2015
2. “Remember the Toddler Who Threw a Tantrum in Front of President Obama? That Was My Kid.”
By Laura Moser, Nov. 18, 2015
3. “Here’s How Artists in the Late 1800s Imagined Life in the Year 2000”
By Kristin Hohenadel, Nov. 16, 2015
4. “The Correct Way to Reheat Pizza Doesn’t Involve a Microwave—or an Oven (Video)”
By Matt Mooney, Oct. 27, 2015
5. “If ISIS Really Did Put a Bomb on That Russian Plane, We’re in Big Trouble”
By Daniel Byman, Nov. 4, 2015
6. “Watch Adele’s ‘Hello’ Save Thanksgiving Dinner on SNL”
By Sharan Shetty, Nov. 22, 2015
7. “This Man Made a Movie by Interviewing Himself 38 Years in the Future”
By Sharan Shetty, Nov. 8, 2015
8. “In Her Final Chat, Prudie Shares Which Letter Was the Hardest to Answer”
By Emily Yoffe, Nov. 10, 2015
9. “A Thousand Years Ago, the Sun Erupted. If That Happened Now, We’d Be in Big Trouble.”
By Phil Plait, Nov. 9, 2015
10. “Donald Trump Delivered the Most Embarrassing Rant of the GOP Debate”
By Jordan Weissmann, Nov. 10, 2015
11. “The Biggest Challenge Facing Musicians at Shows: Audiences Clapping With Bad Rhythm”
By Gabriel Roth, Nov. 6, 2015
12. “How to Soften Cold Butter Quickly Without Melting It (Video)”
By Jackson Veigel, Nov. 23, 2015
13. “Help! My Favorite Advice Columnist Is Leaving Slate.”
By Emily Yoffe, Nov. 9, 2015
14. “Hillary Clinton Is Stepping Up Her Smear Campaign Against Bernie”
By William Saletan, Nov. 4, 2015
15. “Carly Simon Finally Admitted Who ‘You’re So Vain’ Is Really About”
By Laura Bradley, Nov. 18, 2015
16. “Hillary Says It’s OK That She Takes Wall Street Money Because of Women and 9/11”
By Ben Mathis-Lilley, Nov. 14, 2015
17. “When Is It OK to Be Alone With Another Person’s Spouse?”
By Ben Mathis-Lilley, Nov. 5, 2015
18. “Why Did the Killers Target the Eagles of Death Metal Concert?”
By Justin E.H. Smith, Nov. 16, 2015
19. “Bad News, Animal Lovers: SeaWorld Isn’t Really Ending Its Killer Whale Show”
By Jordan Weissmann, Nov. 9, 2015
20. “Spooning Is a Physical and Ideological Travesty. It Must End Now.”
By J. Bryan Lowder, Nov. 4, 2015
Notes: Stories with the most unique visitor traffic from Nov. 1, 2015, through Nov. 30, 2015. Omits regular Dear Prudence columns and some stories that were published prior to Nov 1.
The 20 Articles You Spent the Longest Time Reading
1. “ ‘Everything Was Completely Destroyed’: What It Was Like to Work at Sony After the Hack”
By Amanda Hess, Nov. 22, 2015
2. “A Closer Look at The Hunting Ground Reveals the Filmmakers Put Advocacy Ahead of Accuracy”
By Emily Yoffe, Jun. 1, 2015
3. “Losing on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Almost Destroyed Me. Then the Show Asked Me Back.”
By Justin Peters, Nov. 20, 2015
4. “On Campus, Is ‘Free Speech’ Becoming the New ‘All Lives Matter’?”
By Michelle Goldberg, Nov. 17, 2015
5. “I Was Afraid of Slate Commenters. So I Became One.”
By Justin Peters, Nov. 5, 2015
6. “The Forgotten Contest Between Colonists and American Indians for Command of the Atlantic”
By Andrew Lipman, Nov. 24, 2015
7. “Chicago Police Say They Killed a Black Teen in Self-Defense. Then Why Did They Shoot Him 16 Times?”
By Jamie Kalven, Feb. 10, 2015
8. “How Workers’ Comp Is Rigged”
By Jamie Smith Hopkins, Nov. 5, 2015
9. “All the Weird Tom Cruise Stories From Leah Remini’s Book About Scientology”
By E. Alex Jung, Nov. 6, 2015
10. “Russian Empress Anna Ivanovna Gets Heart Broken, Builds Revenge Chamber of Icy Death”
By Jennifer Wright, Nov. 13, 2015
11. “Public School Students Say Christianity Is Being Forced on Them”
By Zack Kopplin, Nov. 2, 2015
12. “Sappho Goes to Hollywood: Lesbian Movies From Desert Hearts to Carol”
By Claire Landsbaum, Nov. 19, 2015
13. “Why Ted Cruz Could Be the Next President of the United States”
By Jamelle Bouie, Nov. 8, 2015
14. “This Pseudoscience Preys on People With Disabilities and Is Infiltrating Schools”
By David Auerbach, Nov. 12, 2015
15. “MGM’s Legendary Fixer Eddie Mannix and the Lives He Ruined”
By Karina Longworth, Nov. 6, 2015
16. “What Led to the Resignation of the University of Missouri President and Chancellor? A Timeline.”
By Claire Landsbaum and Greta Weber, Nov. 9, 2015
17. “When Elvis Costello Was Cruel”
By Carl Wilson, Nov. 6, 2015
18. “The United States Doesn’t Spend Enough on Its Military”
By Reihan Salam, Nov. 12, 2015
19. “Judge Slams Wisconsin’s Abortion Law for Feigning an Interest in Women’s Health”
By Dahlia Lithwick, Nov. 24, 2015
20. “Leland Palmer Wasn’t the Only Thing That Killed Twin Peaks”
By Dennis Lim, Nov. 12, 2015
Notes: Ranking omits Dear Prudence articles, news quiz, and videos. Time on page isn’t necessarily a measure of active reading time.
What You Missed
The best story we published in November that didn’t make any of these lists? Here are the stories our editors nominated for a second look.
Senior editor Laura Bennett’s interview with longtime Donald Trump impersonator John Di Domenico.
Learn what Neil deGrasse Tyson regards as Star Trek’s “worst fight scene ever,” says Future Tense editor Torie Bosch.
Deputy editor John Swansburg recommends this debunking of the Ferguson effect, by Leon Neyfakh.
Senior editor Rachael Larimore wants you to understand what the eff is up with the “A” in “effing A”?
And health and science editor Laura Helmuth points out Jordan Ellenberg’s explainer of “the viral math conundrum of the moment.”
